With millions spent on Online Shopping, User Testing is Crucial

User testing, when conducted professionally, can provide an overwhelming insight into how real users actually interact (or attempt to interact) with your site.

As I have experienced on both transactional and non-transactional websites, from SMEs to blue chip companies such as Littlewoods Shop Direct, the return on investment by carrying out user testing can be outstanding to a businesses online operation.

BUSINESS BENEFITS OF USER TESTING INCLUDE
1. Provides immediate quick wins - you can then action and subsequently enhance the user experience and user task completion rates, in turn increasing site conversions and ultimately your ROI.

2. Establish why checkout conversion rates are low and drop-out (abandonment) rates for a particular stage in the checkour process are high - again for E-commerce sites, a serious issue effecting the majority of sites large and small is poor (or poorer than what can be achieved) conversion rates of customers who have begun a checkout process. User testing this key shopping journey can identify where users experience barriers to progression and any areas of frustration or security concerns.

3. The significant Search Engine Marketing company budget isn’t being wasted - rather than continuing to throw money on Google Adwords marketing and similar, driving more potential new customers to your (un-tested/poor conversions) website, budget is spent optimising the user experience of the site which will provide much greater increases in return on investment.

4. Help identify key issues in information architecture - knowing that users struggle to find a key area/tool within the website can be invaluable, providing the necessary proof that key changes need to be made.

5. Raises issues not even considered internally - perhaps an area that is considered optimal may in fact have room for improvement.

6. Shopping behaviours can be identified and the website tailored to maximise conversion opportunities - for e-commerce sites, providing there are enough participants, user testing will provide insight into different shopping behaviours (hunters, followers, impulse buyers) which in turn can help a business identify how critical information and calls to actions should be positioned within a page hierarchy as users progress through a shopping journey.

7. Quashes any in-house politics - real users provide the insights into what is and isn’t working on your site.

8. Creative marketing messages and promotions ignored - the expensive, slick piece of on-site marketing is actually overlooked as users exhibit banner blindness, instead they go looking for actual site content and not forms of advertising or promotions.

More detailed information is available on the site.

Associated Link: See Paul Rouke's blog on user experience for further details

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