Here are 7 ways you can increase your web site sales with usability.

Ecommerce web sites can use these seven powerful usability tools to help understand what behavior is occurring on the site, and most importantly WHY that behavior is occurring.

This is extremely helpful because managers can use this information to optimize the usability of the site - thus increasing conversion and ultimately sales.

Just like Batman and his utility belt full of tools, usability experts have available a variety of tools designed to fight the crimes of task-flow error and poor performance.  These usability tools, used either separately or in conjunction with one another, can help determine where in an eCommerce web site there are usability issues that are causing lost conversion and sales.  Implementing optimizations based on the analysis of the “why” of these task-flow errors can help increase web site conversion and sales.

So here then is a list of 7 ways eCommerce web sites can increase web sales with usability:

1. Conduct in-person moderated usability testing of your web site

This is the traditional, and arguably the best method to learn about where there are usability issues that are impacting web site performance, thus sales.  I refer to it as “best” because it uses real users and directly answers the question of “why” your web site visitors are doing the crazy behaviors they do (like leaving order-flow pages early, or clicking the browser back and forward buttons continually part way through your eCommerce sales pages).

The “moderated” part of in-person moderated usability testing means the test participant and the moderator (and potentially observers) are present in the same room for the test sessions, and the moderator delivers the test and probes interesting behaviors with follow-up questions.

In-person moderated usability testing provides full interaction with and observation of the testing participants as they conduct the test.  This enables the moderator to follow-up or probe issues as they occur, and learn from the participant the “why” of behavior and task-flow issues.  In terms of actual usability data this method provides the most detail and best analysis of your web site, which eventually leads to optimization and increased sales.

Pros:  Arguably the best way to gather usability data about your web site.  Provides detailed observations and feedback via the in-person 1-on-1 interaction between the moderator and the participant.

Cons: Takes more time to set-up and administer than other methods.  Costs more than many other methods and can be difficult or almost impossible logistically due to geography / distance.

2. Conduct a remote moderated usability test of your web site

Almost equal to the power of in-person moderated testing is remote moderated usability testing.  With remote testing, the participant and the moderator interact together while conducting the test, but are not in the same room, maybe not even in the same country!

By using technology such as screen-sharing software, phones, web cams, and audio-video recording, a live moderated test can be conducted from anywhere, with almost anyone.  The moderator could for example be in let’s say, Los Angeles, California, and the participant could be sitting at her computer in say London, England.

As with in-person moderated testing, remote moderated usability testing enables the moderator to observe and ask critical follow-up or probing questions with the participant.  This provides rich and detailed “why” behavioral data that can be used to make recommendations for optimizing the site, thus leading eventually to increased sales.

If a web cam and microphone are available on the participant’s end, this enables the visual and audio interaction that is obtained via in-person testing.  The only issue is that the same technology relied upon to deliver the computer-to computer or phone connection can sometimes fail (or technical term “hic-up”), causing issues or problems with the remote test.

Pros: Almost as good as in-person usability testing.  In some ways better than in-person testing because remote moderated usability testing enables testing of participants regardless of geography, and thus can be far faster and cheaper than in-person moderated testing.

Cons: The technology used for the connections (telephone and or sharing of computers) can sometimes fail, causing issues with the test itself.  In-person remote usability testing without the added visual component of a web cam means helpful non-verbal information is not obtained.

3. Conduct a remote un-moderated usability test of your web site

Often referred to as automated research (and by Scrabble champions as asynchronous research) remote un-moderated usability testing uses online tools to deliver usability tests to users without a human moderator being present.  The user is typically intercepted via a pop-up or related type of request to participate in the study, and upon acceptance the participant is walked through the study via written instructions - while behavior is captured via click-analysis and participant feedback gathered via survey-type questions at the end of the study.

Because actual users are part of the study, this is a very helpful source of data - especially when larger numbers of participants are used.  Data gathered from the analysis of the testing can lead to usability optimizations that increase conversion and thus web site sales.

Unlike moderated usability testing however, there is no ability to modify the test in real-time based on participant behavior or feedback.  Thus the “why” of behavior may not be readily available.  To help understand the “why,” automated usability testing has to carefully include sufficient questions to dig into participant attitudes and opinions about their behavior without leading the witness (so to speak).

The validity of results for remote un-moderated usability testing completely relies upon the skills and expertise of the person developing the test.  This is NOT the place for amateurs or do-it-yourselfers who have no usability training.  A poorly set up test with leading questions could actually harm web site sales, because the tainted results of a bad automated study if applied on a web site could negatively impact conversion and thus sales.

Pros: A very quick and relatively inexpensive way to gather large amounts of actual user behavioral data.  Testing can be run on almost any web site (including your competitors!) and analysis can lead to optimizations that improve eCommerce conversion and thus sales.

Cons: Developing automated tests that evaluate the right information but without providing give-away answers or leading questions is very difficult without the expertise of a trained professional.  The inability to probe participants and dig into the why of their behaviors while they are conducting the test means important feedback may not be available.

4. Conduct  an expert usability review of your web site

An expert usability review is an audit of your web site by a trained usability professional.  The usability review is an examination of the site against common usability best practices and heuristics, which are the 10 general principles for user interface design.

The usability review should  include detailed analysis including screen captures of the web pages with specific call-outs for where the issues are, what they are, and potential ways the issues can be optimized.  This is a very fast and efficient way to gather usability feedback about an eCommerce site.  The information provided can be used to optimize the site and thus improve conversion and sales.

The issue with expert usability reviews is they don’t use actual web site visitors for testing at all – instead the expert evaluates the site in much the same way a Doctor evaluates your health during a check-up.  If only one expert conducts the review, it’s unlikely that the expert usability review will find all the usability problems.  The important “why” of user behavior is not available, although the trained expert may give opinions about potential reasons for the “whys.”

Pros: Very quick and efficient way to learn about potential usability issues and opportunities for improvement.  Lower in cost than many other usability testing types.

Cons: If only conducted by one person, usability issues may be missed.  Worse, because actual users are not tested and observed, the “whys” of user task flow errors are not captured.

5. Conduct a click-stream analysis of your web site

Another handy usability tool is click-stream analysis, which can be used to map typical (or more interestingly atypical) paths through your eCommerce web site.  Evaluations of where users click on a page (or where they don’t!) can lead to testing of new placements, graphic treatments or related optimization of buttons, calls-to-action and related interaction elements.

Most click-stream analysis tools provide a snippet of code you place on your web pages, which enables the tracking of actual users clicks.  Because your real users are providing this real data, it can be very helpful when evaluating usability optimizations to improve conversion and thus sales.  Several tools also capture form entry data, which can be very useful when trying to evaluate why certain form fields have high error or abandonment rates.

However, because there is no “why” information of user behavior, click-stream analysis misses important user behavioral information and feedback.  This means that to a certain extent some guess-work is required to evaluate results and make recommendations, a dangerous proposition if the guesses are wrong and conversion and sales decrease instead of increase.  I typically recommend to my clients who are interested in using click-stream analysis to do so in conjunction with A/B or multivariate testing of resulting recommended optimizations.  It’s a safe way to hedge your bets and ensure you don’t hurt instead of improve sales.

Pros: A very handy way to evaluate actual user click actions on a page, or better yet across several pages.  Very cost-effective, and assuming you have the ability to add code to your pages can be set up and run quickly.

Cons: Doesn’t provide the “why” of user behavior.  Interpretation of results and recommendations for optimizations is completely reliant on the skills of the evaluator.  Can be privacy and or security issues if captured data includes form entries as well as clicks.

6. Conduct an eye-tracking study of your web site

Ahh eye tracking, the one subject that seems more than most to cause usability professionals to take sides and in some locations (picture a bar with a few drinks under their belts) might even cause a fight.  Some usability professionals swear by eye tracking, and some usability professionals swear AT eye tracking.

Eye tracking is a means of providing a participant with an apparatus that tracks their eye movements as they look at a web page or pages.  Typically the path of the users eyes as they move around the page is recorded (this is called “saccades”) as well as the amount of time users focus on particular places on the page (this is called “fixations”).  Aggregating multiple sessions of eye tracking can provide common visual paths users take as they view a page or pages.

Proponents of eye tracking  use the information to determine what objects seem to be capturing a users attention, and what elements are ignored or missed.  This can be helpful when analyzing and optimizing placement or graphical features of important objects on pages, which can potentially help improve usability and thus web site sales.

Opponents of eye tracking claim the data is highly artificial and potentially not valid because users are not in their normal environment and are required to use technological implements that they normally would not use.  In addition, opponents feel the data can be misinterpreted, causing potentially bad recommendations that could hurt web site conversion and thus sales.

Pros: Enables eCommerce web site managers to gather actual user visual data as participants scan web pages and objects on the page.  Analysis of what is capturing attention, as well as what is not capturing attention can be used to optimize placement or graphical features of objects on the page - potentially resulting in increased conversion and sales.

Cons: Can be expensive and time-consuming to set-up and run.  Opponents maintain that because of the technology required to capture the data, the user is not in their normal context and thus results may not be accurate.  Further, analysis of results and subsequent recommendations for changes are completely reliant on the skills of the evaluator.  They “why” of typical web site user behavior may also not be known as eye movement is only one part of the interaction a user has with a web site.

7. Conduct a simulated eye-tracking study of your web site

Because in-person eye tracking can be expensive (depending on the technology, number of participants and facility) simulated eye-tracking algorithms were created as a low-cost alternative.  These simulated tools in theory replicate a human eye-track based on object location, white space, contrast, size, etc. of objects on a page. This information can be used to infer where potential issues with typical visual paths are, and to make changes that seek to optimize tracking resulting in increased conversion and sales.

Because they are so cheap and relatively easy to perform, simulated eye-tracking can provide data almost immediately.  Test pages with changes in object location or graphical treatment can be run through the same test to determine if the changes improved the visual path.

As with in-person eye-tracking studies, opponents claim this is all a load of dingo’s kidneys (hat tip to Douglas Adams) and that not only is the “why” of user behavior data missing, so is the user.

Pros: Provides a low cost and fast alternative to human eye-tracking studies.  Data can be used to evaluate potential usability issues with object placement or graphical treatment.  New versions of placement or graphics can be tested quickly and compared against the original set to evaluate the potential usability improvement.

Cons: Does not use real users, instead uses algorithms to simulate typical human eye-tracking responses to objects on a page.  Does not capture the “why” of behavior.  Dependent on the skills of the evaluator in analyzing results and making optimization recommendations.

Conclusion: 7 ways to increase your web site sales with usability

As with Batman’s tool belt, it usually takes one or more tools used for specific means to provide the best usability testing results.  This is certainly true when dealing with the 7 usability testing tools mentioned above.  By using the correct tool or tools an eCommerce site can be evaluated and usability improvements can be made, which improves the conversion and thus sales of the site.

A List of the top 10 best and most popular usability blog posts I wrote in 2009

As this year moves quickly to a close I thought it might be helpful to list the 10 best and most popular usability posts I wrote during 2009.  By best and most popular, I mean blogs that received the most re-tweets.

So, here are the top 10 of my best and most popular usability posts, ranked in descending order, enjoy!

1. 24 Usability Testing Tools – A detailed list of 24 usability testing tools, including pros, cons and pricing for each.
2. 7 Controversial Usability Predictions for 2010 – My seven controversial usability predictions for 2010. I have seven somewhat controversial usability predictions for the year 2010 I think you might be surprised to read.
3. 15 Valuable Usability PDFs You Never Heard Of – Here’s a list of 15 valuable Usability Papers in PDF form that you might not have heard of, but should know and can use.
4. 3 Pillars of Web Site Success – There are three pillars that comprise the foundation of any successful web site, including your web site. This is a brief overview of these 3 pillars, which are the requirement of a web site to be;  Findable, Trustable, Usable.
5. Be a Usability Zombie – Usability and zombies go together like Halloween and candy corn. Why? Because zombies do management techniques that you should copy and mimic.
6. eCommerce ROI: Why Usability ALWAYS Beats Advertising – The Return On Investment for eCommerce usability will always beat online advertising, because of the principle of amortized improved conversion.
7. eRetail and Usability: THE Perfect Definition – Use this funny yet perfect definition of usability in the eRetail space to get your CEO to do usability testing on the web site, to improve conversion and sales.
8. Main Navigation Types and Usability: Part 2, Vertical Navigation – This is part 2 of a series of articles on main navigation and usability. This article covers vertical menus.
9. 12 Really Useful Usability Books – A list of 12 really useful usability books worth reading, and re-reading that are on my bookshelf in my office.
10. Guest Blog, Susan Weinschenk: Top 10 Attributes of a Usable and Persuasive Web Site – What are the most important attributes of a web site that make it both usable and persuasive? Why do some web sites succeed in making us click while others result in abandonment? Guest blog author Susan Weinschenk reveals the answers.

If you don’t see your favorite usability blog post written by me in the above list that’s okay, just add a comment with a link to your favorite!

I wish you a very happy and healthy New Year!

My big list of 24 Web Site Usability Testing Tools

In the past few years, there has been massive growth in new and exciting cheap or free web site usability testing tools, so here’s my list of 24 tools you may need to use from time to time.

Gone are the days of using expensive recruitment firms, labs and massive amounts of time to create, deploy and report on usability tests.

By using these usability testing tools and others like them, you have for the first time a complete set of tools designed to tackle almost any usability research job.

From recruiting real users (with tools such as Ethnio) to conducting live one on one remote moderated tests (UserVue) to analyzing results of usability changes using A/B testing (Google Website Optimizer), there is a plethora of useful and usable tools to conduct usability testing.

Why usability testing helps:

But what good is conducting usability testing, how can it help?

As an example of the benefit of usability testing, Jared Spool, usability guru and leader of User Interface Engineering, has described how simple usability testing and subsequent changes to ONE button increased online revenues for a major eCommerce web site by about 300 Million Dollars, in one year.  This is known as the $300 Million button.

By using today’s low cost usability testing tools, usability researchers can spend a fraction of the cost to obtain results that are close to the traditional usability testing facility results that used to cost thousands.  And just as significant, results can now be gathered and analyzed in a matter of an hour, vs. the days it used to take.

Caution! These usability testing tools aren’t for everyone

Of course, just because the tool is free, or practically free, doesn’t mean just anyone can and should use the tool.  As with most other tools, the analysis and the recommendations about what to do based on the reports takes expertise.

As with other professionals such as dentists or doctors, it’s the knowledge that comes with training and years of experience that guides the hand that uses the tool.

List of 24 usability testing tools:

1. A Paper and Pencil
2. Concept Feedback
3. Chalkmark
4. Clickheat
5. ClickTale
6. Clixpy
7. Crazy Egg
8. Ethnio
9. Feng-GUI
10. Five Second Test
11. Feedback Army
12. Loop11
13. Mechanical Turk
14. Morae
15. Open Hallway
16. Silverback
17. Simple Mouse Tracking
18. Usabilla
19. UserFly
20. UserTesting.com
21. UserVue
22. Google Analytics
23. Google Website Optimizer
24. Website Grader

1. A Paper and Pencil

Paper and pencil you say?  The most powerful and dirt cheap of usability testing tools says I!  The reality is using a paper and pencil to draw interfaces, wireframes, cards for card sorts and a host of other usability mechanisms is an extremely fast, extremely effective way to conduct usability testing.

Paper and pencil are amazingly simple to use, communicate quite effectively, are so low cost you probably have them all over the office and home, and are just about as cheap as dirt.

You can’t go wrong using paper and pencil to help conduct early prototype usability testing, it’s a great way to get quick, fast and meaningful results at a rock-bottom price.

Pros – Cheap, fast and extremely effective

Cons – Early design stage testing only, not for use in testing interaction

Pricing – Very cheap to free

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2. Concept Feedback

Concept Feedback was and is designed as a way to gather input and feedback from experts about new designs for marketing or advertising purposes.  However, this tool can be used by web site designers and usability researchers to gather information about potential new web site designs, or interfaces.

It works quite simply, you submit your concept to the expert community, and reviewers provide their suggestions, recommendations and input about your design.  You then judge the quality of their responses by taking into consideration each reviewer’s quality score, higher scores mean more people consider this reviewer an expert, which means their advice might be worth more.

This community of experts is available free of charge, and because each reviewer can be graded by others it offers a means to determine the quality of each opinion you receive.

ProsGet free expert advice in a very quick manner.  In addition, you can follow-up (and/or network) with the reviewers.

Cons – From a usability testing perspective the reviews are not conducting actual tasks (they’re viewing an image), which means interaction feedback is not possible. In addition, there’s no guarantee the reviewer’s opinions reflect the actual user experience once the site is live.

Pricing – Free

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3. Chalkmark by Optimal Workshop

To quote the site: Do people know where to click? Quickly run a test on your UI prototypes to answer any nagging questions about usability.

Chalkmark provides a means of sharing an image with a user to gather feedback on where the user would click to perform a task.  From a usability testing perspective, this is the same concept as a reverse card sort, which means the terminology and navigation is tested to ensure users know where to go to accomplish a task.

The method for sharing images is easy, the test image is uploaded to Chalkmark.  Next, a survey URL is produced by Chalkmark which usability researchers can share with testers via an email, or on a web site.  A researcher provides a brief description of the task that needs to be accomplished, and the tester clicks on the image where they think that task would be.  The clicks are recorded by Chalkmark, and a realtime display of a heatmap showing the location of the clicks is provided to the usability researcher.  The time each click takes is also recorded.  Reports can then be downloaded by the usability researcher as a PDF file.

Pros – Records clicks and displays realtime data.  A major advantage is the ability for usability researchers to provide Chalkmark invitations to actual users via email or on a website.

Cons – Unfortunately, researchers are unable to ask participants the ‘why’ of where they clicked, which is a critical component of reverse card sorts.

Pricing – Free account can be used as long as you like, and creates surveys with up to 3 tasks.  30 Day Plan is $109 for unlimited numbers of surveys & tasks.  Annual Plan is $559 for unlimited surveys and tasks.

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4. ClickHeat by LabsMedia

Another in the usability tools that track where users click, ClickHeat provides an interesting display method of results via heatmaps.  But unlike other usability tools, ClickHeat is a free OpenSource tool that can be deployed on your web server.  This provides a major advantage, which is actual users will be providing the data that drives the click maps.

For WordPress users, there is a very interesting WordPress ClickHeat Plugin that enables ClickHeat to be integrated with your WordPress website.  This provides anyone with the ability to gather real data from actual users about where they click on a website.

Pros – First, ClickHeat is free, so the price is right.  Second, ClickHeat tracks real users trying to conduct real tasks on your website, this kind of information is priceless.

Cons – There are rather specific server requirements and a few other restrictions that must be understood.  As with other click map tools, there is no way to ask users why they clicked where they did, or what they expected to find by clicking.  For large sites with massive amounts of data, there is not currently a way to download database formatted data for analysis.

Pricing – Free

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5. ClickTale

Another in the click map type recorders, ClickTale offers a very interesting twist.  ClickTale is a paid hosted service that tracks user keystrokes, mouse clicks and moves and the time it takes for users to move around a web page.

Single user sessions are saved as a movie with a large round circle around the user’s cursor so it’s easier to see.  A nice feature is the ability to show aggregated data in the form of heat maps or as reports.  The heat maps display red hot zones where most users spend longer periods, and blue or cold areas where your users spend the least amount of time.

A very nice feature is the Form Analytics tool which displays aggregate form field information.  This information includes time of field completion, the number of entries and clicks as well as which form fields have the highest abandonments, or take the longest to complete, or have the most back-tracks due to errors or confusion.

A final nice feature is the ability ClickTale provides to assist I.T. teams with finding and repairing hard to find form bugs.

Pros – All in all ClickTale is a nice recording tool for capturing and analyzing your real user data as your site visitors complete tasks and enter form information.  The ability to analyze either heat maps or aggregate data provides additional methods for evaluating the usability of a site or form.  The form analytics tools is a very helpful feature, especially for eCommere web sites.

Cons – As with other click tracking tools, ClickTale does not enable a usability research to ask the users the “why” for the actions they took (or did not take).  There is no permanent access to recordings, and extra JavaScript code is required for each page the usability researcher wishes to use ClickTracks on.  A minor but somewhat confusing issue is the broad array of pricing subscriptions and plans available.

Pricing – Can be somewhat confusing with monthly, 6 month or annual pricing among Free, Blogger, Bronze ($99/mo), Silver ($290/mo), Gold ($790/mo) and Enterprise packages.  Each comes with specific support options, number of pageviews, domains tracked, and recording history time.  The Free plan is very bare-bones and does not, for example, allow playback of all of the pageviews a user visits during a session (only the first 2).

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6. Clixpy

Another in the quickly growing category of user movement recorders is Clixpy.  Clixpy is a very low cost tool (starts at $5 for 100 captures) which tracks what users do on a web site including mouse movements, clicks, scrolling and form inputs.  As with the other monitoring services, JavaScript code is added to the web site code, which enables Clixpy to record user movements.

Clixpy will not track form fields with input type-password but Clixpy will track everything else.  It is possible to manually add attributes for Clixpy to not log credit card numbers, but as with all such recording services caution should be used when ensuring privacy and security of sensitive user data.

Pros – The pros of Clixpy include the incredible low cost and the ease of use of the tool and Clixpy web site.

Cons – The cons include the lack of larger scale aggregate reporting that will be required of more frequently visited web sites and the inability to explore with users the “why” of what they did.

Pricing – Clixpy costs $5 for 100 recorded sessions, $10 for 200, $20 for 600 and $30 for 1,000.

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7. CrazyEgg

CrazyEgg is a popular click tracking usability tool which has the ability to display a large number of interesting data based on clicks.  These data displays include heatmaps of the more popular locations of clicks on a page, lists and overlays.  An interesting tool I find useful is Confetti, which provides user details for each click on a page, by rolling your mouse cursor over each dot that represents a user click.  CrazyEgg is easy to set up, using JavaScript which you place on each page you wish to have tracking on.

CrazyEggs reporting features capture the location of the click on the page, referrer information including search terms (handy for SEO folks too), operating system and related information.  Reports can be shared via a read-only link.  In addition, you can download the data and use it in Excel or databases.

Pros – Pretty cheap, and has a nice array of data and reports to help you visualize your click traffic.

Cons – As with the other click tracking software, CrazyEgg demonstrates the location of the click, but not why the users decided (or didn’t decide) to click.  Clicks are tracked on a single page only, so gathering session click data on multiple pages or multiple hours or days of a single user set of visits isn’t included.

Pricing – CrazyEgg has a 30 day money-back guarantee, is priced on a monthly basis: starting at $9 per month for the basic plan to $19 per month for their Standard plan, and $49 (Plus plan) to $99 (Pro plan).  As you move up in plans, you increase the number of trackable visits, and you can track more pages.

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8. Ethnio

Ethnio is not a data usability testing tool, instead it’s a tool usability folks can use to find and recruit real web site users for a live remote test.

Ethnio works by adding some JavaScript code to the page you wish to do the recruiting on.  It displays a survey which they call a screener to your web site visitors, asking them to participate in a brief usability test.  If a participant completes the screener and meets your requirements, you are alerted to the fact that you have a live candidate ready for testing.  From there you can use GoToMeeting or UserVue etc. to connect to your user and conduct your remote moderated test.

Pros – Ethnio solves the problem of trying to find your real web site users to participate in usability testing.

Cons – Enthnio only works if your researchers are actually ready and able to conduct the test.  Separate screen sharing services are required to actually run the test.

Pricing – First 20 recruits are free, 200 recruits is $400 and 2,000 recruits is $800.

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9. Feng-GUI.com

Feng-GUI is a very interesting usability testing tool in that it does not use real users.  Instead, it uses algorithms to simulate a real user, in this case to generate eye tracking studies.  The principle of Feng-GUI resolves around their belief that human eye movement can be replicated based on variable on the page, along with typical actions the average human makes.

To use Feng-GUI you upload an image you would like to have eye-tracking conducted on.  Feng-GUI then generates eye tracking heat maps using their artificial intelligence algorithms that predict what a human eye would when presented with the image.  Overlay heatmaps, hotspots and Gaze Saccades (the path your eye draws as it moves around the page) are presented to the usability researcher.

I like to think of Feng-GUI as being a low cost alternative to more expensive human-based eye tracking studies, but with the knowledge that you’re dealing with algorithms, not people.

Pros – Great way to have a cheap alternative to human eye tracking studies.

Cons – Feng-GUI is predictive only in the extent that the algorithm enables it – meaning you are not dealing with data from your actual users.  Images have to be uploaded, so html pages must be screen-captured and there is no interaction with web site functions.

Pricing – Free (one image & one heatmap), $50 for 50 images, $225 for 250, $400 for 500 and $700 for 1,000 images.  A web services API is also available.

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10. Five Second Test by Angry Monkeys Pty Ltd.

Five Second Test is a tool that enables researchers to upload images and have people provide feedback about the image – but the people seeing the image are only provide 5 seconds to take in the image.

The five second test, because it only lasts 5 seconds, is supposed to mimic the process the typical web site visitor uses to determine what the site is about, and whether he or she will stay there, or move on.

Two versions of the five second test are offered, the first is a visual demonstration of the just the page, the other version is a click test where the researcher can ask the user to list 5 things about why they clicked.  With five second test a researcher can choose to display his or her image to the random reviewers that visit Five Second Test, or if the image is more sensitive in nature the researcher can invite select viewers to take the test.

It should be noted that Five Second Test does not include the ability to rate a reviewer’s feedback, such as is possible with Concept Feedback, also, reviews have no data about the people (if they selected Random viewers) such as their age, expertise with the web, etc.

Pros – Five Second Test is free, and it utilizes the concept of displaying an image in only 5 seconds to determine what, if anything, viewers will see and or react to.

Cons – For random viewers, there is no ability to judge each reviewer by the quality of their typical answers – nor is there information about the type of person completing the five second study.

Pricing – Free

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11. Feedback Army by Dashnine Media

Another in the reviewer usability testing tools, Feedback Army enables researchers to share URLs with reviewers, who then make comments or answer questions about the web site or design.  Because Feedback Army enables a URL to be shared, the reviewer can explore the web site, an advantage over Concept Feedback, which only displays an image.

The researcher can post questions about the web site or image, and then capture the responses back.  There are no guarantees however about the quality or quantity of responses.  To its credit, Feedback Army provides the ability to replace a bad comment with a new comment, and offers refunds if the researcher feels the comments were particularly unhelpful or off-topic.

Researchers can order 10, 25 or 50 responses per study.

There are other reviewer services springing up to offer Feedback Army some competition, including; 3rdPartyFeedback.com and EasyUsability.com, among others.

Pros – Easy and fast way to gather reviews about web sites or images.  Pricing is very economical.

Cons – As with other services, the review quantity and quality can vary, and the researcher does not have the ability to follow-up with reviewers regarding their comments as they are exploring the site.

Pricing – $10 for 10 reviews, $23 for 25 and $40 for 50.

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12. Loop 11

Loop11 is a unique usability testing tool in that it allows unmoderated remote usability testing using actual users.  A researcher provides a simple task to a user, for example, finding a particular type of gift book for a relative on a book site, then tracking user interaction.  The data is presented via reports of task completion rate, time on task, common fail pages, paths and a nice detailed path analysis for each users.

Loop11 does not require software to be loaded on a web site.  As is mentioned on the Loop11 web site, this means remote unmoderated usability testing can be done on your competitor’s web site!  Because real users are being tested, Loop11’s results will be accurate, or at least as accurate as the real users are.

With Loop11 a researcher can have up to 1,000 participants per test project.  Each test project costs a $350.

Pros – Simple to use with no code required, provides real data from real users, can be used on any web site.

Cons – Unmoderated means not being able to ask the users questions about their decisions, the flat $350 fee might be high for researchers only needing to test 5-10 users.

Pricing – Flat $350 fee for each user testing project.

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13. Mechanical Turk

Mechanical Turk is Amazon’s human intelligence tasks service (HITs) expert review group. Reviewers join Mechanical Turk and volunteer to complete tasks.  The reviewers are paid for each completed task.

For usability testing, a researcher could post a task of trying to find a book as a gift for a relative on a book site (as an example) and then receive the feedback from the reviewers as to how easy or difficult the task was to complete.  As with the other reviewer services, there is no ability to ask the reviewer follow-up questions as they go through the tasks.

Other services mentioned for usability testing use the services of Mechanical Turk, but as mentioned these services do much of the leg-work for the researcher, meaning using Mechanical Turk directly is cheaper, but requires a bit more effort on the part of the researcher.

Pros – Provides fast and low cost reviewer network to gather usability feedback.

Cons – The researcher will be required to put a bit more effort into this service vs. others mentioned, requires an Amazon.com account for processing and payment.  Quality will vary depending on the reviewer that chooses to complete the task.

Pricing – Very low cost, prices vary depending on the number of tasks a reviewer is asked to do, and the time the reviewer may take to do the tasks.

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14. Morae by Techsmith

Morae is a complete suite of usability testing tools for the Windows OS (a Mac version of Morae is not available), including a Recorder module which captures all user interaction (including voice, video, keystrokes, mouse movements, screen action, etc.), an Observer module for displaying sessions to remove observers, and the Manager module which is used to analyze, edit and package the resulting usability test.

Morae is sophisticated, and can do an amazing amount of research activities, which means there is a bit of a learning curve to actually using it.  It’s not that it’s particular hard, it’s just that it takes time, and without reading the instructions researchers may not be aware of the full capabilities of Morae.

Morae is a software package that is priced at $1,495 for the Bundle of all modules, or $1,295 for the Manager module.  The Recorder and Observer modules can be purchased separately at $195 each.  Webcams, microphones and high-end video cards are necessary to record users and edit the resulting videos.

Pros – Morae is an entire usability testing lab in a box.  Morae has sophisticated capture and analysis tools that make it extremely useful for usability researchers.

Cons – Morae is expensive, although discounts for students or educational institutions are offered.  Morae is Windows only, Mac OS is not supported.

Pricing – Bundle is $1,495, or separately $1,295 for Manager, $195 for Observer and $195 for Recorder.  Discounts are available for certain groups.

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15. Open Hallway

Open Hallway is a browser-based screen and audio capture device that enables usability researchers to conduct usability testing sessions remotely, then play them back later for analysis or demonstration.

Because Open Hallway is browser-based, there is no code for the researcher or the user to download.

Open Hallway is a very easy to use.  Test recordings are located on OpenHallway’s servers, and can be downloaded for editing and further analysis.  Only Premium account customers can download the videos (mp4 format only) for editing purposes.

Videos can be up to 10 minutes long, which might be a problem for some usability testing which might go longer.  The makers of OpenHallway suggest that tasks be limited in scope so that the 10 minute video recording length won’t cause a problem.

The number of videos you can record and store depend on the plan you purchase.  The videos are stored on OpenHallway servers, so if your account is closed all videos will be deleted.

There are a few minor issues of note with OpenHallway, for example the fairly common set up of using multiple monitors is not supported (the suggestion is to do testing on the primary monitor, which will be recorded).  Likewise, high resolutions monitors might cause visibility issues when played back, and audio won’t be captured of the user does not have a microphone.  IE 6.0 is not supported.

Pros – A very easy to use and easy to set up browser-based tool for capturing usability sessions remotely using screen capture and audio.

Cons – Only Premium customers can download video, maximum 10 minute recording time, not all monitor set-ups or browsers supported.

Pricing – $49 per month Basic (3 hours of recording storage), $99 per month Plus (10 hours storage) and $199 per month Premium (30 hours storage).

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16. Silverback by Clearleft

Silverback is a Mac-based software tool that enables the recording, analysis, editing and playback of usability testing sessions.

Silverback is $49.95, and a certain percentage of profits go to save the Gorillas.

Because of the low cost yet easy ability to record usability testing sessions, Silverback is a good usability testing tool for the office and the road, and completely replaces a more traditional and far more expensive usability testing lab.

Pros – Easy to use, very nice price usability recording software for Macs.

Cons – Sadly, Silverback is Mac only.

Pricing – Free for 30 days, $49.95 one-time payment.

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17. Simple Mouse Tracking by Luis Leiva

Simple Mouse Tracking is free click tracking software that can be used to capture and analyze the clicks users make while visiting a web page.  Simple Mouse Tracking includes the ability to replay a real-time session, and tracks all mouse movements on an html page.  Data is captured in a MySQL database for access.

Simple Mouse Tracking, as with the other click tracking usability testing tools, does not allow the researcher to ask questions of the user as he or she navigates the web site.  However the ability to track hundreds or thousands of click streams will help a researcher better understand the existing navigation paths on the site.

Pros – It is a free tool with support of most browsers.  Easy to use with nice real-time and database analysis of mouse movements and clicks.

Cons – Like the other click-tracking tools, Simple Mouse Tracking will not enable a research to ask the user why they are clicking, or not clicking, on page elements.

Pricing – Free

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18. Usabilla by Usabilla B.V.

Usabilla is a free (beta) unmoderated remote usability tool that enables researchers to collect feedback about a web page or image from users.  In addition, Usabilla tracks where users click, which enables both click-tracking information to be captured, as well as qualitative data (such as; “please click on the part of the web page you like best”).  Not only is click information provided, but researches can enable notes so that users can share information about their opinions such as why they clicked on a certain button, or what they expect to find next.

Usabilla then provides the researcher data results as visual reports of heatmaps or scatterplots of clicks.  Data is also available for download as PDF, CSV, TXT or XML files for further analysis.  In this regard, Usabilla can be used for three usability purposes; as a reverse card sort tool, as a click-stream recorder and as a qualitative tool for gathering user opinions and feedback.

Pros – Enables easy to set up and administer remote un-moderated usability testing.  Can capture both quantitative and qualitative data. Currently in Beta it is free for usage for up to 500 participants.

Cons – As with other unmoderated usability testing tools does not enable the researcher to ask follow-up questions while the user is conducting the test.

Pricing – Free beta.

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19. UserFly.com

UserFly is an easy to use unmoderated remote usability tool that captures a user’s mouse movements, clicks and other screen interactions and enables researchers to play them back for analysis.  With UserFly, a researcher places JavaScript on the web page or pages that he or she wants to test, then records the user’s actions, including form interactions.  Data captured includes the page or pages the user interacts with, time on page (or task), and related data such as text entry, mouse clicks and scrolling.

Recordings are stored on the UserFly servers, and are stored for a maximum of 30, 60 or 90 days.  Various monthly pricing plans are available which vary depending on number of captures per month and storage time of the captures.  The more expensive plans offer a greater number of captures per month, and longer storage time for each capture.  As with other unmoderated remote usability tests UserFly does not offer the ability interact with the user as they are going through the web page.

There are a few notes researchers should be mindful of, including the fact that this tool does not work with AJAX calls.  However, on a positive note, coupled with a webcam and/or call-in number this can easily become part of a useful moderated usability testing tool.

Pros – Easy to use and inexpensive (or free) screen capture device.

Cons – Captures cannot be permanently stored and aggregate behavioral data is not available.  No ability to interact with users as they are being recorded.

Pricing – $200 per month for the Enterprise Plan (10,000 captures per month and 90 day storage, https supported), $50 per month for the Business plan (1,000 captures per month and 60 day storage, https supported), $25 per month Pro plan (1,000 captures per month, 60 day storage), $10 per month Basic plan (100 captures per month, 30 day storage) and Free plan (10 captures per month, 30 day storage).

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20. UserTesting.com

UserTesting.com is a panel-based usability testing service that provides feedback from Testers regarding questions you ask them about your web site.  Included with each test is a Flash video of the tester talking about their interaction with the site as they browse it.  In addition to the video, a written summary by the tester explains what they liked or did not like about the site.  Tests are normally done within one hour, and thus are quite fast.

Each test costs $29, however there is a pre-pay quantity discount available.

To conduct a test, the researcher enters basic information about the typical user that might use the web site, including gender, age, income and computer expertise.  Optional technology requirements (such as requiring only Mac OS systems be tested) can also be added. UserTesting.com then provides at tester that most closely matchs your typical user profile.

A nice feature is the ability to rate each tester, which helps provide the researcher with some quality information about the feedback received from the tester.  UserTesting.com does offer the ability for researchers to use their own testers, instead of the panelists, the cost is the same ($29 for each test, users who participate are paid $10 by UserTesting.com).

Pros – Fast and affordable panel-based usability review.  Includes video of tester walking through the site, plus written summary.

Cons – No ability to ask follow-up questions while the tester is conducting the test.  Panelists may not be an appropriate fit for niche audiences.

Pricing – $29 per test, prepayment savings available for larger quantity buys (10 tests or more).

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21. UserVue by TechSmith

UserVue, by TechSmith (makers of Morae usability testing software) is a web-based remote moderated usability testing tool that enables researchers to connect, interact with and record users remotely.  UserVue’s VoIP feature is available in the United States and Canada only.

Unlike other remote usability testing tools, UserVue enables the all-important one-on-one interaction between a usability moderator and a test participant via phone (or chat), and includes the ability for remote observers to watch the test as it happens.

An additional nice feature is UserVue recordings can be analyzed and edited using Morea’s Manager tool, if you have already purchased it.  UserVue is a subscription-based model that costs $149 per month for access by a single moderator.

Pros – Easy to use and cheap remote moderated usability testing tool that enables and records one-on-one sessions, including the ability for observers to watch the tests.

Cons – UserVue is not available for participants with dial-up internet connections.  VoIP phone connections are available for the United States and Canada only.

Pricing - A single seat subscription is $149 per month.

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Honorable Mention – Usability testing tools

Although these technically might not be classified as usability tools by some, each of these three tools provides a wealth of data about a web site that can and should be analyzed by a usability researcher.

22. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is an easy to use, free, and very handy usability testing tool that provides a comprehensive set of web site data tracking and analysis tools.  Usability researchers seeking to understand usage information for a web site can use the reports to identify behavior, trends, and any red-flag issues.  Data includes user sessions, visits, page views and much more.

Because it’s free and provides a good set of web data, Google Analytics should be used by any web site owner that does not already have a web analytics tool.  Usability researchers who want to understand existing user behaviors can use this tool to gather a great amount of usage statistics and reports.  A nice feature for eCommerce web sites is the ability to identify conversion events and pages, which will provide an easy to use yet powerful set of data around eRetail lead flow, order-flow and sales statistics.

However, as with all other web analysis tools Google Analytics will not identify the “why” of user behavior (that’s left to follow-up 1-on-1 usability testing sessions).

Pros – Free comprehensive web metrics reporting tool.

Cons – Data does not provide the “why” of user behavior.

Pricing – Free

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23. Google Website Optimizer

Google Website Optimizer is a free A/B and Multivariate testing tool that enables usability testing of various “what if” scenarios.  For example, using Google Website Optimizer a usability researcher can test two versions of an online order form, to determine if the usability improvements made to the form really did improve conversion rates.

The way Google Website Optimizer works is simple and easy to set up.  The usability researcher can set up experiments, as they are called, in which two different versions of a web site page can run at the same time.  HTML code is provided which will be added to your existing web page code.  Then, with the test turned on the traffic to that page will be split, 50% of traffic going to page “A,” and 50% to page “B.”  After enough visits have been recorded the performance of the two pages can be analyzed and a winner selected using the simple reports that are part of the package.

Because it’s free, easy to use and has real users conducting real tasks Google Website Optimizer is a very handy tool for conducting testing on web sites. As with all web site analysis tools however the “why” of the user behavior may not be known, and further exploration via on-on-one usability testing sessions may be required.

Pros – Free easy to set up and use A/B or Multivariate testing tool.

Cons – Won’t identify the “why” of user behavior.

Pricing – Free

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24. Website Grader by Hubspot

Website Grader is a free and handy SEO usability tool that can help researchers identify issues in a web site that might need to be addressed.  Website Grader analyzes 22 key indicators of SEO success, including on-page and off-page factors.

The reason Website Grader is helpful for usability researchers is because usability changes to the structure or content of a web site will impact SEO components.  Thus, when making usability changes to a site it’s a good idea to check those changes with Website Grader, or related tools that evaluate SEO health of a web site.

Pros – Free and fast SEO website grader tool.

Cons – SEO factors only, does not provide user behavioral data.

Pricing – Free

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Conclusion – 24 Usability Testing Tools

As mentioned, the recent increase in the number of low-cost or free usability testing tools has lead to exciting new opportunities for usability researchers.  Now more than ever in the past usability testing can be conducted easily, quickly and efficiently, without the expensive travel or facility charges that used to be required.

And because of the great variety of usability tools now available, usability researchers have unprecedented opportunities to evaluate, analyze and make recommendations for web site improvements.  This benefits the web site owners, the usability researcher and the users, which is truly a win-win-win!

If you’ve not seen your favorite usability testing tool listed above leave a comment – so that we can all learn more about the latest and greatest usability testing tools.