Wiley Web Design with HTML and CSS Digital Classroom 978-0-470-58360-9 User Manual

A common problem with usability testing is that it often occurs too late in the design 
process. If you have users test the site after you have built it completely, the feedback may 
be useful but you may need to discard work that you have already completed. For example, 
if you have completely built a site using a wide navigation, and testing shows you need to 
revise it to use deep navigation, this will be more diffi

  cult if you have already built all your 

pages and created the graphics.

Usability testing must be done correctly or you will receive invalid feedback, or feedback that 
isn’t useful. For example, it’s important to conduct testing with subjects who truly represent the 
target audience, not those who may already be familiar with the site. 

To better understand how usability testing works, try the following exercise with another person, 
putting them in the role of the user and yourself in the role of the tester. Most usability tests ask 
users to speak their thoughts out loud and they are recorded in order to capture the information. 
While you won’t be recording the user, you will ask them to respond out loud to some questions. 
First fi nd a suitable website to use as an example, and then ask the other person the following list 
of questions:

•  What are your fi rst impressions of the layout of this page immediately upon viewing it? 

•  What section of the page does your eye go to fi rst? 

•  Is that section the most important element on the page? 

•  What associations do the colors and images evoke? These could be emotions, feelings, 

memories, places, or anything else the colors bring to your mind.

•  Without clicking on anything on the site, describe the navigation choices you see on the 

home page and indicate what you think they do. Feel free to move around the page by 
scrolling, but do not click on anything right now.

•  Without clicking on anything yet, if you were exploring, what would you click on fi rst 

and why?

These questions give you a sense of how a usability test works. The next step would be to give 
the user specifi c tasks, and pay attention to how they perform them. As you can see, observing 
users, their reactions, the decisions they make, and any obstacles they encounter is vital to 
usability testing. We’ve only scratched the surface in discussing usability testing. For a greater 
understanding, review the resources below.

Rocket Surgery Made Easy by Steve Krug
This book provides you with the philosophy and the techniques you can use to integrate simple 
usability testing into your design process.

User Interface Engineering
Although this is a usability fi rm that specializes in research, training, and consulting, their website 
provides free articles that can help you understand the role of usability, as well as useful tips.
www.uie.com/articles

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3/17/11   1:50 PM

3/17/11   1:50 PM