How and why to test the website usability

Each time users visit a website, they are trying to solve a task or problem. Therefore, they expect to avoid having to solve additional problems, such as dealing with an incomprehensible menu or information presentation structure. In case the page contains complications with seemingly ordinary elements of the site or they are placed in unexpected and unusual places for the user, they will most likely be unable to find a solution to their problem and leave the site. Nowadays, when competition among different resources is very high, this situation must be prevented.

Usability Testing is a study to determine the level of training and comprehensibility of software use. Website usability testing is an important tool of Internet marketing.

The purpose of usability testing is to determine whether the users who the product is intended for will be able to understand the product interface by themselves and how quickly they can do it.

A user-friendly and clear website allows to increase the number of visitors turned into customers, leading to a higher conversion rate (the ratio of visitors, expressed as a percentage of those who performed the desired action on the site, to the total number of visitors in one period of time). Users enjoy and benefit more from interacting with well-organized website content. Still, when web designers create a website design, they may not always be able to objectively assess the usability of the resource due to their personal qualities and direct work with the project. The created structure will seem clear, convenient, and familiar to them. As a result, the inconveniences and shortcomings of the created design may be overlooked. To provide an objective assessment of the site, testers are involved to look at it from the end user's point of view.

Usability testing is conducted by using black box and white box methods. The tester for a while becomes an ordinary user from the target audience of the product, studies the product and gives it an assessment.

White-box testing helps to determine the level of satisfaction in case of changes and growth, as well as interaction with additional systems or modules. The development of a proper and user-friendly interface helps to increase the speed of writing and maintaining the created code, and will generally improve the quality of the product.

It is important to understand that usability testing should be performed at all levels of testing (module, integration, system, acceptance). Also, at each level, there should be test cases for different types of users: from the developer to the average user.

First, let's take a look at the most common website usability mistakes:

• excess or lack of information on the website;
• overloaded graphics, screensavers;
• poor or atypical placement of functional blocks;
• poorly designed grouping of goods and services;
• lack of clear instructions, and explanations on how to use the basic functionality of the site;
• inconvenient or too complicated navigation.

After analyzing these mistakes, the basic requirements and standards for website usability are created. Testing and analyzing website usability, finding flaws, fixing errors, and continuous improvement will significantly increase website conversion.

This can be done based on the main factors that affect usability:

• Navigation. It is recommended to minimize the number of transitions and organize an intuitive structure.
• Design. It is necessary to adhere to a single style and a coherent picture in the design of the site.
• Design of pages with product cards. Cards should contain detailed information and high-quality photos or videos.
• Simplified order form. It is advisable to provide a minimum number of fields for filling in the form.
• Built-in search. The most relevant search and the ability to choose filters yourself.
• Download speed. The higher the speed, the better.
• Content quality. Not only the quality of text is important, but also its quantity and the frequency of information updates.

It is very important not to skip the evaluation of website usability. Today, this is one of the most important points in working with behavioral factors. A website that takes into account the rules of the usability will be better perceived by the user. It will be intuitive and user-friendly, which will lead to an increase in the number of customers and a better ranking in search results. User factors help the site to bring more desired results to its owners.

The usability of the website is evaluated according to the following criteria:

• How easy it is to learn. How quickly users decide what to do on the site to solve the required task or problem. Whether the site has tips or other help for users.
• Intuitiveness. How easy is the interface to understand and perceive, is it possible to intuitively understand where to go, what to click, and what and where to enter to solve any issue.
• Effectiveness of use. How effectively user problems are solved, and whether it is possible to make the process even more efficient. How many steps should users take to solve their task/problem and get the desired result (the fewer the better). 
• Errors during use. How likely the user will make a mistake when using the product for the first time and how serious the problems can be.
• Level of error tolerance. How quickly users will understand which actions led to an error and what they need to do to fix the situation?
• Memorability. How quickly and easily the user repeats the same operation after a certain period of time without using the product.
• Predicted possibility. Whether all elements of the site related to solving the user's problem correctly perform their functions.
• Performance. Do the pages of the website load fast enough?
• The ability to quickly find information. Whether the most important information is located on the home page or in visible areas of the site.
• User experience. How much the visitor enjoys working with the system, and whether there are any moments that cause irritation or difficulties. Will the user recommend the website as a problem-solving tool to their friends with similar tasks/problems?

Usability testing is focused on increasing the level of user satisfaction with the website and the product's ease of use. Usability depends on such aspects as:

• content (text);
• text formatting;
• availability of the necessary functional elements and the logic of their operation;
• logical arrangement of website elements in relation to each other;
• the possibility of simplifying the user's interaction with the product and its elements through tips;
• product design, etc.

This is a general list that defines the direction the created product should take. In addition, at each stage of development, one should follow the rules that will allow the site to become attractive and convenient for visitors, that is, successful and useful. Among the various recommendations, we can identify the main one: the simpler the better. It is also effective to use standard solutions – users get used to certain algorithms of actions, and arrangement of elements and can easily understand how to work with similar products.

Examples of usability testing of input forms:

1. The entered data is saved after entering.
2. In the navigation block, you can see information about the user's current stage, which steps have been completed, and how many more steps are left to complete the form.
3. The tips and instructions for filling out the form are written in a clear and simple way for an inexperienced user.
4. In case the field names are not specified, an additional tooltip is displayed after hovering the mouse over the field.
5. All fields which are required to be completed are specially marked with some kind of symbol (for example, an asterisk *). It will be useful to write an explanation of why certain fields are required.
6. The user receives an email with a confirmation of acceptance of the completed form along with information on how the data will be processed and what is required from him or her in the future.
7. During user authorisation, the required personal data is automatically displayed in the form fields.
8. The form submission button is active only after activating the «Read user agreement»/«Agree to terms» checkbox, in case it is provided in the form, or after filling in all required fields.
9. The corresponding message is displayed if the user enters invalid data.

The presented examples will help to understand what one should pay attention to during usability testing. Simplifying the process of solving user tasks, studying the design of similar products to understand what users are more used to – all this is important to consider to create convenient and useful resources that users will like.