Discover the Best Usability Testing Checklist for Your Website

In any website, the user interface is very important. This is because your user interface determines to a large extent if the visitors to your website will become customers or if they would be gone just as soon as they came. Forever. This is because the UX of your website is very important.

You must be wondering why usability testing is so important for your website. To ensure that your website is user-friendly, you need to perform a usability test for your website. And to achieve this, you need a usability testing checklist. Follow me on this journey and you’ll discover the best UX testing checklist for your website.

What is usability?

A website or software application must be usable; this is very essential. Usability is something that helps the user instinctively find their way through any website or software application.

A website is said to be usable if it has features like ease of access, speed, and efficiency, good design view, quick and easy error recovery, and user remembering.

What is a UX test?

The usability test collects qualitative and quantitative data by seeking to know a user's experience of the interface either remotely or in person.

The UX test mainly consists of testing the efficiency of the interface in question as well as the simplicity and ease of navigation on the site to create a pleasant user interface.

This process generally involves observing users as they attempt to perform tasks on your website. User testing is often performed multiple times, from the start of the design until the end product is obtained.

I will be going on to the usability testing checklist in a minute. But to properly navigate the list, you have to know the methods of testing available to you.

What must I consider before performing a usability test?

Before choosing a precise test method, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of the target user, the available resources (time and money), and the research objectives. This information will not only help you select the test method that best meets your needs (face-to-face or remote test), but also to perfect the questions and refine your UX approach.

Methods of usability testing

There are two main usability tests: face-to-face and remote tests.

UX testing (also called usability testing or user testing) involves evaluating a product or service by observing and interviewing representative users. The goal is to collect information, optimize their experience and improve the efficiency of the digital product. There are several types and methods of testing, among which we find the face-to-face test and the remote test. Both methods are good. However, you must choose the one that's best for your website. If you're planning to perform a usability test for your website and don't know what's right for you, read on to explore these two methods!

Face-to-face user test

A face-to-face UX test allows a moderator (whether he is a UX designer familiar with research methods or a UX researcher) to ask questions to the user in real-time while being face-to-face. This allows the user to be predisposed to express his opinion openly and honestly. This test is carried out in any conducive environment such as the user's home so that they feel comfortable.

This method produces more genuine data as the body language and facial expressions of participants are taken into consideration. However, the method is deemed to be quite expensive.

Remote user testing

A remote UX test can be performed using two different methods: moderated and non-moderated. While there are pros and cons to both, choosing the right one for you depends on the conditions and your goals.

There is only one difference between the two: in the moderated UX remote test, a person who is virtually present can guide the tester in real time or moderate the tester's work after the test to ensure quality. However, during an unmoderated remote UX test, the user performs the test independently.

The moderated UX test is expensive and rigid, however the unmoderated method is flexible, saves time, money and easier to reach a larger number of participants. Through post-moderated remote user testing, we bring together guaranteed quality insights with the flexibility and ease of unmoderated testing.

What is the usability testing checklist to follow?

To properly perform a usability test for your website, there are 5 simple steps you have to follow. Let’s run through them so you can get your website revamped!

• Set goals

Before you start the UX testing for your website you should have a specific end to which you're working towards. That means at the end of the test, you must have found a solution to a problem that keeps occurring on your website.

Your goal may be to increase your conversion rate, get people to sign up for classes, or buy a product. You must have a clear goal in mind.

• Select a test method suitable for your goal

We have considered the methods available to you for your usability test. Your goal largely determines the kind of method you have to use for the test. Consider your goal and observe the method that will best solve it. Using the wrong method for a goal can jeopardize the whole process.

Your budget is also an important factor to consider when choosing which method to use. To decide which method to use, you can get the help of a UX company.

• Define the plan for the test

Since you have a goal in mind, then you have to set a realistic plan to reach that goal. You have to include what you want to test, how you will test it, how to carry out the test, the participants in the test, the yardstick for measuring your results, and the metrics to concentrate on for the test.

Determine the participants for the test

Even if you have the best plan laid out for the test, getting the wrong participants for the test will threaten the whole purpose of your test. Who are the target customers? Are they of a certain age group? Are they of a certain profession? Knowing this will determine the exact personas to recruit for your test. However, you should not only focus on individuals from your core target, you should include varieties of users that could use your website at any point in time as well. This would help you get feedback from different perspectives of potential users.

• Evaluate your results:

Now, you don't want to go through all the processes without properly analyzing your result. The whole point of the test is to get responses on your test and determine the result for proper application on your website.

Conclusion

In conclusion, remember that UX tests, whether face-to-face or remote, have tremendous advantages. Performing UX tests for your website helps increase your conversion rate. To properly perform the test, it is in your best interest to engage the help of a UX company.

If you want to improve the experience of your users and customers, Ferpection can help you along the way. Discover our methodological solutions here.