Web site usability tests are easy to run and they don’t have to be perfect for you to learn a lot from them. The important thing is just to do them on a regular basis so that you can observe user behavior on your site.
Every time I run one I learn new things about what works and what doesn’t on our site. I also learn how I can improve the way I conduct our testing.
Here are some things I’ve learned that you might find useful:
Top Ten Lists
Top Ten Usability Rules for Web Sites
I love top 10 lists. Not necessarily because I agree with every point in them, but because they make for easy reading and for very bookmarkable resources. Here’s another one worth adding to your favorites. Read More
10 SEO Tips
Jill Whalen has written a nice overview of how to get your site ranked well in search engines – Ten Tips to the Top of the Search Engines. In it, she hits all the important points. Read More
Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2003
Jacob Nielsen has posted his annual round up of what’s being done wrong on the web.
Actually, many of the problems he highlights are fairly minor, so if this is his list of consistent worst offenders, then the web is becoming a much more useable and accessible place.
Read More