1. The CZSO Website Usability testing
Author: Eva Kortanova
Marketing Section
Czech Statistical Office

2. Website usability testing
What is it good for?
Discovering errors restraining users from finding information
Debugging the website
Website easy to use
Returning satisfied user
Recommends to friends and colleagues

3. Motives for Usability testing
Website usability testing
Motives for Usability testing
To complete and detail information from user satisfaction surveys
Further identification of weak and strong points of web structure
To discover user ideas for innovations and its good experiences from other web pages
To know the user way of orientation on the web
To know the user expectations and following reactions to the web content

4. Background Website usability testing People Technical equipment Theory
10 tested users (journalist, civil servant, employees from private sector, students)
testing team (1 testing specialist, several team members for registering the behaviour of the tested user)
Technical equipment
PC for tested user in one room, microphone
Transmission of monitor image and voice to other separate room
Projecting screen, speakers, pencils and notepads
Theory
Professional help of private expert (courses, preparation)
Professional literature and information on the Internet:
Jacob Nielsen on Usability and Web design
Steve Krug‘s website and book „Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability„

5. Website usability testing
Background

6. Basic process Website usability testing
Prepare the testing script (short list of tasks)
Invite users in one or two days, 1 hour for everyone
Observe the user going through given tasks, communicate with him, make notes
You can‘t help or guide him, observe his using of the web, listen to his ideas
After each testing resume all notes and all your ideas
After the whole testing make the report with all results noted and also make a plan of subsequent actions
If there is no serious intention to change the web (even its parts) or no goodwill for subsequent actions and changes, the Usability testing is useless!

7. What to test on the web? Comprehensible structure of web
Website usability testing
What to test on the web?
Comprehensible structure of web
at first sight, visibility of menu, expected content
Visibility of function components
links to archive, methodology, contacts, home …
Comprehensibility of product names and their content
News Release, Press Release, Publication
Search possibilities
visibility, accessibility, comprehensibility of search results

8. Measures and changes on the basis of surveys and testing results at the CZSO:
NEW LAYOUT OF THE WEB:
Design: „lighter“, modern, less colours and frames
Disposition of items: more functional, more intuitive, no need to scroll down on the home page
FUNCTIONALITIES:
New components: Pop-up Submenu
Folder structure of News
Main data on homepage
Breadcrumb Navigation
Wider use: More cross links to Archives, Methodology, Time series