Eyes on the user experience (user-testing websites with real people)
Notes from a presentation by Optimal Usability at Write Limited in Wellington, New Zealand on 25 November 2011.
Usability demo and discussion
Today I attended the fortnightly Wellington Usability Lunch. The theme was “Usability testing” and we viewed Steve Krug’s Usability Demo, which accompanies his latest book “Rocket Surgery Made Easy”.
The video is about 25 mins long and the ensuing discussion was mostly around what were the top three usability issues noted during the testing (there is a part in the video where you can pause and discuss with others).
The demo involved a few tasks on the website Zipcar - “car sharing, an alternative to car rental and car ownership”. One of the questions asked of the test participant was to find out what Zipcar promises about availability of cars - the fact that the participant located the information in the FAQ was a concern (as this would be key information), as was the fact that the participant was sidetracked by using maps to locate information.
Key message: Find the simplest solution to the problem and try tweaking first before redesigning.
You can watch the demo at your own leisure on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QckIzHC99Xc.
I used Steve Krug’s test script as a basis for some recent usability testing. There are other useful downloads (including chapters from the book) available at http://www.sensible.com/rocketsurgery/index.html. You can also borrow the book from the Wellington City Libraries.
