This document discusses various free and low-cost usability testing tools that can be used to evaluate a website, including Optimal Workshop, Optimizely, and Marvel. It provides an overview of different types of usability testing techniques like card sorting, first-click testing, and A/B testing. Pricing and feature comparisons are given for the main tools, emphasizing that many offer free basic plans. The conclusion encourages testing early and often.

1. ASSESS YOUR WEBSITE
Chad Haefele
Interim Head of User Experience
UNC Chapel Hill
cHaefele@email.unc.edu
With free usability testing tools

2. Q: What Is Usability testing?
A: Evaluating something by
testing it with users.
(Over and over again)

3. Card Sorting
Credit: https://flic.kr/p/2oa9re

4. First-Click Testing

5. A/B Testing
Credit: https://flic.kr/p/73Crxn

6. Prototype Testing
Credit: https://flic.kr/p/8ze3xe, https://flic.kr/p/7Et7po

7. Why Test Online?
OR

8. Optimal
Workshop
OptimalWorkshop.com

9. Optimal Workshop
Optimal Sort

10. Optimal Workshop
Optimal Sort

11. Optimal Workshop
Optimal Sort

12. Optimal Workshop
Treejack

13. Optimal Workshop
Treejack

14. Optimal Workshop
Treejack

15. Optimal Workshop
Treejack

16. Optimal Workshop
Chalkmark

17. Optimal Workshop
Chalkmark

18. Optimal Workshop
Chalkmark

19. Optimal Workshop
Reframer

20. Optimal Workshop
Reframer

21. Optimal
Workshop
OptimalWorkshop.com
• $995/year (after a 50% edu discount)
• Free plan
• Unlimited tests
• 10 users per test
• OptimalSort: 30 card limit
• Treejack: 3 task limit
• Chalkmark: 3 task limit
• Reframer: Entirely free

22. Optimizely
Optimizely.com

23. • We explore such basics as play and add-to-queue
button placement, size, and functionality. We tested the switch
last year of whether the home page should be DVD or streaming
focused.
• We even test things like page load time, and streaming encoding
quality, and streaming startup time, to know which of those kinds of
optimizations should get the most of available engineering attention.
• We are very proud of our empirical focus, because it makes us
humble - we realize that most of the time, we don't know up-front
what customers want. The feedback from testing quickly sets us
straight, and helps make sure that our efforts are really focused at
optimizing the things that make a difference in the customer
experience.
Source: http://www.quora.com/What-types-of-things-does-Netflix-A-B-test-aside-from-member-sign-up

24. • Overall we executed about 500 a/b tests on our web pages in a 20
month period which increased donation conversions by 49% and
sign up conversions by 161%.
• By turning the long donation form into 4 smaller steps we increased
the conversion rate by more than 5%.
• In the following test we had two photos. The first was a medium shot
of the President at the dinner table, but it didn't have much context as
nothing was in view/focus. Previous tests showed that large photos
with focus on the President increased conversions. The second photo
had a wider frame that revealed the First Lady and two dinner guests.
We hoped that users would be more likely to convert if they could see
just how close they would be sitting to the President of the United
States during dinner.
By changing the photo on the splash page we lifted conversions
by more than 19%.
Source: http://kylerush.net/blog/optimization-at-the-obama-campaign-ab-testing/

25. Optimizely

26. Optimizely

27. Optimizely

28. Optimizely

29. Optimizely
Optimizely.com
• Pricing is difficult to pin down – used to be
$850/year
• Free plan
• 50,000 visitors per month will see your
test in action
• Can’t do “Multi-page funnel” experiments
• “How to best use the Optimizely free
plan”: http://bit.ly/optimizelyfree

30. Recruitment

31. Marvel
MarvelApp.com

32. Marvel
Build a prototype for any device

33. Marvel
No coding necessary!

34. Marvel
MarvelApp.com
• Pro level: $15 per month
• Free plan
• Unlimited projects
• Can’t do offline tests
• Can’t remove Marvel branding

35. Test Early, Test Often!

36. Further reading
• Using Optimizely’s free plan: https://marktisans.com/best-
use-optimizely-free-plan-starter/
• A/B Testing with Google Analytics:
• https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1745147?hl=
en
• Overview of usability testing techniques:
http://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/

37. ASSESS YOUR WEBSITE
Chad Haefele
UNC Chapel Hill
cHaefele@email.unc.edu
With free usability testing tools