What is the Importance of Usability testing?

The primary purpose of a usability test is to gather the data needed to identify usability issues and improve a website’s or app’s design.

Importance: From the user’s point of view, usability is important because it can make the users complete the task accurately, and users can operate it with a pleasant mood rather than feeling stupid. From the developer’s aspect, usability is an important principle to determine the success of a system.

Goal: The goal with Usability Testing is to recreate real world scenarios where the user will be actually using your product, then by observing their behavior you will be able to understand what could be done better.

Example: In terms of incorporating a website in a business direction, website usability is very important. Good website usability creates a good impression for visitors that may be potential clients. It is an important strategy to make the website easy to navigate; enabling visitors to quickly find what they are searching for.

Performing user testing at the end of the Development phase of the project, before the new website is deployed, can help designers and developers verify that the site’s issues have been addressed and that the redesigned site will meet the users’ needs.

The main benefit you may see after conducting successful usability tests is an improved retention rate. You will understand why users leave your website and undertake steps to change the situation for the better. You are not likely to receive objective opinions from the members of your team.

Another example is designing products.

Usability testing, or user testing, is the stage in the design process which enables you to evaluate your product or service with real users and enables you to create human-centric products. Through this process, you can really explore and analyse your target audience’s behaviour when interacting with your product.

However, there are certain disadvantages of Usability Testing:

• • It can be costly in terms of facilities and equipment and also staff time.
  • It is only possible to undertake with a small sample of potential users.
  • The data accumulated can be fairly complex and time consuming to analyse.
  • They require a significant commitment by participants.