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webdesignai.com http://www.webdesignai.com/guide-website-usability-testing/ Website Usability Testing: Why and How To Start? Being an aspiring web designer, it's extremely crucial for you not to overlook the importance of usability in your web design. Usability is a quality attribute that defines the level of convenience users enjoy while navigating around a website. Usability is a key aspect in a design which makes it easy to use, provide information in a logical sequence, position design elements on their desired locations and there should be a complete absence of ambiguity. If you have ever run a usability test before, then you'll know that it is not as easy as it looks. Although, it isn't an uphill battle, there are some key points which can create a difference. In this post, I have shared some knowledge about usability testing, and the ways you can opt to perform it. After performing the usability testing, you'd be in a better position to know about the potential issues in your design, help you get feedback what works and what needs to be worked, and gain a broader understanding of what users are actually doing on your website. What is Usability Testing? Usability testing is a method of testing a website design on its users. Whenever a usability test is going to be performed, an environment is constructed wherein a person performs a range of tasks to determine whether the web design is working properly or not.

Website Usability Testing: Why and How To Start?

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Page 1: Website Usability Testing: Why and How To Start?

webdesignai.com http://www.webdesignai.com/guide-website-usability-testing/

Website Usability Testing: Why and How To Start?

Being an aspiring web designer, it's extremely crucial for you not to overlook the importance of usability in yourweb design. Usability is a quality attribute that defines the level of convenience users enjoy while navigatingaround a website.

Usability is a key aspect in a design which makes it easy to use, provide information in a logical sequence,position design elements on their desired locations and there should be a complete absence of ambiguity.

If you have ever run a usability test before, then you'll know that it is not as easy as it looks. Although, it isn't anuphill battle, there are some key points which can create a difference. In this post, I have shared some knowledgeabout usability testing, and the ways you can opt to perform it.

After performing the usability testing, you'd be in a better position to know about the potential issues in yourdesign, help you get feedback what works and what needs to be worked, and gain a broader understanding ofwhat users are actually doing on your website.

What is Usability Testing?

Usability testing is a method of testing a website design on its users. Whenever a usability test is going to beperformed, an environment is constructed wherein a person performs a range of tasks to determine whether theweb design is working properly or not.

Page 2: Website Usability Testing: Why and How To Start?

There are basically three categories of usability testing:

Explorative- Used initially to analyze the effectiveness of a preliminary design or prototype. It also helps indetecting the user's thought process and understanding about the design.

Assessment - Used during the process of website development. The test is conducted to have an ideaabout the technology used within the design to determine the satisfaction level of the visitor.

Comparative - the test provides a clear cut comparison of two designs and highlights the strengths andweaknesses of both of them.

Getting Started with Usability Testing

Getting Rid of the Clutter

No visitor would like to browse a messy website because it simply makes their experience complicated. Therefore,don't hesitate to make use of a proper white space on your website. This makes the viewing easier andpleasurable.

Also, do not fill up your website with superfluous text and unnecessary images. Such kind of inclusion makes awebsite looking busy and chaotic. Practically, they make difficult for users to locate essential things. A clean andsimple design focuses on providing information to visitors and thus improves usability instantly.

Creating a Delightful First Impression

First impression works everywhere whether it's a gift shop or a website. When it comes to web design, one need toadd a greater degree of indulgence on your part to make sure the visitors are pleased at what they see and arewilling to spend more time contemplating on your offerings.

Elements such as navigation, color scheme, typography, page elements etc., have their own level of importance indrawing the user's attention. Also, the speed at which your page loads can make a huge difference in retainingyour visitors. To make sure your page loads fast, keep things such as videos, graphics, and images to theminimum.

The “Five Second Test” is a useful tool that helps you optimize your page speed load and make it in tune with callsto action by detecting the most essential elements of your website.

Improve Website Readability

Page 3: Website Usability Testing: Why and How To Start?

Nothing can beat the significance of a simple and clean website. This is especially true when it comes to definehow easy to read your website is. Here are some readability tips you can follow to improve readability of yourwebsite.

You need to be careful about the choice of color scheme, which should be in-lieu with what your website isall about and what it represents.

A really bright background with a cheesy color combination will widely put you off the mark.

Paying attention to a little typography that’s present on the home page will serve you well.

Develop Different Ways to Study Usability

Webmasters can work on several methods and techniques to evaluate the usability of their website. The mostbasic type of usability testing has three main components.

Getting hold of some representative users, customers, or even the employees who can perform some tasksfor the testing purpose.

Ask the user to perform some recurring tasks within the design.

Closely monitor what users do, where they succeed, and where they face complexities.

It's important to test different users individually and provide ways for them to solve the problems of their own first.Also, to detect the most significant usability issues, testing them with around 5 users is enough rather than doingan extensive study. Designers should focus on performing small tests and fix the fatal issues from the insightsgained from them. Iterative design is the most recommended way of improving the usability of your website andensuring a high quality experience.

To Sum It Up

Designing, planning, and implementing usability test is a sure proof way of fixing an array of usability problemswhich you might not notice. The only way to ensure a reliable user testing is to perform testing at each step of thedesign process, and thus see what actually works with your visitors.