Usability On The Cheap

Today's corporate firms focus increasingly on their online presence. However, not many understand the long-term implications of not testing their site's usability before it goes online, and in a recessionary era like the one just past, frequently usability is all too easily forgotten. Often no funds are allocated to conduct usability testing, even though it's a key component of any online or interactive project. In an ideal world, a Website should be evaluated for usability from the point of a new concept's inception, to the final execution and upload.

So if the budget's tight, does it automatically mean an unusable site? Not according to Dr. Deborah J. Mayhew, proponent of "Discount Usability" -- low-cost testing techniques. According to Dr. Mayhew,

Discount usability techniques can be used to test a site's users without setting up a state-of-art usability lab. The methodologies are also simple and easy to implement, and the test can be completed in a short period of time, which puts discount usability well within the reach of those who can't afford the time or money to commission professional laboratory usability studies.

According to Jakob Nielsen,

Define your Goals

Before jump-starting for the test, you need to define your goal -- what you want the test to do. As user testing occurs at various stages of the project, you need to define your requirements for the test at every stage. The requirements could vary considerably:

• confirming that the user can perform a certain task,
• ascertaining how long it takes them to perform that task, and
• identifying whether the user understands the buttons or icons you have created,

...all represent potential goals of those undertaking discount usability.

Indeed, the "dreamed for" goals can be many, but you really need to zero in on the primary requirements of the stage for which you're testing the site. You'll also need to decide whether the results from the test can be used directly, or whether they'll have to be calculated from the observations before they represent 'actionable' findings. Considering these aspects will help you chose an appropriate test methodology and task list.

Discount usability methods encourage regular evaluations of the interface, allow problems to be identified and addressed early, and facilitate the execution of more efficient and focused formal usability testing. But for discount methods, just as for all usability testing methods, we need to be able to ascertain which evaluation goals are achieved and how, the costs, the benefits, and the conditions of application.

As Wayne D. Gray says, "The time required to apply these techniques is almost totally a function of the amount, degree, and level of analysis required to understand how the human and the computer must interact to perform the task. Shortcutting the time required to do these analyses may make interface design faster but the result is no bargain."

Decide on the Evaluation Method

Some methods are suitable for one stage -- and others for another stage -- of the project's development. Some of the most frequently used methods of Discount Usability testing are:

• Paper Prototyping
• Heuristic Evaluation
• Scenarios