Forum Moderators: phranque
On the question of usability what I have done is placed the site on my test server and browsed through it as if I was a surfer. When I found anything that could cause a problem I simply write it down. Once I had built up as list of potential faults I corrected them and tried again.
What I am doing can't do any harm, but is there any other method you can suggest to help out this process. My next step will be to have a few friends surf the site and tell me exactly what they think.
When the site is running live I will be paying carefull attention to logs to determine what sites have the largest number of exits. If they are pages where this would not be expected then I will investigate the page looking for errors.
Does anyone else take usability as seriously? and is it something we should all be paying a lot more attention to.
Just a simple things like links:
> what should a link look like -- if unvisited, previously visited or active
> identification -- use of rollovers, font changes, and highlights
> where should it be on the page -- if internal, external, common features -- home buttom, shopping cart, search, login, help, policies, banners
> visualization -- text vs image buttons, use of dynamic applets, and preference to columns or rows of buttons
...and this is just "links" not to mention navability in the site structure.
It is a major issue simply for the fact that "on enter" of a never before seen site a person is immediately disoriented.
SURL Software Usability Research Lab [psychology.wichita.edu] of Dept of Psychology, Wichita State University is one of the better resources on usability testing and surveying.
Lots of homework! ;)
"IS MY SITE EASY TO USE?"
Sure going through it yourself and correcting problems is good, but you are an expert. If you can give it to some "ordinary" surfers for an opinion you may discover more than by self correction.
Seriously though, if you are making a new flavour of ice cream, you'd ask people to taste it before you market it, right? So why not do the same with a web site. Depending on your company size, or if you can afford it, you could ask for volunteers to check it for you, giving each a sheet of questions to answer.
Or just give it to your grandad and see if he can use it.
Theres loads of published info abou this, example e-commerce heuristics are things like 3-click rule,
[edited by: aspdaddy at 4:14 pm (utc) on May 5, 2003]
Not many companies can afford high-end usability testing 0 but you mentioned getting a few of your friends to surf throught the site. Give them a questionnaire to fill out - where they clicked, why they clicked there. Why they liked and what they didn't like.
Setev Krugs "Don't Make me Think" is a very good start where reading is concerned. I'd also add these suggestions:
Totaly agree it is a major issue. From what I have been experiencing major problems can be overcome with slight changes.
Im trying to keep everything self explanatory and uniform. The Main rule I am following is that every page should be one click away from it's section homepage, and 2 clicks away from the site homepage.
Pretty low level graphics, mainly text, Using simple fonts and easy to read text size.
in terms of contrast do you ever concider using a background color? to be honest this is something I have steared clear of. I always use white because it seams more profesional, and in a way more uniform.
You'll find a lot of helping stuff. Adapt it to your needs and options.
User testing via Steve Krug's methods is cheap and works really well, in my (limited) experience.
