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Reading: Test website/multimedia content and functionality Test website/multimedia content and functionality Inside this reading: Usability 2 Intuitive navigation and current web conventions 2 Usability problems and site architecture 3 Performing a usability test 4 Selecting users and tasks 4 Observation 4 Feedback surveys 5 Assessing results and re-testing 5 Summary 6 841019132 © State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training 2006 1 Reading: Test website/multimedia content and functionality Usability Usability refers to how easy a web site is to use. The web site should be designed to assist the user in performing tasks. Users should be able to find information and navigate the site with ease. The ease in which users navigate and find relevant information will affect the amount of time spent on a site and it will influence their return rate. It is easy to make assumptions about how your users will interact with your web site—but assumptions are often proven wrong. Intuitive navigation and current web conventions Web site navigation for the users should be intuitive. Users expect to be able to access resources and interact with your site without having to learn complex new ways of doing things. Good navigation is ‘transparent’, meaning that the user is able to perform tasks without consciously thinking about the steps they are taking. Designers can ensure that navigation and interactivity is transparent by using tried and true web conventions with which the user is probably already familiar. Some current web conventions are: having the company logo at the top left hand of every page having the logo link to the home page vertical and not horizontal scrolling using standard page names such as ‘home’, ‘about us’ and ‘contact us’ having hyperlinks a different colour or underlined. Most web sites are best served by staying within the limits of standard web conventions. 841019132 © State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training 2006 2 Reading: Test website/multimedia content and functionality Usability problems and site architecture Information architecture is the organisation and structure of the information within a web site so that it is easy to find. Real estate refers to the space on the web page that is available for laying out content. Common usability problems may be the result of inadequate information architecture, confusing layout or poor use of page real estate. Some web projects with large budgets will outsource their user testing to specialised organisations. Most web projects don’t have this kind of budget and will have to do their own user testing. Such tests are usually fine— results from smaller usability tests can also be very accurate and provide highly useful information. It is a good idea to test the web site with users right throughout the development process. Leaving testing to the end, when there is little money in the budget and the site is finished, is risky. Make sure you still have enough time and money to make changes that the testing may reveal. 841019132 © State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training 2006 3 Reading: Test website/multimedia content and functionality Performing a usability test Selecting users and tasks A beta user is a person who has not been involved with a website’s development and who is used to test the site for problems. The beta user would normally be required to fit the demographic profile of the website’s target audience. You should use the project brief to find out the demographic profile of the target user. This will give you information such as the users’ expected age, gender and level of computer literacy. Make a list of common tasks a typical user will perform then have beta users execute the tasks. Example tasks may be to: find a particular piece of information purchase a product or submit a form. You should include potentially problematic tasks, such as downloading necessary plug-ins. Observation Observer the beta users performing each task on the web site. Let the tester interact with the site independently—don’t guide them. It is important to note what the user does rather than what they say. People don’t always know why they do things—or even remember doing them! Record the user’s actions, including any difficulties they experience. Record as much detail about these interactions as possible. For example, if a user clicks on the wrong link or menu item, record which one they did click. Take note of how quickly they are able to perform each task. If you want to be really accurate you could even time how long each task takes with a stopwatch, but don’t let this interfere with your observation of the user’s behaviour. If you have enough time and budget, you can video the user using the web site so that you can refer to it later to analyse behaviour. Again, this isn’t essential. 841019132 © State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training 2006 4 Reading: Test website/multimedia content and functionality Feedback surveys Ask the user to fill out a form or survey after they have completed the test. There is some debate about how useful this approach is, but you may feel a survey can provide you with useful information. You may want to ask questions such as: Did you find the tasks easy to complete. Why/why not? What would you change? What was the most difficult part of the site? Were the tasks we asked you to do the same ones you personally would perform on this site? What is your overall feeling about the site? Assessing results and re-testing Write up the test results in a report and include suggestions for improvements. You can prioritise improvements in order of urgency or in order of which will make the biggest impact on usability. When changes to the web site are finished, a re-test by beta users is performed. User testing should continue until you can confirm that the web site satisfies usability requirements—that is, that target users find the web site easy and intuitive to use. 841019132 © State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training 2006 5 Reading: Test website/multimedia content and functionality Summary A successful web site encourages user interaction. Performing a usability test with beta users is the most accurate way to measure your web site’s usability. Users should conform to the demographic profile of the web site audience. Quietly observing typical users performing typical tasks will provide you with good information about how easy it is to use navigation systems and perform tasks such as downloading plug-ins. These results are written up in a report and used to plan changes and improvements to the web site. 841019132 © State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training 2006 6