24 Usability Testing Tools In the past few years, there has been massive growth in new and exciting cheap or free web site usability testing tools, so here’s my list of 24 tools you may need to use from time to time. Gone are the days of using expensive recruitment firms, labs and massive amounts of time to create, deploy and report on usability tests. By using these usability testing tools and others like them, you have for the first time a complete set of tools designed to tackle almost any usability research job. From recruiting real users (with tools such as Ethnio) to conducting live one on one remote moderated tests (UserVue) to analyzing results of usability changes using A/B testing (Google Website Optimizer), there is a plethora of useful and usable tools to conduct usability testing. Why usability testing helps: But what good is conducting usability testing, how can it help? Caution! Of course, just because the tool is free, or practically free, doesn’t mean just anyone can and should use the tool. 1. 2. 3.
MockFlow: Online Wireframe Tool User Interface Design Pattern Library Mouse Tracking is better than Eye Tracking « Open Web Analytics The good folks over at ClickTake have posted a great piece on how eye tracking compares to mouse tracking in terms of analyzing web page usability. Mouse tracking differs from eye tracking in that a user’s mouse movements are recorded instead of their eye movements as they interact with a web page. The best way to think about mouse tracking is that it turns your web pages into a one way mirror through which you can literally watch how your users interact with the page. When it comes to usability work, mouse tracking often times is far more effective than eye-tracking because: It can be performed on live users of your site, instead of simulated in a lab.It doesn’t require specialized/expensive labs, recruitment efforts, consultants, or equipmentIf you use Open Web Analytics you can do it for FREE and get started immediately. Have you ever debated a design decision with a client or colleague only to wind up agreeing to disagree? Do users ever scroll the web page?
Five Simple but Essential Web Usability Tips The web has become a part of our lives. Folks from all walks of life, from upscale parts of New York to dirt road villages you probably will never hear of in Burundi, are all a part of what we call "the internet". The reasons they use the web is highly varied: it could be to search for news articles, directions to the nearest pub, the winter/fall clothing trends, post-grad research, or shopping for a handbag, the list is endless. It could be anyone too. On top of the web’s ubiquity, the web has gotten to an interactive all time high. And it’s only going to get better: we are seeing a myriad of emerging web apps and website trends that are revolutionizing the way we use and obtain information on the web. With this concept in mind, usability, how effortless it is to interact and use your website, is critical to its success. 1. A basic site feature nowadays is a search feature. Locate the search box where users can immediately find it. 2. Use CSS for layout and style where possible. 3. 4.
Form Tester | Tools overview | UsabilityTools - Remote User Experience Testing Improve your online forms’ performance. Learn how visitors interact with each field and find out which steps in the process cause dropouts. Minimize users’ effort and increase conversion rates. Sign Up Get 10,000 pageviews for free! Go into details Find out which elements of your online forms keep people from converting. Test every form Increase conversion from every type of online form. Get to know the user perspective See multi-step forms like your users do. Instant Collaboration Share a link to the data gathered with Form Tester and collaborate with your team or clients. No coding All you need to do is copy and paste a short JS script inside the website and you can start your study. Fast page load The installed script will not noticeably impact your page load time. Unlimited projects Launch as many studies as you need. Unlimited websites Track unlimited amount of websites. Control your expenses Schedule the study to finish after a certain number of pageviews or on a given date.
ANTETYPE: The new prototyping and design application for user interface designers - by ERGOSIGN Designing Social Interfaces John Dyer | Mouse Tracking: Beyond Analytics The next big thing after website traffic reports appears to be mouse tracking. There are several services popping up that use JavaScript to track a user's mouse movements and clicks. When you login to the service you can watch movies of exactly how a user explored a webpage using their mouse. This is a much cheaper alternative to a full-blown eyetracking system. Here are some of the major players so far (note all of them have nice real-word names instead of "web 2.0" meaningless madeup names): "Heatmaps" MapSurface.com – Based on his orginal AJAX Link Tracker, Glenn Jones' service overlays graphical click data on top of your site. "Mouse Movements" OpenCube.com – OpenCube has been known for it's nice DHTML/JavaScript/CSS widgets and menus, but it has also developed a product that goes a heatmap and actually tracks the mouse movements of users. "Free" MIT Labs – MIT's Media Lab has released a PHP-based tool that does some pretty powerful mouse tracking.
24 UX Articles to Start 2010 We’ve just begun a year and already I have been overwhelmed with the amazing UX articles, websites, and projects that have cropped up over the past few weeks. It is exciting to see the growth in this upcoming field. Today we’ve gathered some of the best of the UX-related web that we’ve found. I hope that you find a few new articles you enjoy. As always, if you find a UX resource you love, share it with our community! It’s also a great way to get some extra attention to your articles. What’s Next in Web Design? This post is a great outline of what we may expect to come in 2010’s web design trends. What Am I Saying Yes To? More and more I am beginning to understand the role of copy in user experience. Spending Quality Time with Your Search Log Oh, something we all need to start out the new year doing. A Basic Usability Test on Ten Phones In this article Peter-Paul Koch, mobile platform strategist, conducted a simple usability test on some popular cell phones. Guide to Low-cost Usability Tools
Formulaires « Ergonomie web illustrée Fig 32-2 SeLoger Parcours oculaires individuels de 4 participants, 5 premières secondes Dans l’ordre de haut en bas: Julien, 34 ans Myrtille, 28 ans Annabelle, 27 ans Florence, 28 ans à retrouver en page 180 du livre Fig 32-3 SeLoger Carte de chaleur des 10 participants confondus, 2 premières secondes (durée absolue) ; carte de chaleur et carte d’occultation des 10 participants confondus, de la première seconde aux 5 premières secondes (durée absolue). (Éliminer la première seconde permet d’observer plus attentivement la zone du formulaire en tant que telle.) à retrouver en page 182 du livre Fig 37-2 PriceMinister Carte de chaleur et carte d’occultation des neuf participants confondus, 20 premières secondes (critère : durée absolue). à retrouver en page 202 du livre Fig 37-5 PriceMinister Carte de chaleur des trois participants ayant confondu les deux zones, 20 premières secondes (durée absolue). à retrouver en page 204 du livre Voir les compléments aux autres parties :
ForeUI - Easy-To-Use UI Prototyping Tool Get Wireframing: The All-In-One Guide Wireframing is a great tool to incorporate into your projects as it allows for rapid prototyping and helps to pinpoint any potential problems. I personally find it invaluable on projects to have a visual representation of content, hierarchy and layout. Overall it’s an excellent step to incorporate into your project before the design process begins for both you and your clients. I am continually intrigued about how other firms and individuals incorporate the wireframing stage into their process. I know i’m not the only one, so this list aims to group together some of the best techniques, tools and resources to help you create effective wireframes. Techniques Building a Wireframe in Illustrator – From AiBurn – a step by step tutorial. Tools Omnigraffle – Create diagrams, process charts, quick page layouts and website mockups Visio – Visualize, explore, and communicate complex information. Wireframe Examples Wireframing Articles of Interest Paper Prototyping Useful Wireframing Resources