Did you know that 50% of users won’t use a website if it’s not mobile-friendly—even if they like the brand?
If your website is hard to navigate, distracting, and unattractive, you’re practically serving your would-be customers and clients to the competition.
But how do you know your website isn’t sending your visitors in the opposite direction?
The answer: usability testing.
Usability testing is so effective that research shows 49% of businesses currently running usability tests plan to invest more money into it over the next year. And 47% of them spend less than £10,000 per year.
In this article, we’ll discuss what usability testing is and uncover nine effective usability testing methods.
What Is Usability Testing?
Usability testing is when brands test their product on users who represent their customers.
The testers give the users a list of tasks or instructions so that they use the product as if they had purchased it for themselves. Then, the testers evaluate whether or not the users have any issues using the product as it was intended to be used.
This lets the testers know where the product can be improved and if it’s easy to use.
This is different from asking for feedback, which is primarily used to improve customer experience and build positive client relationships.
Aside from looking for usability problems, the testers also collect quantitative and qualitative data.
Quantitative data is measurable, numbers-based data that gives specific information, such as how much of something there is.
Qualitative data is descriptive and open to interpretation. It attempts to show why and how certain behaviors occurred.
Based on the data collected, the testers then get an idea of the users’ overall satisfaction with the product.
Most usability testing methods are also cost-effective and not time-consuming. Research even shows that 85% of usability issues can be solved by a test with only five users.
Running usability tests doesn’t require a lab or expensive tools. It boils down to four basic steps:
- Make a test plan
- Recruit participants
- Run the test and collect data
- Analyze the results and create assessments and reports
1. Moderated Usability Testing
Moderated usability tests are run by a test administrator who guides participants through the test.
They’re typically longer and more extensive than other forms of usability tests, lasting 1-2 hours on average. They can be done in person or remotely, but they’re always done live.
The administrator’s goal is to collect as much qualitative data as possible. To do so, they should dig into the participants’ behaviors and impressions, such as why they answered the way they did.
The goal is to get a deep understanding of user behavior, pain points, and issues with product usability.
It’s essential to understand that this type of usability testing method will only work if your participants represent your actual target buyers.
Since moderated usability tests are usually done before a product is released, the goal is to save future time and money by solving product issues before they manifest in real life. You simply can’t do this if you aren’t asking the right people—those who would actually purchase it—to participate.
This applies to specialist products, like medical devices.
For example, when testing portable oxygen tanks, only those who have used them before will be able to give you the right feedback. Inexperienced testers may not pay attention to important factors like weight, mobility, aesthetics, and discreetness.
By working with testers who rely on their products, they gain a deeper understanding of the most important aspects.
2. Unmoderated Usability Testing
Unmoderated usability testing is the opposite of the previous method.
There’s no live test administrator. Instead, participants complete a series of tasks with the product on their own.
Although the testing session isn’t live or guided by an administrator, they are often recorded so you can review the session as many times as necessary. It’s also usually cheaper and takes much less time because of this.
The biggest benefit to unmoderated testing—besides being more budget-friendly—is that it allows you to test more people. This is due to the lower time investment and convenience of being able to do the test on their own.
A business like Classical Guitar Shed can benefit from this usability testing approach. This online classical guitar site teaches guitarists of varying abilities through in-depth courses, articles, and video check-ins.
When testing this type of product, you don’t want the presence of a moderator interfering. Rather, you record the tests and the participants to determine what works and what doesn’t.
However, the main drawback is that without a moderator, you won’t be able to extract deeper answers from participants about their behavior.
3. Five-Second Test
The five-second test is a short, easy usability test that involves asking the participants a question about the product and only giving them five seconds to answer.
The purpose of the test is to find out what users’ first impressions of the product (or certain aspects of the product) are.
This test is commonly used for analyzing the usability of websites.
If users can find important information, navigate the homepage with ease, and do what they came to do without much effort, the site has good usability.
On the other hand, if the visitor can’t find relevant information quickly, it has poor usability. Sites with poor usability tend to have high bounce rates, leading to target audiences going to competitors.
Website usability testing is important in all industries. However, it is particularly crucial in competitive, service-based markets, like banking.
For example, homeowners looking for a mortgage are likely to scan a variety of websites to quickly find the information they’re looking for.
If they don’t get the details they need within five seconds, they’ll move on to the next option.
In this example, you can spot the primary services Eden Emerald Mortgages offers along the header (Home Loans, Calculators, etc.) within five seconds. This may or may not be the goal of the business.
Therefore, in this scenario, the test administrator might ask the participants questions like:
- What part of the homepage sticks out to you the most?
- What do you think the company is selling?
- Who do you think the product/service is for?
The administrator asks the questions one at a time, giving the participants five seconds to think of a response.
Because this test does not rely on or produce number-driven data, the data it collects will be qualitative.
One of the best things about the five-second test is that you can do it with large amounts of people, giving you an even bigger pool of qualitative data to pull from.
4. Guerilla Testing
Guerilla testing involves asking people in public spaces to participate in a short usability test.
The participants are chosen at random and have no history with the product or brand. Because of this, it’s best to offer an incentive for completing the test. Examples can include gift cards, a few dollars, etc.
The goal of guerilla testing is to gain insight into the perspectives and impressions of random, unbiased people in a short amount of time.
Because these people are in public places and aren’t expecting to take any tests, ensure it only takes 5-10 minutes or less.
The questions you ask are similar to the ones typically used in five-second tests. Ask for their immediate thoughts or impressions about a product. Or ask them to complete a few basic tasks to see if the product is easy to use and works correctly.
5. Card Sorting
Card sorting tests how users expect your website to look, function, and navigate.
It works by giving participants cards with specific website elements and concepts, such as header images, navigation menus, buttons, infographics, and more.
You can use open-card sorting or closed-card sorting.
Open-card sorts involve giving participants cards with already specified designs or concepts. The participants can then group these cards however they like.
Closed-card sorts are when participants sort the cards into groups you’ve already laid out.
This form of testing works well for niche industries, such as legal. If you’re looking for a law firm to represent you for a personal injury case, you’ll be after a very specific set of elements on the site.
Let’s take a look at Zehl & Associates as an example.
If they used the card sorting approach, they could draw conclusions about how to design their website’s homepage.
Do clients want the “Free Consultation” and chatbot feature front and center? Or would they prefer more details on their services?
With this type of testing, niche businesses can fully optimize their websites with their target audience in mind.
6. Lab Usability Testing
This usability testing method involves taking participants to a usability testing lab where they perform a series of tasks on a computer.
It’s a live and moderated session that typically takes between 20 and 30 minutes.
While participants are completing the test, the moderator collects qualitative data by asking questions about their behavior, just like in moderated usability testing.
It’s also common for other members of the business to observe the test behind one-way mirrors or cameras as it’s happening. This allows for even more qualitative data and user behavior observation.
Another thing lab usability testing has in common with general moderated testing is that it’s typically done in the prototype phases of a product release. The goal is to catch usability issues before they become problems after the product has been launched.
7. Eye Tracking
Eye tracking tests which aspects of your website draw users’ attention most and how they interact with a page visually.
It uses a pupil-tracking device that’s been mounted to the user’s computer to analyze their eye movements when looking at the page.
The test moderator asks the participant a question or instructs them to complete a task.
As the user is answering or fulfilling the task, the device collects data based on how the eye moves. This data is then turned into a heat map or movement pathway diagram.
Eye tracking is a worthwhile usability test to use when you want to find out which elements of your site are attracting or distracting visitors. The data collected from the test can then help you reduce things like bounce rate and card abandonment rate. And improve the time visitors stay on a page.
The only drawback is that eye-tracking tests are pretty expensive.
8. Phone Interviews
Phone interviews are essentially the remote version of moderated usability testing.
During a phone interview test, the administrator asks the participant to complete a series of tasks. They use a computer to complete the test, which also records their behavior.
The moderator also asks questions to better understand the participant’s behavior and later reviews the computer recording to analyze the test.
Phone interviews are more cost-effective than live, in-person moderated usability testing. And they also don’t restrict you to a certain geographical area when it comes to recruiting participants since they’re done remotely.
9. Session Recordings
Session recordings test a website’s UX (user experience) by recording the participants’ screens when they interact with it.
You’re able to see exactly where they click, scroll, and perform other on-site movements. You can also see where they exit pages, how easily they can navigate the site, how they interact with CTAs (Calls-to-Action), and more.
The goal of session recordings is to show you how users interact with your site. Most importantly, they help you identify major improvement areas, such as which elements are distracting and what makes a user leave.
The best part about this type of test is that the users are real-life people who don’t know they’re participating in a test.
This is done through special software that records random sessions and keeps the users completely anonymous.
As an example, take a look at the website of Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers.
If this law firm did a session recording usability test, they could easily figure out which menu bar option users go to first. Is their first instinct to find out which locations they service, or do they go straight to the results page?
Also, how many pages do they interact with before viewing the “contact” page, clicking the “get a free consultation” CTA, or interacting with the live chat software?
They can also analyze their blog posts to identify where readers lose interest or exit the page, or if they visit other pages.
Conclusion
Usability tests are valuable ways to gain insight into user behavior.
These nine tried-and-true usability testing methods are easy to integrate into your marketing strategy, regardless of budget.
Through the qualitative and quantitative data you collect, you’ll uncover countless ways to improve your website’s UX, product usability, and web page conversion rates.
