We tend to assume that other people think the same as we do. That they see things the same, even use the Internet the same.
There’s a wonderfully simple way of challenging that idea. And that is to watch (quietly!) as other people use your website. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
I’ve spent much of the last week travelling to people’s homes and offices, observing as they use a specific website to try and achieve certain tasks. I’ve been researching what information is important to people as they explore the site, where they look for this information, the weaknesses of the site and the problems visitors have in achieving their tasks.
And even though I’ve done this kind of research many times, it still fascinates me how different people undertake the same online tasks in such different ways.
It is even more illuminating to discover how even well planned, well tended websites can still completely confound the typical visitor on a mission. You quickly discover that what is obvious to me may not be obvious to you (and vice versa).
Often I work with survey data, web analytics data and online search trends, trying to figure out what it was that the visitor was up to. But when you’re sitting in the home of a real potential customer, the realities of the problems people experience as they use a site suddenly become all to clear.
Suddenly you see how the words on your navigation tabs just don’t mean the same thing to everyone and that in-text links have this Alice in Wonderland like ability to make people click, even in the middle of a task.
Research like this is a quick sanity check that allows you a privileged glimpse of your site through the eyes of your website visitor.
You can do this yourself
So here’s a recipe for a brain tingling, eye opening research activity that will change the way you see your website forever. Just be warned – if you thought your website was perfect, you’re in for a rude awakening.
1) Identify some key aspects of your website you’d like to explore with visitors and think of some realistic tasks that relate to those aspects of the site. Think of a pretty open task (like choose a holiday that appeals to you and gather all the information you need to book it on this site).You may also want to a few very specific tasks that push people towards searching for specific facts (find out about hiring a wheelchair, or whether you can bring your dog for example). Finally, pin down a small handful of wrap-up questions you’d like to learn from people that use your site.
2) Find five people who are unfamiliar with your website. You can use five random people, however in my experience, its really worth putting the effort in to find five people that represent different segments of your web visitors. For example a trade contact, a family booker, an international customer etc. There is no point doing this with 20, 50, 100 people – five is enough for your reality check.
3) Arrange one to one sessions of up to an hour with these five people (you’ll be best to spread it over more than one day if you’re conducting the research alone). Decide whether to visit people at their home/work or in a neutral place with reliable web access and be prepared to compensate people for their time.
4) Dig out a web cam, note pad and if you have one, a voice recorder. It gets tricky trying to simultaneously listen, note what people say and check what they look at on screen, so a web cam lets you review the session afterwards (just make sure it points at the screen!)
5) Run your research session, ensuring that you do not pressure your test subjects by appearing personally invested. You’ll need to ask your participant to narrate what they’re thinking, what they’re looking for, how they’re responding to the site. That means no commenting, correcting, tutting or pointing out the obvious. If people get so lost and confused that the research is breaking down, be flexible enough to prompt them in a new direction – but the point is there is no right answer. Don’t be tempted to point out where in the site they should be looking – spend your effort trying to really see what they’re doing and hear what they’re saying.
6) Get your notes written up quickly after the session – if you’re doing five they’ll soon get confused in your mind. I like to make little pen portraits and capture information about characteristics and emotional responses, not just what they did. After all, this is qualitative research, not simply technical user testing.
7) Now the fun starts! You’ll probably have enough illumination to keep you glowing for weeks. Don’t put your notes away and think job well done – the difficult job starts here. Look at what you have discovered and start thinking of them in terms of short term quick fixes and medium to long term strategies.
Keep your five people in mind when making future decisions about your site – because you’ll know for a fact that other people don’t see things the same as you do.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Business research, Online customer behaviour, Research tools, Travel 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.