Inner Circle Media

If you have a website or you sell your own software, you are probably familiar with the terms “usability testing” or “user testing.” But there’s a good chance that you haven’t embarked on testing your website or software in a meaningful way with actual users because user testing seems like such a complex and overwhelming task.

When you think about doing user testing, do you cringe? Do you imagine all the hours and effort, it would take to design the test? And then you’d have to carry out the test with so many participants who will likely feel uncomfortable about performing the test in front of you! Plus, then you’d have to spend time compiling the results and trying to draw conclusions about what to change on the site or software.

And oh gosh, what about all the time it will take to find the right software? And how much does that software cost anyway?

So many questions and worries! Well fret no longer – we assure you, it is not Rocket Surgery!

In his book “Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems,” Steve Krug calms the fears of all those who are intimidated by user testing. If you aren’t much into reading or just need a quick overview to convince you it’s worthwhile, here you go. Krug’s 6 “maxims” included in his book are…

1. “A morning a month, that’s all we ask.” User testing doesn’t have to take up oodles of time. There is no need to test with 10 people and then spend an entire day analyzing the results of those tests and deciding what you’re going to change. In one single morning you can do 3 user tests and then debrief with your team over lunch. Don’t spend more time that you actually have to!

2. “Start earlier than you think makes sense.” You don’t have to wait until the website is completely finished to start testing. In fact, it’s best to start testing in the beginning design stages because it’s often easier to make changes then. If users don’t respond well to the use of hot pink as your background color, it’s good to know sooner rather than later because you can more easily change a Photoshop file than a coded website. Those initial design tests can be ever easier with resources such as Krug’s “Five Second Test.”

3. “Recruit loosely and grade on a curve.” Don’t get so caught up with finding the “right” users to test your site or designs. Be flexible on the type of user you’re recruiting. If your target audience is familiar with technical terms required for understanding some of the content on your site, but a test participant doesn’t know that jargon, it’s okay. You can note that the test subject doesn’t understand some of the words, but you don’t have to change all of the terminology. You are just making sure that the user can navigate the site, understands where to go and what to do.

4. “Make it a spectator sport.” You should not be doing all of this alone! Get others in your organization involved. Invite anyone and everyone in your organization to be observers for the test. The more eyes watching what users are doing, the more diverse and comprehensive your observations will be. The requirements for participation as an observer are as follows: attend all user tests, attend the debrief meeting, enjoy the snacks in the observation room during the test and submit your lunch order for the debrief meeting in a timely fashion. That doesn’t sound so bad, right?!

5. “Focus ruthlessly on a small number of the most important problems.” The odds are that your users are going to be perturbed by lots of different things on the website, but the truth is, you can’t fix everything. So, focus on fixing the top 3 most important items, as decided on at the debrief meeting. These things should give you the most bang for your buck in improvements, and also not take up the most time. After you make those 3 most important improvements, you can test the site again to see if any other big complaints come up.

6. “When fixing problems, always do the least you can do.” Make the smallest change possible that will make a difference in the user experience. If a user was having trouble spotting the “Sign up for our e-newsletter” button, you don’t necessarily have to move the button and recode the template. Instead, change the color, add a graphic, and/or make the font larger. Often little changes make a huge difference.

So there you have it, a quick and easy overview of User Testing and the book “Rocket Surgery Made Easy”. User testing will help you as a web designer/developer/ project manager create better websites for clients. And if you’re a potential client thinking about a new website project, talk with your project manager about a possible user test or two. It will only help create a better website for you. Now… get to testing!

Here’s a recent article I wrote for AnnArbor.com…

Last week I was talking with a friend in Wisconsin about how she markets her successful small company. While she talked about the variety of tactics she planned to use in 2011, she had an insightful realization.

“I’ve heard people say a thousand times ‘marketing is everything.’ It’s the life blood of your business,” she said. “But really, everything is marketing. It’s not just my online ads or monthly email blast to my customers — it’s everything my company does.”

She continued, “In fact, if you’re in a committed relationship, you understand the meaning of marketing. You know how to attract a partner (or customer), and you know what it takes to stay in that relationship and keep each other content.”

My friend is right. Marketing is about customer relationships — not just initiating them but sustaining them. And like all relationships, every little thing you do and say matters.

As we approach the end of January, most companies are one month in to implementing this year’s marketing plan. They’ve determined their marketing, communications and advertising initiatives, and they’ve allotted money to be spent on each of these items. They’ve assigned someone to implement each step in the plan, and it’s likely that those implementing the plan have job titles like “marketing director” or “communications coordinator.”

But marketing is not just the responsibility of the people in your marketing department or the agency you hired to help with your next advertising campaign. Marketing is everyone’s responsibility. Every person in your organization is a representation of the company, and everyone impacts customer relationships. Marketing is…

• The way your team members answer the phone.
• The way your office or manufacturing area looks.
• Each invoice you send.
• Every email that leaves your office.
• Your parking lot (and your un-shoveled sidewalk).
• The way your president behaves while she’s out to dinner at a local establishment.
• The frustration someone feels when they can’t find your contact information on your website.
• The efficiency and kindness employed when a customer calls with a question or complaint.

All of the seemingly small things you do may increase or decrease the likelihood of someone purchasing your product or service for the first time or the 20th time. Your response to a Facebook posting could make the difference in someone’s decision to recommend you to a friend. Marketing is truly all-pervasive and a long term relationship. It’s in everyone’s job description, and it’s the sum of all parts.

Carrie Hensel is co-founder and CEO of Inner Circle Media and co-founder of the Women’s Exchange of Washtenaw. She writes this monthly column with other members of the WXW board of directors.

Everyone seems to be asking the Magic 8-Ball these days, “Should I pay for online advertising?” The Magic 8-Ball is giving all sorts of answers ranging from “Signs point to yes” to “My sources say no.”  Does it make sense for your company to pay for Google Adwords or placement in other search engines? Take this quiz to find out.

1. Do you sell your products directly online via an e-commerce / online store?
   
2. Is your product or service new to the market?
   
3. Is your product or service easily searchable by people in your target market? For example, “Brighton remodeling company” is an easily searchable term; “Ethical Assurance Engineering Consultant” or “Unrefined Idea Specialist” are probably not logical, intuitive searchable terms.
   
4. Do your prospective and current customers already look for products or services like yours online?
   
5. Are you in a hurry to get placement in the search engines?
   
6. Are you willing to invest at least several hundred dollars a month to online advertising?
   
7. Does your website currently get listed on page one of Google for your top search terms?

If you answered YES to any of questions 1 through 6, then you should definitely consider paying for Google Adwords and placement in other search engines. If you also answered YES to question 7, then you should be strategic about what search terms you target in your Adwords campaigns. For example, if you already rank at the top of page one of Google for “Ann Arbor mechanic,” then you could use Adwords to target other more widely searched terms like “Ann Arbor auto repair“ or “Michigan car maintenance.”

Question 3 is a tricky one. If you answered, NO then you believe that your product or service is obscure, difficult to define, or not immediately thought of by your target audience. This means you might have a marketing problem, and before you commit your hard earned money to any type of advertising (online or offline) you need to clearly define your target market’s needs and the ways your products or services meet those needs. Then you need to write marketing messages that help your prospective customers immediately understand what your product or service can do for them.

The good news is obscure products or services (or those with a very targeted niche market) can actually benefit greatly from using Google Adwords. For example, a new trend in exercise is AcroYoga (it’s a combination of acrobatics and yoga, and I’ve heard from participants that is fun but hardcore!). While “acroyoga” is currently a very obscure term, AcroYoga franchises could benefit from Google Adwords by targeting broader search terms like “fitness classes,” “yoga strength training,” and “power yoga.”