Usability testing is a helpful way to learn how your users interact with your website or application, and especially where they struggle with using it. Here you will learn what usability tests are, how to conduct effective tests, and how to get approval for your tests.

What Is a Usability Test?

Usability testing is a research activity designed to evaluate the usability of a website or application by observing representatives from your key audience(s) as they try to perform a set of realistic tasks using your site or application.

Testing a website or application with actual users allows developers to see what's working well for users and where they experience difficulty. The results of the test can be used by your team to improve the user experience.

A typical one-hour test session consists of:

  • Pre-test interview questions to learn more about the participant's background and knowledge
  • 10-20 scenarios, or very short stories, each of which asks participants to complete a realistic task using the site
  • Post-test interview questions and standardized metrics such as the System Usability Score (SUS) on Measuring Usability, which gather feedback about the participant's overall experience interacting with the site during the test.

Usability tests can be conducted in-person or remotely via virtual meeting software like Microsoft Teams or Webex. They can be moderated by a facilitator, with a notetaker capturing data on what participants say and do, or they can be set up and deployed for users to complete on their own using web-based commercial software.

The data collected from usability tests can help you:

  • Understand how customers actually behave when trying to accomplish critical tasks using your site—actual performance is often different from what customers self-report in interviews and surveys
  • Quantify customer success in completing their tasks on your site, both in terms of finding information and accurately understanding it
  • See roadblocks customers encounter, and understand why something is a problem
  • Understand customer expectations for your site and measure satisfaction
  • Prioritize improvements to your site by showing you the areas with the most room for improvement
  • Catch major usability problems before going to the expense of building out your site (when done as part of the user-centered design process).

When to Perform a Usability Test

Usability tests can be performed at any time during a product's lifecycle—when and how often you choose to perform them will depend on your informational needs, your timeline, and your budget.

Before a Redesign

Sometimes, usability tests are done on existing sites or applications to prepare for a redesign. The results are used to determine the necessity for a redesign and the areas of your site in greatest need of improvement. The results can also be used to establish a baseline for the user experience, against which the success of your improvements can be measured.

During the Design Phase

When using the user-centered design process to design or redesign a site, usability tests are typically performed during multiple stages of the development process. For example, you might first test your paper sketches or wireframes, update your design, and then retest an early prototype.

Iteratively testing designs as they become more elaborate helps you catch more usability problems and correct them when they are easy to fix, as opposed to after you've gone to the expense of developing the final product.

Developing an Effective Usability Test

Here are some tips to help you develop an effective usability test:

  • Think about the purpose of your test. Understanding your research questions and what you hope to get out of the test will impact the way you design the test.
  • Work with a usability expert. Planning and conducting a good usability test is part science, part art. If you are new to this process, we strongly urge you to work with a usability expert for your first few tests—he or she will teach you the ropes and help you get the most out of your test. EERE's Web Usability Coordinator is available to help mentor you through your early projects at no cost to your office.
  • Decide how many participants you need. Research by Nielsen and Landauer shows that testing with as few as 3-5 people will catch about 80% of the usability problems on your site. We recommend you test with 3-5 members from 2-3 key audience groups.
  • Recruit members of your actual audiences. It's important to ensure that actual customers complete the test, so choose your recruiting methods appropriately. Typically, recruiting criteria comes from your customer profiles or personas, which result from user research activities. We often advertise our tests via our website and/or through appropriate listservs.
  • Ask participants to do realistic tasks. For the most accurate, useful results, ask your participants to do realistic tasks that are representative of the tasks they would do in real life. Your task scenarios typically come from user research activities. See the Scenarios page for examples of common EERE scenarios and information on writing effective scenarios.
  • Get the appropriate approvals. You'll need approval from the Web Governance Team and possibly the Office of Management and Budget. Learn more about getting the necessary approvals below.

Personally Identifiable Information

Before you create your test, you should know how Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is defined and whether your survey is asking for any. You can collect low-risk PII, such as a respondent's email, phone number, or address, but you should only collect PII that you know you need for analysis. Any PII you collect must be stored on a DOE server that has been certified and accredited.

See the Personally Identifiable Information page for more information.

Getting Approval for Your Usability Test

All usability tests need approval from the Web Governance Team (WGT), and some will need approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as well:

  • All test materials should be submitted to the Web Governance Team for approval. Schedule a meeting with WGT after your test script is prepared.
  • OMB approval is necessary for usability tests that collect information from 10 or more respondents from the general public. OMB approval is not required if tests are conducted internally among federal staff. Government contractors are not considered federal staff members.
    • Submit your test materials to OMB after you have received WGT approval.

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