Usability and Usability Testing

Usability is one of the key concepts of website design. It is paramount that any website be designed with the needs of potential users in mind, and that it is easy to find items and perform tasks on the site. A wide variety of individuals are taking advantage of the resources and information on the World Wide Web, but these individuals have diverse needs and preferences.

At his site, www.useit.com, Jakob Nielsen defines what usability is all about and how to perform usability testing. He explains why usability is important: "If a website is difficult to use, people leave. If the homepage fails to clearly state what a company offers and what users can do on the site, people leave. If users get lost on a website, they leave. If a website's information is hard to read or doesn't answer users' key questions, they leave." He also states that usability is also a fundamental part of e-commerce because if customers cannot find something, they obviously cannot buy it. So how does one find out whether their website is usable or not? By performing user testing. User testing involves asking several different people (representative users) to perform tasks on the site while monitoring their performance.

Nielsen also says that international users should be given special consideration. One interesting example he gives is an educational software called "Give the Dog a Bone" in which small children identify objects to give to the dog. He says it is "otherwise excellent", however, "when the dog asks for its ball, most European kids would probably point to the biscuit rather than the football since they have never experienced balls that are not round."

(http://www.useit.com/papers/international_usetest.html) This example shows how native cultures should be considered when designing software and sites for foreign countries.

In my next assignment for LS 560, I will be designing a Web usability test for a library website, describing about five users who would participate and the tasks they will perform. In addition, I will describe the methods I will use to monitor and report on their performance.