Don’t Create In A Vacuum

Why NETL should look at web

analytics and usability testing

13 April 2011

Presented by:

Platinum Solutions, Inc.

11700 Plaza America Drive, Suite 810

Reston, Virginia 20190

Telephone: 703-471-9793

ITES Stephen Morrissey

ITES EA Business Analyst

Overview

What is web analytics

What is usability testing

What can we do with the results

What would it take to implement

What’s in it for me?

Web Analytics

Everything our users do on a web site or web application

can be tracked

See what people are actually clicking on and how long

they are on a page

View charts & graphs displaying these activities

See the “cold hard facts” about how their site or

application is being used

Usability Testing

Web analytics shows us “what” and “when”, this tells us

“why”

Testers speak aloud while performing pre-determined

tasks

Moderators ask objective questions to gain more insight

Team members can anonymously observe their product’s

successes and failures

What can we do with this?

Update the UI elements (i.e. are radio buttons better than

a drop-down menu?)

Enhance visual cues to highlight missed call to action

(bigger button, more white space, etc.)

Suppress information or functionalities that get little

use, and showcase the most used

What would it take to implement

Free web analytics packages exist for Microsoft IIS,

however it does require extra processing power and

storage space.

Effective usability testing can be conducted with as few as

3 testers; with additional anonymous observation strongly

encouraged

Analysis of these findings would take approximately 10

hours.

What’s in it for me?

Fix exactly what frustrates the actual users, with both

objective and subjective data

If primary stakeholders watch usability testing; problems

come to life with startling clarity

Cuts across political arguments and focuses the

organization on boosting efficiency by providing a

delightful slice of user experience

Review

What is web analytics

What is usability testing

What can we do with the results

What would it take to implement

What’s in it for me?