While developing a WordPress website, we take into account several details. The website should contain all the information we wish to include or any content we think a user might find helpful. And we pay excessive attention to their visual appeal. All the while ignoring the usability of the website. Here we have detailed how to perform a proper WordPress usability test for your website.
A WordPress usability test helps with the issue by examining the practical functions of the website. To design the best experience for a user, we delve deeper into the minds of a user to understand things from their vantage point.
What is a Usability Test?
The usability test is an experiment or a series of experiments to assess the proper working of a website. In contrast to other user tests for a website, a usability test is unique—a usability test determines whether or not the users will be able to use the website.
To evaluate the usability, we employ a group of examinees to perform experiments with given assignments. Depending on their experience, these examinees report the result by answering a survey.
As you work on developing your WordPress website, the question may arise as to when is the right time to conduct a usability test. The answer to this will be as often as possible. While in the initial stages of website development, it is of utmost importance to regularly keep testing for usability. Also, the expectations and inclinations of a user evolve with design trends as they are liable to change at short notice.
What to Test in a WordPress Usability Test?
There are certain aspects to pay heed to while checking the usability of a WordPress website.
- The Activity Period- we clock the response and activity time of the website to check if the website hangs, becomes irresponsive, or takes too much time to process a request.
- The Effectiveness- we assess efficiency and productivity to determine whether the website can achieve its intended objective. Including add-ons in your WordPress site can increase its effectiveness. Using WordPress Plugin Development services by Web Help Agency, you can add a unique feature to your WordPress website by creating custom WordPress plugins from scratch and selling them as products to your clients.
- The Ease of Navigation- we test the simplicity of a website by understanding how easy it will be for a user to navigate through different web pages. You can employ Integration With Third-Party Software services to ease navigation by integrating the APIs from external services.
- The Errors in User Satisfaction- we check for any typos and broken links that can create hurdles in user satisfaction.
See Also: The Best WordPress Plugin for Your Project
Why do we need a Usability Test for a WordPress Website?
A website must accomplish the objective behind its creation. Other than this, there are several reasons behind conducting a WordPress Usability Test.
- By testing the website’s usability, we want to identify and fix a problem before it worsens.
- The useability test help get a sense of what your visitors may want and expect from the website and help improve user satisfaction.
- The errors in a website are much more expensive to affix after its development. By conducting a WordPress Usability Test, we want to minimize the cost of troubleshooting.
- A decrease in development costs will help ensure a drop in support costs. It will take less time to answer and resolve a troubleshooting request.
How to Do a Proper Usability Test for Your WordPress Website?
A proper WordPress Usability Test requires us to follow definite steps and perform a thorough assessment of the tasks. The six steps that you will need to follow in this process are:
To determine the objective of the test:
We need to identify the functions and segments we wish to test before we go ahead with testing.
The aspects listed above, like the activity period, effectiveness, ease of navigation, and errors in user satisfaction, are good places to single out the specific objective of conducting a test.
To find out the best testing method:
Different usability tests are available for you to select based on your needs and options. You can choose before or after designing the tasks you want to check during the usability test. Some familiar methods of usability testing are-
- In-Person or In-House Usability Testing,
- Unmoderated Remote Usability Testing,
- Moderated Remote Usability Testing,
- Guerrilla Usability Testing,
- Phone Interview Usability Testing, and
- Card Sorting Usability Testing.
To define the task framework:
The best way to test the performance of your WordPress website is to outline the terms, conditions, and checklist of instructions. Along with these, it is better to define the criterion of success and failure of a test.
To identify the users and participants for the test:
It helps to have participants as similar as the rear users of the product.
Generally, five to eight individuals should participate in a usability testing session. However, this can vary depending on the system in development and the method employed in testing.
To conduct the WordPress Usability Test:
Maintaining consistency between task outlines and the testing methods is crucial while conducting a usability test. Tests performed in-house are more controlled, but they will take more resources. Although, unmoderated or moderated remote testing methods will fetch results in a shorter period.
To analyze and review the results:
Ultimately, users will only avail a website if it is secure and safe. WordPress Security services conduct code audits and scans vulnerabilities to ensure the workability of protection measures of your website.
For the qualitative or quantitative data analysis, you may use the thematic or correlation analysis to summarize the findings and organize the reports.
Conclusion
The benefits of conducting a useability test outweigh the efforts it may take to perform those tests. When the performance of your WordPress website does not match your goals, a WordPress Usability Test will help improve it. We saw some of the usability testing methods, which will further allow the users to provide feedback on improving the functionality and design of the WordPress website.
