user experience testing

Having worked with many clients, we like to think we know what does and doesn't work when it comes to web design and development. So what is best practice when it comes to website usability? Let's break it down into design and development.

Web Design Usability

Web design usability includes everything from template design and information architecture (E.g. Menu text and URL's) to colours, text and placement of key call to action buttons and/or forms. Generally, you want your most important information kept above the digital fold of the monitor (the point you before you need to scroll down). If users are forced to scroll for pages and pages in order to find your 'Buy Now' button, you're likely to receive a poor response compared to if you featured the button clearly and neatly near the top of the page. Its factors like these and many more we think about when designing websites.

Web Development Usability

With the marketplace being filled with so much different hardware and software your website needs to function smoothly and trouble-free in any browser on any computer. We make sure that our coding fulfils these criteria by testing it across multiple browsers including:

•     Internet Explorer
•     Mozilla Firefox
•     Google Chrome
•     Safari
•     Opera
•     iPad

The other major usability factor to consider is mobile phones. Web users are turning more and more to smart phones such as iPhones and Blackberries to browse the web. We can offer mobile websites so users have a custom experience which allows easy navigation and button clicking on a smaller screen.

We have extensive experience in user experience testing across all types of commonly used hardware, operating systems and web browsers. We know exactly what to look for when it comes to user experience testing.

Why is user experience testing so crucial?

Have you ever tried to view a website, perhaps something which interests you, but due to the frustrations of using the website, left the site by clicking "back" or "home"?

If you have then you're not alone. This is a common problem many website owners face, often without even knowing it. The website they have either designed themselves or had designed for them may look fantastic on their operating system, on their monitor, on their PC, but possibly not so fantastic on another device.

Common problems that many website owners face, is that they don't have the devices necessary to carry out user experience testing over a multitude of different web browsers. We have all of the needed software, operating systems and hardware to give us the widest range of results during user experience testing.

User experience testing can be a very frustrating and time consuming job

Where IT is concerned, any problems which may present themselves can often only be discovered through trial and error. This can take a great deal of time and effort and may be too much for a small firm to carry out alone. Many small businesses need their employees doing their main tasks. Pulling them off their main job to carry out this task is not realistic. These employees also have more than likely, never been involved with user experience testing in the past, so they do not have the required experience to know exactly what they are looking for.

At itsimple, we know the common mistakes many people make and we will make sure they do not occur on your website. We also have the experienced staff to dedicate to this laborious task. We carry out user experience testing in a manner that guarantees nothing is missed, by following step-by-step user experience testing. By carrying out user experience testing in this manner, we eliminate possibilities for errors by eliminating them as we go. Using this controlled manner, we make sure nothing is overlooked.

Why is it so crucial to have user experience testing carried out?

User experience testing can uncover errors which could, in the worst case scenario, completely ruin a website's chances of success. Many website owners will not be aware that there is a problem at all, only that their revenue and traffic may be reduced. User experience testing will make sure anything which is preventing potential customers purchasing products or services is removed or repaired.

User experience testing is very cost effective, since the easiest way to drive additional revenue to your business is to fix the mistakes you are making. It requires no additional expenditure other than the low cost of the user experience testing itself. This gives it a cost to benefit ratio that far exceeds many other ways to drive customers to your business.

At itsimple, our comprehensive user experience testing will hunt down and eliminate these problems.

This not only guarantees that your website is operating correctly, but also gives you peace of mind, and allows you to rule out poor website design when considering your business development.

In other words by having user experience testing carried out with us, you know your website is fully operational, across all types of web browsers and devices. This means you know that your website design is not a factor if something is not progressing as expected. You can then divert your resources to prioritize other areas of your business.

And by making sure everything as is as it should be, you are also improving your reputation with your customers. Customers who have had a positive experience with a business, are far more likely to recommend these products or services to their friends. This "word of mouth" advertising is more valuable than any other type of advertisement, because people tend to trust the opinions of their good friends and relatives over any other type of endorsement. By making sure your website is usable, you are making sure you keep everyone who uses your business happy and that you take advantage of this good will towards your brand.

So if you wish to benefit from our extensive knowledge on this subject, contact itsimple today and we will make sure your website is free from problems, no matter how obscure the device or web browser. By doing this, you can rest easy that you will never be limiting yourself by making easily rectified errors.