There are plenty of tools around which allow website owners to conduct tests and attempt to identify problem areas on their websites.
I've listed ten of the best free usability testing tools, which are either completely free of charge, or allow users to try before they buy. If I'm missed any good ones, let me know...
Fivesecondtest
This app, reviewed for this blog by Paul Rouke, allows you to upload an image from your webpage and to find out which elements of the page stand out for users. Useful for testing the clarity of calls to action.
UserPlus
This free tool, currently in alpha, allows users to upload a screenshot, tag elements on the page you are looking for advice on, and find the usability score.
Usabilla
You can create a test via Usabilla’s website in a guided process that begins with you entering basic test information and creating pages and tasks for testers to complete, and enables you to invite participants to the test. There are various pricing levels, but you can test two pages with up to ten participants free of charge.
Concept Feedback
Not really user testing, but this site allows you to submit a design and receive free feedback from the Concept Feedback community.
Chalkmark
After uploading a screenshot of the user interface they want to test, users can set tasks and invite others to participate. The results are presented with heatmaps to show where people clicked, and a report showing the average time taken to complete tasks.
4Q
This is a free online survey tool which integrates into any website and seeks to find out what visitors are at your website for, whether they were able to complete their tasks, and if not, why.
Feng-GUI
This site uses an algorithm to simulate users, and generates an eye tracking map to show which areas of the page attract the most attention. There is a free demo that allows you to test one image every few hours.
Silverback
Billed as a guerilla usability testing tool app, Silverback allows to to set up and video user testing sessions. It is Mac only, and there is a 30 day free trial.
Userfly
Adding the Userfly code to your site allows Userfly to record a screencast of your users' behaviour, providing some very interesting feedback on how they are interacting with your site.
ClickHeat
This OpenSource software provides a visual heatmap of clicks on a webpage, and since it sits on your web server, the results are from actual users of your website.
Graham Charlton is Editor at Econsultancy. Follow him on Twitter or connect via Linkedin or Google+.
Recommended reports
User Experience Buyer's Guide 2011
An invaluable resource for those investigating the market for user experience agencies, with profiles of 27 suppliers, the latest market trends and tips and pitfalls for buyers. The 263-report covers issues and trends affecting this sector, and contains information about best practice, as well as useful advice for those seeking a suitable supplier.
Country Manager / UK & Ireland at UserZoom Limited
11:58AM on 19th May 2010
Unmoderated remote usability testing can be tricky, but if done right, it can offer a great deal of valuable insight into providing an exceptional user experience. Many UX Professionals are new to unmoderated remote usability testing (URUT), so we have provided some quick tips to help you obtain the best results possible.
Although you test participants remotely and can't see them interacting, don't worry! With the right set of scripting (or test design) features and capabilities you can actually take full control of the situation. For example, when building a study, you must ensure a participant accurately completes a certain task through validation. This can be accomplished by using either of 2 different methods. The first validation technique is to ask a question related to the task in order to validate if the participant has successfully completed the task. The second method is to validate by URL when they have successfully completed their task. This way you'll ensure that the effectiveness ratios will be correct and the data collected from hundreds of users is valid.
Furthermore, having the ability to employ advanced scripting capabilities, such as logic, branching, piping, system text customization, randomization, and participant completes control, helps to put the research in control by providing flexible and scalable testing features.
No matter how powerful the technology, the quality and validity of your results will depend upon the participants you are able to recruit for your study. You must pay a lot of attention to how you recruit participants and how you collect data from these participants. Having multiple methods to recruit and invite users is important to obtaining the results you need. Consider intercepting your real visitors with a simple and direct invitation. It is important to have the ability to screen out cheaters (participants who click at random and provide little or no feedback), speeders (participants who spend less than the expected time on the task). You should also have the ability to manually exclude outlying participants or participants who do not match your given profile.
URUT can be tricky but having the ability to pre-test allows you to be more comfortable before you launch the study. Always perform pre-testing with your internal team, friends, and family, to ensure your test is working properly and you haven’t missed anything.
With URUT you have the ability to collect quantitative metrics such as effectiveness, efficiency, success, and abandonment ratios. You can also obtain behavioral data such as clickstreams and click heatmaps. For example, UserZoom technology is based on ISO-9241-11 standard, which establish the definition of usability objectives that shall be evaluated. How effective (success and error) and efficient (time and clicks) were they when completing the task, and were they successful with the task or was there a high rate of abandonment due to frustration and/or errors.
Once you collect your results, it is important to have the ability to manipulate and analyze your results so you can turn valid data into actionable results. Having the advanced analytics capabilities such as filtering, clickstream management, manual exclusion, data aggregation, charts, and graphs, is integral to increasing the specificity and validity of your data. Since you will be collecting results from a large samples size, it is extremely important to have the ability to narrow your results by filtering results. If you are using the right software solution, you will be able to look more closely and determine why outliers didn’t complete the given task or why they went off track. Finally, your software should give you the capability of exporting your data to the program of your choice and create compelling reports. After all, you want to keep this data for later in case you want to do benchmarking.
11:52PM on 7th November 2010
You might also want to give Open Web Analytics (http://www.openwebanalytics.com) a try. It's an open source aperture to tools like userfly and Google Analytics and generates click heatmaps and mouse movement recording/playback.
12:24AM on 8th November 2010
You might also want to give Open Web Analytics (http://www.openwebanalytics.com) a try. It's an open source aperture to tools like userfly and Google Analytics and generates click heatmaps and mouse movement recording/playback.