Web Usability Blog

We were recently approached by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to help them redevelop their website. Previously the website had been aimed at researchers seeking funding for their work. Conscious of the need to engage with a broader public base, BBSRC were keen to ensure the content was 100% user focussed and accessible to an audience beyond academia. At the same time, they wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the profiles and goals of their existing website users.The BBSRC website is crammed full of information on some of the most exciting areas of contemporary science. It also provides information on research grants for everything from sustainable agriculture to theoretical biology. Given the breadth and depth of this resource, the engagement of Web Usability presented an excellent opportunity for BBSRC to reappraise how their website could be made more readily accessible to the general public, students, the media and opinion leaders. BBSRC also planned to introduce additional content, and wanted to ensure that it was built around this broader user base. We carried out some initial usability testing at our Wiltshire studios with a group of appropriate users. This revealed a number of issues that limited the success of the user experience. They concerned the layout of the website, but we also identified some navigation issues that made task completion difficult.

When I stepped off the tarmac in Athens after an easyJet flight from London, my baggage allowance contained neither bathers nor beach reading. I was here at the invitation of Stelios himself. The entrepreneur founder of the easyGroup of companies had asked us to gather user evidence about his newest web based holiday business. easyCruise offers cruises to Stelios's ancestral home, Greece; and consequently is perhaps also the company closest to his heart.

It's interesting to see that 'Target', a large US retail operator, has just agreed to pay $6 million and make its Web site more accessible to the visually impaired by next year, to settle a class-action dispute with the National Federation of the Blind.

WUP usability tested the digitised version of one of the most important books in the world - the Codex Sinaiticus - prior to its recent launch.

Web Usability has recently invested in a state of the art mobile testing rig and eye tracker. This allows us to observe exactly what users are looking at when using a smartphone or tablet.

• Why go mobile?
• Mobile sites
• Why have a mobile site compared with an app?
• Apps
• Why have an app compared with a mobile site?
• Why not have both?
• Combining mobile and traditional channels
• Conclusion
• References

Download this article in PDF format

• Why use a faceted search?
• Pitfalls
• Current trends
• Faceted search across different sectors
• Position of faceted search
• Number of facets
• Type of facets
• Facet selection method
• Displaying results
• Breadcrumbs
• Variations
• Faceted search and usability
• Conclusion
• References

We were delighted to hear recently that one of our private sector clients has achieved a fourfold improvement in purchase conversion rates, which translates into a significant increase in the bottom line, after the implementation of recommendations from usability testing undertaken by Web Usability. This is tangible evidence of the power of usability testing to both improve the user experience and yield considerable return on investment for site owners; it also reinforces the finding in the Econsultancy Conversion Report  that survey respondents whose conversion had improved over the last 12 months carried out on average three times more website tests than those whose conversion had not improved.

Manage expectations. Your app description must clarify what it does and doesn't do. It should be short, bullet pointed and not full of jargon.

Managing expectations when producing an app is vital. Not doing so leaves users disappointed and could potentially damage your brand.
Take the Sainsbury's app for example. Do you expect to be able to buy your food shopping on this app? Most people would answer 'yes' to this question. So the question is, if you can't order shopping on this app, what's it for? It can find your nearest Sainsbury's, tell you about the latest offers and provide you with Sainsbury's news. Whilst these features are nice to have, it is questionable whether this is what users expect. User reviews include Sainsbury's need to launch an iPhone shopping app, I for one have defected to Tesco's. Come on Sainsbury's, keep up with Tesco. This app is useless. We want a Sainsbury's shopping app, not a guided tour to nowhere!. In their defence, however, the app description does outline what it does in reality: a store locator, information about top deals, Sainsbur's news and Nectar points information. Despite this though, this app fails to meet users' expectations.