Usability Testing

A few months ago I was introduced to the concept of usability testing. Usability is defined as “a quality attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use”. At the time, I didn’t realize that this concept would play such an important role in my life as a student. It was when the lecturer mentioned that we would be carrying out our own usability test that I really began to take note. The idea of having to carry out a usability test involving human participants was daunting. I had never previously carried out any sort of research involving human participants. The thought of having to adhere to ethical standards also placed extra pressure on me.

This meant I had to knuckle down and invest a lot of time trying to get a grasp of the assignment. I eventually decided that I wanted to perform a usability test on a county council website. A major reason behind this was my own negative experience of using my county councils website. I had hoped that my research would shed light on a genuine cause of frustration for many people. After writing the research proposal and receiving my feedback I carried out the usability test itself. The test itself went well and the results justified my opinions on the selected website.

All in all, this assignment proved to be very rewarding. For the first time in my academic career I had carried out research using human participants. I also gained an insight into the field of usability testing. This has opened up new avenues for me in terms of future careers as I feel I could be suited to a job in testing. Also, I decided to delve into the world of usability again, when choosing my dissertation title.  Had I not found the area of usability so interesting, I’d more than likely still be trying to find a suitable title!