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Road Test Your Website

Most websites work in the way they were intended to work by their programmers, but does that mean your visitors will have the experience you want them to have?  You can't be sure unless you give it a thorough road test in real life conditions.  Road testing a website doesn't have to be expensive, nor does it need to be conducted by an expert.  Here's a seven step process that you can use to find out quickly where any problems exist.

1. Identify the functions that visitors want.
   Ask yourself this question: " Why would someone visit my website? "  There are many possible reasons why people might visit your website and it's important to prepare a list of every one of them.

2. How will people get what they want?
   When you know what people want from your website, you then have to decide how they'll get it.  Prepare an outline for each function that your site offers and show step-by-step what the user needs to do.  Later you'll compare this with test results to see if improvements can be made.

3. Select your road testers.
   You will need between five and ten people.  Although anybody can road test your site for functionality, the best results will be obtained if you recruit a group from your current customers who are likely to be representative of those who will visit your website in terms of characteristics like age, product preferences and economic circumstances.

4. Set up your road testing facility.
   The testing facility doesn't have to be anything fancy.  Simply set up a computer in a quiet location where the road testers won't be interrupted.  You'll need enough room for your road tester and yourself.  Each test should take no more than an hour.

5. Write the scripts for your testing.
   Prepare a simple script for every activity you want to test, both for those functions your site now offers and those you think visitors might want it to offer.  If you want to see how someone makes a purchase from your site, ask them to "... select a product you might want to purchase and buy it from the website."   Have a script for each activity that is based on functionality only - don't give them any how-to instructions.

6. Conduct the road tests.
   Tell the road testers in brief what you hope to accomplish. Encourage them to be honest in their observations. You want to see what works and what doesn't.  Go through all the scripts relating to existing functions first and see how each participant handles each function.  Don't help them do anything; if something isn't easy to do you need to know about it.  When the existing functions are completed, take them through the functions that you think might be wanted.  First find out if they want that function, and then ask them how it should be delivered.

7. Analyze your road test outcomes.
   Review your notes and analyze the test results function by function.  Identify which existing functions worked as intended and which need attention.  Evaluate the answers you received on desired functions and think about what would be the best procedure for delivering them.

You need to do this road testing because the real test of a website is just how usable it is.  If your website isn't easy to use it will be quickly abandoned and your prospective customers will go somewhere else where they feel more comfortable.