Usability Testing

Usability testing is the verification of a software product for compliance with the requirements in terms of software usability. It helps to determine the ergonomics of the application.

Usability testing is a testing type that consists in:

• Assessment of the conformity of the software design to its specified functionality requirements.
• Analysis of the graphic elements, color design from the point of view of perception.
• Evaluation of ease of navigation.
• Analysis of the textual content.
• Evaluation of the usability of the functions of the application or service.
• Font design analysis.

Let’s look at the 10 rules for user interface design by Jacob Nielsen (one of the founders of the Nielsen Norman Group, a user interface design company).

1) System status visibility. The user should always know the current application status.

2) Application matches the real world. The system has language the user can understand, no complicated terminology is used.

3) The system must have emergency exits to leave any action that the user has started by mistake.

4) Consistency. The system uses the same words to describe all terms, functions, and concepts and is not confusing.

5) Prevention. The system should prevent the user from possible errors occurring.

6) Recognition. The user should not have to remember how they reached this or that part of the application. Interface actions must be recognizable.

7) Flexibility and efficiency. Provide advanced users with the ability to avoid routine actions, and at the same time, it is necessary to hide the extended functionality from new users.

8) Conciseness and accuracy. Dialogues should contain only the information the user needs, nothing else.

9) Error recovery. Information about errors must be easy to understand and contain hints for further actions.

10) Help and guidance. No matter how informative the system is, it should always contain a section of help or user guide.