Web Words » User Experience

“Five guide” to do-it-yourself website usability testing (OJR)

Mishka — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:03:12 +0000

You’ve put months of work into a special multimedia project. The time-consuming processes of creating and editing text, audio, photos, video and animated graphics has been arduous, but rewarding. You’ve learned more about Flash programming and debugging than you ever intended. And now that there’s an end in sight, you are more than ready to get the package online and out of your life.

Enter the spoiler — the person who utters the words “usability test.” Use these steps, and these forms, to test how readers will react to your new multimedia project or website design.
(Article dated: August 2, 2007)

Read OJR’s ‘five guide’ to do-it-yourself website usability testing

10 ways to orientate users on your site (WebCredibles)

Mishka — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 05:50:23 +0000

Imagine you’re driving along and due to a road closure you have to follow those conspicuous yellow detour signs. You’re now on an unfamiliar road, but because of the signs you confidently proceed, comfortable in trusting the arrows to tell you where you need to go.

Then there’s a roundabout and no sign. Do you turn left? Right? You’re lost and have two choices; turn back and find an alternate road you know well or blindly drive around and hope for the best.

Websites are very similar, no matter what their ultimate goal is, your site visitors need to intuitively find their way around. Too often, general website navigation and orientation disappears or changes on internal pages.

In fact, with websites this point is even more pertinent as users can just ‘evaporate’ and leave your site, instead of being forced to drive around aimlessly! (Article dated: August 2007)

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10 Ways to ruin visitor experience on your website (Ecommerce Blog)

Mishka — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 14:49:05 +0000

Good reminders on what not to do when creating a site. (Article dated: September 7, 2006)

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7 Usability Guidelines for Web Sites on Mobile Devices (Web Credibles)

Mishka — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:51:39 +0000

More and more mobile phones users are browsing and searching the Internet on their handsets. These 7 guidelines are based on actual user research conducted with mobile phone users. Users were asked to carry out typical tasks on popular websites using a mobile phone browser. The issues they encountered were used to produce these guidelines.

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Avoiding Website Assumptions that Mask Your Blind Spots (Web Marketing Today)

Mishka — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 12:53:09 +0000

Only by assuming that your users know nothing about your site will you convert the most visitors. (Article dated: December 7, 2006)

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Beyond Guidelines – Advanced Accessibility Techniques (WebCredible)

Mishka — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 13:14:34 +0000

When creating accessible websites, most Web developers and Web managers tend to follow the W3C accessibility guidelines. The W3C accessibility guidelines, or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines as they’re officially known, could go slightly further however. (Article dated: July 14, 2006)

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Click Here and Other Link Text

Mishka — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:09:08 +0000

This is an essay about the accessibility of link text and how that is handled in the web accessibility guidelines. Since those guidelines are changing, it is a good time to look at this issue. (Article dated: June 16, 2007)

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Exploring User Mental Models of Breadcrumbs in Web Navigation

Mishka — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 14:16:40 +0000

Breadcrumbs are a common Web site navigation element, yet little is known about whether users notice, use and understand what they are. The authors surveyed 4,775 sites to determine how many use breadcrumbs and what conventions exist, then conducted usability tests to explore user mental models of breadcrumbs. (Article dated: February 27, 2005)

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Five Techniques for Getting Buy-In for Usability Testing

Mishka — Thu, 03 May 2007 13:47:40 +0000

One of the questions that comes up time and time again from clients is, “How can we get buy-in for usability tests from management and other team members?” (Article dated: April 2007)

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Galleries: The Hardest Working Page on Your Site (UIE)

Mishka — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 13:40:00 +0000

The galleries — the list of links to content — are your site’s hardest working pages. They are the final page that separates those users who find the content they are seeking from the users who won’t. A well-designed gallery page will drive users to success every time. A poorly-designed site will only serve to drive users away. (Article dated: November 30, 2005)

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