Human Factors:

Definition: Professional usability testing is defined as a formal research methodology that adheres to the processes and rules of scientific investigation as developed and taught in formal graduate level programs in the cognitive sciences. Practitioners of this type of research hold advanced degrees in human factors engineering, ergonomics, or other relevant cognitive science fields.

Until recently applying rigorous, professionally executed usability research in the design of web-based products and services has not been a part of most web development efforts. Generation One of the internet used an unstructured software development methodology that did not take advantage of professional usability testing.

Along with the dramatic increase in funding for internet startups during the late 1990s came the rise of guru usability experts offering services at very high rates. Along with the rise in guru usability came the concept that usability science could be force fed to development teams based on a few days of expensive consulting. This practice led to the mistaken impression that formal usability engineering was a quick fix, even for complex usability problems. This unfortunate trend led many in the software engineering community to view this important new science as transitory and having little effect. In reality, professional usability engineering and testing is a fully bona fide profession with a long and clear history for improving the design and acceptability of screen-based systems. Most of these gurus have migrated back to seminars where their views make sense and can be taken in context of the seminar setting. Guru usability does not have a place in complex product development settings.

1. For every dollar spent acquiring a customer you will spend $100 dollars reacquiring them after they leave because of poor usability or bad customer service.

2. More than 95% of your customers will use less than 5% of the features and functions of your site. Customers will NEVER use about 75% of the functions on your site.

3. The single largest predictor of call center volume is your web site’s usability. Calls cost an average of $22-$30 per call.

4. For every $10 spent defining and solving critical usability problems early in development using professional usability research, you will save about $100 in development costs.

5. For every dollar you spend improving the visual design or style of your site, you will receive virtually no improvement in sales. The same dollar spent on improving core behavioral interactions with your site’s critical way-finding and form-filling functions will, however, return $50-100 if executed in a professional and rigorous manner.

It has always been a curious fact that some large E-Com clients will use rigorous usability testing and advanced human factors engineering methods at various phases of development, then ignore the results.

In all successful professional usability testing programs, the following four key aspects of the formal research methodology must be present, properly linked, and managed.
Component 1: Clearly articulated hypothesis.
Component 2: Proper experimental design.
Component 3: Reliable data.
Component 4: Data must be properly interpreted.

There has been a popular notion that conducting usability research with a small group of users can yield answers to complex usability questions. This approach popularized under the general description Discount Usability Testing is not an acceptable method for producing reliable data in an experimental setting. Certainly, we would never make mission-critical decisions using small subject samples with poorly articulated user profiles.

Four paradoxes of usability research
Paradox 1: Objective and subjective data can be negatively correlated.
Paradox 2: What looks easy on first impression can be difficult to use.
Paradox 3: Subjective ratings can be skewed positive.
Paradox 4: Behavior is more important than look and feel.

A review of the current online usability testing offerings shows that about 95% of the current systems are objectively little more than web-based survey systems.