Usability testing = sales

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Do you want your site (or your client's) to convert more visitors in to sales? Of course you do, who wouldn't...

[b]Try some usability testing.[/b]

1. Gather a group of people who fit your average user profile as well as some others of varying ages, sex and computer skill (friends and family make excellent subjects). One thing to remember, usability testing works much much better if the people don't know you (they don't give a toss about your feelings in most cases), but organising this type of test isn't practical for a lot of companies.

2. Get some old boxes like PII 300's (and maybe a Mac) and some 15" monitors, and connect using a modem.

3. Give each of your testers a range of tasks to perform such as buy one of these and one of those. Put together a questionnaire to ask each of them at the end of the test and give it to them, then leave them alone until they are finished, and I mean leave them alone. Go sit at the back of the room and watch, not hang over their shoulder like a vulture. If you have a video camera available set it up and record them taking the test for later review.

4. After they have completed the test and questionnaire ask them for any additional input they have not covered by the questions.

5. When you have finished your testing you can review all of the data you have collected and make notes on the video if available.

6. You should then be in a pretty good position to make any decisions regarding necessary changes to your site. 

Finally, don't take the results of the testing personally. If people have difficulty using your site, find out why and learn from it so that you can make it better. If you can turn just an additional 1% of visitors in to sales, it will make a big improvement to your (or your client's) bottom line.

[i]The above is a VERY simplified overview of usability testing and is simply intended to get you thinking. Use google to find a lot of articles available all over the web by people much more skilled in the subject than I am, it really is worth the time.[/i]