Web Site Usability

The Web Development Life Cycle and User Testing

We've talked now about a lot of the considerations that go into creating a good web site, but without usability testing on real people, the only people we know it will work with are the people who designed it.

But when, exactly do you DO the usability testing? The short answer is: early and often.

Here is a short outline of a project, with usability testing opportunities in boldface type:

1. Requirements Gathering Phase
• Define Goals of the Site -
  • Web Questionnaire (right-click, save as to download)
• Define Users
  • Define Stakeholders
  • Define User Experience
  • Define Audience - Create Scenarios
• Define Content
  • Functional requirements
  • What content is currently available?
  • If new content must be developed, be sure that the right people are given that responsibility, and that reasonable deadlines are set and met. No joke, this is often a major roadblock.
2. Design Phase
   • Paper Prototype - Test with target audience
     • Categories, Labels
     • General Site Flow
   • Wireframing - Test with target audience
     • What path do people actually take?
     • Affordances
     • Does this make sense?
   • HTML Prototype - Test with target audience
     • This fully functioning, though with faked data, prototype is an excellent tool for testing the visual hierarchy of the site. It's also useful for the team creating Use Cases, that is, traversing every possible path through the site and making sure it's logical and understandable.
   • The Split Path
     • Programming - Database Design
     • Design - Look and Feel - Test with target audience
   • The Joined Path
     • Designer supplies HTML, images and styles
     • Programmer connects the data and business logic to the design - Test with target audience
3. Acceptance Phase
   • Quality Assurance Testing
     • Does it always do what it's supposed to do?
     • Proofreading
     • Stress Testing

Web Resources:
Methods Table - from Usability.net - clickable table to let you choose from the toolbox for your situation (2003)
Kelly Goto - Process
ProjectConnections.com - notice that there's no user testing scheduled until the end! This is truly classic project management.
90% of All Usability Testing is Useless - Lane Becker tells why classic CHI (Computer Human Interface) user testing doesn't work well for the web. Good article on when and why to do user testing. (June 2004)

 

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