Usability Research and Usability Evaluation

With a strong foundation in Strategy our approach to optimising your website will always include the research and evaluation of your website's usability i.e. how user friendly your website is. Getting traffic to your website is your objective but getting that traffic to convert is the ultimate goal, therefore it is essential that your site is easy to use and guides people to your goals quickly.

What Is Usability Evaluation All About?

Usability evaluation refers to the process of assessing the capability of a website in being used easily by its intended users. This involves evaluating the quality of a user’s experience while browsing the site. It also pinpoints the qualitative issues involved in the designer-user gap in order to find solutions for constant improvement in bridging these usability gaps. This gap typically implies the ‘disconnect’ between a web designer and a user wherein the designer fails to anticipate what the user might want.

What does an effective Usability Evaluation strategy involve?

An effective usability evaluation strategy typically analyses several aspects of an effective user centred design such as navigation, overcoming barriers that come up on the site that intervene with a user’s interest, colours that are used on the site, flashing images and so on.

The fundamental purpose of a website is to represent a company in cyberspace and tell the whole world, "This is who we are and here is what we can do for you.” But understanding the user experience is a different avenue altogether.

The following user experience checklist enables web designers to evolve a strategy that maps their web design to the needs of their users' when they visit a web site:

• Effectiveness
   
  • Can the users who visit this website find and accomplish whatever they set out to do?
• Easy to learn and remember
   
  • Is it obvious to users on how the website is to be used?
  • Can users automatically do what they need to do without referring to instructions on the site?
  • Is the user interface easy to recall when it is used the next time?
• Error free handling
   
  • Is the browsing process error proof and frustration proof?
  • If errors do occur, are these easy to understand and overcome?
  • Is a user’s experience on the web site obstructed by errors and requires users to start all over again?
• Satisfaction
   
  • Is the presentation and feel of the website design compatible with its purpose?
  • Do users find the design as an average experience or much more satisfying?

Do I need a Usability Evaluation Strategy?

Yes, you definitely require an expert to formulate an effective usability evaluation strategy.

Have you heard the famous words of Alan Kay, an acclaimed computer scientist, whose famous words were: “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”

This is exactly what an expert will do for you. An expert will be competent to identify usability issues, present exactly what difficulties users face when they interact with prototypes or any existing designs, decide on accessibility reviews for disabled visitors and encourage the design team to reach a consensus on a final design with minimal rework and support costs. This way, you will be able to grasp user perspective at the earliest phase of the design process and modify it to guarantee a great user experience.

If you would like to know more about our range of search engine optimisation services contact us today on 0845 838 0936 or drop us an email.