This week's review is about user testing for websites. The two sites I've referenced for this review are https://usabilitygeek.com/an-introduction-to-website-usability-testing/ and https://www.hotjar.com/usability-testing/.
After reading these two articles I have discovered that usability testing is a technique used to evaluate a website by testing it on users and observing their behavior or reaction to it. The goal of this testing is to reveal areas of confusion and discover opportunities that improve the overall user experience.
Three main categories of usability testing are: explorative, assessment, and comparative. Explorative testing is done during the early stages of product development to assess the effectiveness of a preliminary design or prototype, as well as users’ thought processes and conceptual understanding. Assessments are used midway in development or as an overall usability test for technology evaluation. While comparative testing compares two or more instructional technology products or designs and determines the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Usability testing is important because it is done by real-life users that do not have the same bias toward a website that developers have. Often developers are blinded by faults because of their intimate knowledge of their own product. By bringing in new users to test the website you can discern whether your visitors understand how your site works without confusion, can complete the actions they need to, don’t encounter bugs, and ensures they have a functional and efficient experience.