The document discusses web usability and usability testing. It recommends testing with 3-4 users to identify most significant problems. Usability testing involves having users try to accomplish tasks on a website while observers watch, listen and record results. The goal is to inform design improvements and test iteratively. Experts Steve Krug advises that even testing one user early is better than testing many users late in the process.

1. Web Usability &Usability TestingElaine Brennan

2. Web Usability?First law of web usability:‘Don’t make me think!’Steve Krug

3. Consistent identitylogo or site IDnametagline

4. Navigation

5. Types of pagesthe homepagepathway pagesinformation pages

6. The homepageidentify the site

7. set tone and personality

8. make clear what the site is about

9. help people start tasks immediately

10. direct them efficiently to what they wantPathway pagesget people to what they’re looking forlike a table of contentscreate a smooth path which doesn’t: make people think have to use the Back buttonmost people choose the first plausible looking option: satisficing

11. Information pagesdestination pages where users scan and get their information

12. Page layoutclear visual hierarchybreak pages into clearly defined areasmake it obvious what’s clickablekeep down the noise

13. Usability testing Usability testing helps you find out how well your website is working.

14. Doing a usability testYou carry out a usability test by:watching and listening as one user at a time responds to your sitetries to find specific informationtries to accomplish specific tasks with the website recording the resultsdiscussing results with your web teammaking changes accordingly testing again!

15. What Steve Krug knows:If you want a great site, you’ve got to test.Testing one user is 100 percent better than testing none.Testing one user early in the project is better than testing 50 near the end.The importance of recruiting representative users is overrated.The point of testing is not to prove or disprove something. It’s to inform your judgement.Testing is an iterative process.Nothing beats a live audience reaction.

16. How many users to test?Krug advises 3 or 4 will pick up nearly all of the most significant problems

17. Who to recruit?‘it doesn’t much matter who you test’ as:We’re all beginners under the skin.It’s usually not a good idea to design a site so that only our target audience can use it.Experts are rarely insulted by something that is clear enough for beginners.

18. Where and how to test?

19. Who, what, when? Who should do the testing?Who should observe?What do you test, and when?

20. Types of live-site test‘Get it’ testingKey task testing

21. Let’s usability test!Let’s have a go at doing a quick set of ‘Get it’ tests