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Usability Foundations

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Usability Testing

2:41 with Dan Gorgone

No matter what role you play in the design or development of a website or app, you can do usability testing to improve it. By testing the most important goals users have on your site or app, you can ensure they work, and that your users will be successful.

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    [Dan Gorgone] No matter what role you play in the design or development of a website or app, you can do usability testing to improve it. 0:00
    In a nutshell, usability testing allows you to test your site or app with almost anybody using any kind of device. 0:07
    The goal, however, should not be to test every single piece of your design or functionality, 0:14
    it should be to collect qualitative data to understand how the most vital parts of your site or app work 0:20
    when you consider how the average person might use it. 0:26
    The first thing to know is that testing doesn't have to take a long time or cost a lot of money. 0:30
    I mean you can if you prefer that but most people don't 0:35
    because they want quick feedback on select items so they could move forward 0:38
    and they'd rather devote their time and money to other resources. 0:43
    But, know this, without testing your designs periodically throughout the entire development process, 0:47
    you run the risk of missing some easy fixes that could turn into big problems when left unattended. 0:52
    The further into your design process you are, the more difficult it is to change this. 0:59
    It catches them early by doing usability testing. 1:04
    When we spoke about understanding our users, the key aspect of this is figuring out what they want to do on your site or app. 1:08
    Now, hopefully, you've thought of this before you lounged so it's been built with specific functionality and content 1:17
    to help users achieve their most important goals. 1:23
    Retail site want to give the users the ability to find products, detailed information, and the ability to make a purchase. 1:26
    Social apps want to give users the ability to see latest updates, find their friends, and share content. 1:35
    You should be prioritizing this content and these features with specific users and tasks in mind. 1:42
    These important tasks should be the focus of usability testing when you have a working site or app. 1:49
    What does it do and does it allow your users to do what they want? 1:55
    Asking people to try and accomplish these goals can give you insight into whether they are possible or not 1:59
    as well as how satisfactory the experience is. 2:06
    If you don't have a working site yet, present people with design markup and ask them where they might click to do important tasks 2:10
    such as where they'd go to make a purchase or how they would find friends and so on. 2:17
    Take some time each month or if you're on a specific kind of development cycle each time period before you start coding again. 2:23
    By testing the most important goals users have on your site or app, you can ensure that they work 2:31
    and now you're users will be successful and that will keep you in business. 2:36

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