Usability Test.

IS A POWERFUL DIAGNOSTIC TOOL TO IDENTIFY USABILITY PROBLEMS, BEFORE A WEBSITE IS PUBLISHED.

The usability test is an analysis of key aspects of an interface (website, software, mobile application) through experience and direct interaction with its users. The purpose of usability testing is to reveal usability problems and suggest recommendations for their solution, optimizing the interface, improving the user experience and consequently the chances of success of the interface. 

If the experience of users with an interface is frustrating, the impact will affect the brand, the company and the product or service in question. No matter how many analysis were made ​​during the process of building an interface, experience shows that there are problems that only appear when the interface is tested with real users. 

Why? Because an interface is developed by designers, programmers, marketeers, etc. but not by its users. You need to know what is the profile of users who interact with the interface, what are their goals, context and situation of use. An interface is always accessed with certain objectives in mind, which can be classified as follows:

• Information: when a person want to know the market price of a particular product before buying it; or read the news of the day; or know the exact amount of square kilometers China has.
• Playful: as a way to enjoy the free time to socialize, entertain and play.
• Transactional: when it is necessary to interact with an interface through a series of complex operations to obtain a certain result.

In addition to these objectives there are contexts and situations of particular use. For example it is not the same a six years old child navigating from his home, than a teenager going home and using his/her smartphone, or an adult who is connected from his/her office. The most common contexts of use are:

• Home
• Office
• Mobile

In the past two years we have seen a boom in the mobile field. Mobile connections emerged thanks to technology development that has personal connectivity to mobile phones as the main engine, and definitely is the context that will prevail in the future. 

From the combination of users objectives and contexts of use on one side, and demographic audience analysis on the other, accurate users' profiles can be built. 

With a good description of users' profiles, you can make the recruitment of individuals who will perform the tests, and then select a set of critical tasks to be performed on the site that is being tested. 

Some examples of these tasks can be: suscribe to a newsletter, buy a product, arrange a travel itinerary, or check movie listings. 

Difficulties, expressions of discomfort, as well as positive insights are collected from users while they perform tasks. The usability analyst takes notes and then evaluates each problem in order to categorize it according to type of error. 

Test results constitutes the raw material for recommendation reports with a number of changes to improve the overall experience with the interface.

Usability test provide short and long term results. The immediate result is a list of general recommendations to improve the site. The long-term benefit is a better understanding of how to design more usable products from the information obtained from  users. In addition, a usability test provides the following benefits for developers:

• Reduced production costs: the costs and time to develop an interface can be reduced by avoiding overdesign and reducing the number of subsequent changes required in the product.
• Reduced maintenance costs and support: the systems that are easy to use require less training, less support for the user and less maintenance.
• Reduced costs of use: better usability increases productivity and quality of actions and decisions; users can make a more efficient use of their time and operate the system as a whole.
• Improved product quality: the user-centered design process allows the production of better products in a market that demands easiness of use.

In short, usability testing is a powerful diagnostic tool for finding usability problems in interface design. Correcting these problems will lead to better user experience that will impact directly on the brand, product, service, and company.