In any product or service, experience and usability is key. Good usability ensures a delightful experience, user satisfaction and high ROI. On the other hand, bad usability results in poor returns and bad reviews. Usability should be evaluated during the design and development phase to test user experience with early prototypes and accommodate user needs in the redesign, accordingly. It is also important to assess usability after a product is launched to assess product utility, that is, whether the product is being used to its fully intended purpose.
There are two general classifications for evaluation methods: Formative and Summative.
Formative Evaluation
This type of evaluation comes to play during the design and development phase of a product or service. Here, observer reactions, responses and recommendations are of utmost importance in guiding design modifications.
Examples of Formative Evaluation methods:
Usability Testing –a small representative sample of users is observed while they interact with the product or service to note successful and unsuccessful points of user experience in typical tasks. This is the most desirable method of evaluation.
Thinking-aloud testing – users are asked to verbalize their thought processes when interacting with the product or service. This functions as a window into the user’s mind, showing perception, thoughts and reactions during the process, and most importantly, their misconceptions. Thinking-aloud is often implemented within a standard usability testing process.
Cognitive walkthrough – one or more users/experts are asked to perform a set of typical tasks supported by the product or service by following step-by-step instructions. These users/experts focus on how easily they can accomplish tasks.
Heuristic evaluation – a small group of evaluators use the product or service and assessing whether it follows a pre-outlined set of usability principles or ‘heuristics.’ This method is used when actual users are not available
Summative Evaluation
This type of evaluation is employed at the end of development and production, before, during, and/or after implementation, in order to assess whether the product or service is being used in the way it was designed to be used. This information is useful in making decisions on whether the product is successful or if modifications need to be made.
Examples of Summative Evaluation methods:
Questionnaire/Survey – users are asked a series of questions to understand the effectiveness of the tasks performed. Often, the questions ask users to provide ratings on multiple aspects of the product or service.
Focus Group – a group of users is brought together to answer questions about their experiences and discuss concerns with a product or service.
Evaluating usability provides the user’s perspective to product developers and designers, revealing what aspect of the product works and also does not work, as intended. This information guides design changes and improvements to enhance the user’s experience. Once issues are identified through these methods, they can be prioritized based on severity and business value, with fixes deployed in subsequent releases of the product or service.
Whether the assessing the product before production through a formative evaluation method or after product deployment using a summative evaluation method, usability is improved with each iteration. Greater usability results in better user experience, which keeps users coming back for more. While evaluations can be conducted at any point during the product, it is best to find and fix at the very earliest point (for example, before development or product launch). This reduces the number or changes to be made later, costing less over time and causing less damage to the brand. Investing in usability evaluation ensures good ROI as the product is improved to suit user needs, resulting in happier, satisfied customers.
