4 Mission Critical Tools for Testing your Website’s Usability

By: Jessica @UsabilityL Miller

There are a number of different factors that come into place when determining whether a website is successful or not. What many people don’t realize is that the one thing that can be the very lifeline of a site isn’t how big it is or how much money it makes, it’s how easy it is to use. If a website is too difficult to use or navigate, people will end up giving up or trying an alternative (which may be a competitor’s site.) Thankfully, there are several different tools that you can use to gauge how usable your website is. Stay ahead of the competition and take advantage of what these tools have to offer.

WalkMe

Finally, WalkMe is a special tool because it works like a digital guidance system for users. If you want to encourage a self-help culture or need to highlight new features, you can do so with WalkMe. The tool can be integrated with any browser, and adding tips and steps is a breeze. One of the main reasons why people suffer when they visit a website is because they don’t know how to do what they want. With WalkMe, they are given a personal tour with helpful tips and receive the personal aid that they desire.

Intuition HQ

Intuition HQ is a tool that you can use to see exactly what people are doing when they visit your site. You can create an account and have hundreds of people test out your site for you. After the tests are complete, you can view the results and obtain valuable data through your research. When you are able to decipher the data, you will have the power to see what links are clicked and which ones are neglected. You’ll see just how many people stop by and how many of them aren’t active users. With Intuition HQ, you are able to see critical data that will help you reshape your structure and be constructive with your design.

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Juicy Studio

Another aspect you have to look at is how readable your site is. Juicy Studio takes a website and determines how readable it is. Your personal goals will be different based on what you want to accomplish, but you’ll be able to gauge if you have too much on your pages for  your readers. You don’t want to have too little information, but you also don’t want to become too wordy, either. With Juicy Studio’s simple interface, you’ll be able to see just how much text you have on your site. Juicy Studio can also tell you how accessible your website is, so it’s a great tool for a number of different reasons.

Feedback Army

Seeing data and making changes is only one way to improve. You need to have the right tools available so that your users can provide feedback regarding your site. If you are only making simple changes, you might miss the big innovations that your users are waiting for. Be sure to look at their feedback and see if there are any trends that you need to address. If there is a common complaint, you need to address it quickly so that people know that you care and want to provide them with the best site possible.

 

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Testing Your Own Results

Each of the listed tools has benefits and pitfalls, so be sure to look at what you want to accomplish and work towards that. Take advantage of the tools provided in order to have a better site that people like to use and come back to time and time again. Prevent headaches now and reap the benefits later.

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Jessica is the Lead Author & Editor of UsabilityLab Blog. Jessica writes for the UsabilityLab blog to create a source for news and discussion about some of the issues, challenges, news, and ideas relating to usability.