Usability Testing & Analysis
Why Usability Testing?
An easy-to-use site makes people happy, gets bookmarked, is shared among friends, and gets linked to. In a word, it is sticky. A website's stickiness is its ability to entice users to continue browsing it, and to come back next time.
Usability testing is one of the most effective ways to keep traffic on the increase at your website. We offer a few standardized website usability testing packages, and are also happy to design a customized test method for your website or software.
The idea behind usability testing is simple: put real people in front of a website or application, and watch them use it. By observing users in action rather than just asking them questions, we can learn and analyze how people actually behave, not how they think they behave. This is the crucial difference between self-reporting techniques such as focus groups, interviews and surveys and actual user testing.
Acting on the results of a well-designed usability test will strengthen the returns on your organization's technology investment. These returns come in the form of increased sales, quicker product releases, lower operating expenses, and happier customers.
Usability Services We Offer
Usability Audit
A participant contemplates her
card sort arrangement
Foraker Design's usability audit is an expert review that capitalizes on the fact that our researchers have observed many participants using a wide variety of websites over the years. Usability audits are a cost-effective way to break into user-centered website design for many organizations. Our usability experts take a look at:
- Who uses your website or application
- What these people are trying to accomplish
- How easy it is to accomplish important or frequent tasks
- Where improvements can be made that will increase user success and satisfaction
By breaking down the tasks that users must complete to experience success on your website or application, we can identify likely problem areas and offer solutions that are appropriate for your budget.
Usability Testing
Our usability testing packages include participant recruitment, experimental design and an extensive, qualitative usability report detailing usability issues encountered during testing, and recommendations for improvements.
Cameras capture both on-screen and
off-screen activity
We typically run individual user testing sessions in our state-of-the-art usability lab at our offices in Boulder, Colorado. However, we are happy to travel to your location as needed to conduct on-site usability testing.
- 5-Participant Usability Test
5-participant usability tests work well for smaller websites because they can lead to substantial improvements in traffic and sales without breaking the bank. - 10-Participant Usability Test
10-participant usability tests are best suited for larger websites, or for organizations that wish to bring more subtle issues into focus through the power of an increased sample size.
Customized Usability Testing
A larger participant pool brings more power, and iterative usability testing drastically increases the likelihood of success for your website. For websites or applications that have a lot of ground to cover—or more at stake—we are happy to design customized usability tests. We can work with your technology team, executives, board members, and other stakeholders to make sure that everyone's needs are addressed, while maintaining the scientific integrity of the study.
For more information about how our usability testing services can help your organization, please contact us.
We are also happy to design a test method that focuses on producing quantitative metrics. These metrics can then be benchmarked against competitors, or serve as a baseline for tests of future versions of the website or software. The results of these studies can offer powerful arguments for change within an organization—especially when stakeholders are concerned about statistical significance. We also can offer sophisticated recording of usability testing sessions, including participant facial expression capture, audio, and on-screen activity.
Usability Lab Rental
The Foraker Design usability lab is conveniently located in Boulder, Colorado (view map) and is used for a wide range of user-centered testing activities including card sorts, one-on-one user testing, and interview recording. Our lab features include:
- Control room with PC and participant-recording software
- High-resolution video camera
- Remote observation capabilities
- Participant waiting room
Contact us for more information regarding our usability lab facility and our rental options.
Usability for All
Usability testing typically involves recruiting participants that represent a large portion of your target audience. In some cases, this means recruiting participants from several different demographic profiles to fit known market segments or user personas. Unfortunately, there is one demographic profile that often gets ignored in usability evaluation and website design in general: disabled users. These users may suffer visual, motor, cognitive, or other disabilities. Their ability to browse (and spend money on) your website depends on your website's accessibility.