Usability Testing

What It Is

Doing regular usability testing on your website pages is a best practice for managing your agency’s website. In a typical approach, a customer will perform website tasks while the web team and stakeholders watch, listen, and take notes.

Usability testing is one of the best ways to find out what is or isn't working on your site.

Why It’s Important

Research shows that people cannot find the information they seek on websites about 60 percent of the time. This can lead to wasted time, reduced productivity, increased frustration, and loss of return visits and money. See the Usability.gov website for more research on why usability testing is important.

First Fridays Usability Testing Program

GSA's "First Fridays" is a monthly session of streamlined usability testing that is all about finding and fixing usability problems. It's based on the "discount" usability testing method described by industry leader Steve Krug in his latest book, Rocket Surgery Made Easy.

Resources
 

• DigitalGov University offers webinars and 2-day courses on web usability, design, and other topics for web managers.
• Usability.gov is the primary government resource on usability and accessibility, including the latest usability research and training opportunities.
• USA.gov Comparison Test using Crazy Egg
• Website usability testing is used to collect customer feedback