10 effective tools for usability testing: review and comparison
To find out how convenient a site or other software product is for users, you need to ask them themselves. But it is believed that testing for "living people" takes a lot of time and effort from the developer and / or owner of the resource.
In this case, there are online tools for usability testing. They help to find out how the product meets user expectations, and at the same time, they save time and money on research.
This article provides an overview of ten simple and accessible tools for usability testing sites. What is nice, all the described applications, with the exception of the latter, can be used for free: they do not require payment at all or have free versions with limited functionality.
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First there is a description of all ten applications, and then a comparative table, which reflects their main characteristics.
The site has three online tools that allow you to test the usability of a site or web application using screenshots of pages.
We choose one of three applications for testing a web page.
We load a screenshot of the page and make a short description of the project for users who will participate in the study.
Choose five questions that people need to answer after a five-second viewing of the image.
After that, set the desired number of page views and run the test. When the questions are answered by the necessary number of people, we get the result.
For those who want to use the free version of the application there are restrictions like: “how much you sink - you burst so much”, in order to attract enough people for testing, you need to work a little yourself.
Each user of the application has its own "karma". A newly registered user receives 20 karma points, plus, for each tested page, another 1 point. How many points - so many people will be able to view the downloaded screenshot and answer the questions.
A big plus of this application is that it is possible to choose a testing language. And you can show the project in Russian only to Russian-speaking users.
On this site, you can test web pages in two ways:
The application for testing sites with real users The Tester Tool is now in beta. But in the future, the developers promise that the customer of the test will be able to set certain tasks for users, and then observe how the person solves them step by step on the site. Each link click and each screenshot will be recorded and provided to the customer for further analysis.
But with the help of the Advisor application you can independently evaluate the site and get a usability assessment for it. This tool can be used at the design and development of templates to get a site that meets the expectations of real users.
Create a project and upload screenshots of the site pages. (In the free version you can upload one screenshot per month.)
Then mark up the screenshot interface elements.
We answer questions from the checklist for all selected interface elements. The list of questions is quite impressive.
At the output, we obtain a usability assessment for each tagged element and the page as a whole.
Usability testing on the Usabilla site takes place in five stages:
The video gives a fairly accurate idea of ​​how Usabilla works.
You can test two pages for ten people for free.
This is not exactly user testing, but this resource allows you to get feedback from the professional community of designers.
In Runet there are resources similar to ConceptFeedback: re: vision and Russian Creators .
On the OptimalWorkshop site, you can optimize the site using three different tools:
For each type of testing, we set ourselves the tasks, and then we find the users and invite them to participate in the study.
In the free version, you can create only small projects, with the following restrictions:
This free online tool can be integrated into the site. He creates a small survey of site visitors, consisting of only 4 questions. Questions are formulated in such a way that you can identify the most reliable feedback from users.
It integrates with Google Analytics and is available in 10 languages, although unfortunately there is no Russian among them yet.
Feng-GUI simulates the user's gaze during the first 5 seconds of the visual effect. This application creates a map of eye movement on the page (heatmap) based on an algorithm that predicts what a real person is likely to look at.
Right on the main page of the site you can download a screenshot and see the likely areas of increased visitor attention.
This free, open source software integrates into the site and creates a visual heat map of visitors' clicks on a web page. And since the ClickHeat code is located directly on the server, the map reflects the result of the work of the real users of the site.
The Russian system, which, after installing javasript-code on the pages of the site, allows you to monitor and analyze user behavior.
With its help you can:
The free version records 100 visits per day, 2 of them are reproduced for analysis, and the data is stored in the WebVisor system for two days.
Another Russian-language online tool for usability testing sites. It allows site owners to test their resources with the help of auditors, and auditors to earn their labor.
Unfortunately, there is no free or test version of the service for audit customers.
PS The article about bourgeois tools was previously published in our blog . For the Habr version, the description of the Userfly service was removed from it ( WieFix had already talked about it in his habratopic ), added two Russian-language services and a comparative table.
In this case, there are online tools for usability testing. They help to find out how the product meets user expectations, and at the same time, they save time and money on research.
This article provides an overview of ten simple and accessible tools for usability testing sites. What is nice, all the described applications, with the exception of the latter, can be used for free: they do not require payment at all or have free versions with limited functionality.
')
First there is a description of all ten applications, and then a comparative table, which reflects their main characteristics.
UsabilityHub
The site has three online tools that allow you to test the usability of a site or web application using screenshots of pages.
- Navflow allows you to analyze how easily users navigate the site page.
- Fivesecondtest helps to identify design elements that attract the most attention of visitors.
- ClickTest creates a heatmap that shows the areas of the web page that users click the most.
How it works. For example, Fivesecondtest
We choose one of three applications for testing a web page.
We load a screenshot of the page and make a short description of the project for users who will participate in the study.
Choose five questions that people need to answer after a five-second viewing of the image.
After that, set the desired number of page views and run the test. When the questions are answered by the necessary number of people, we get the result.
For those who want to use the free version of the application there are restrictions like: “how much you sink - you burst so much”, in order to attract enough people for testing, you need to work a little yourself.
Each user of the application has its own "karma". A newly registered user receives 20 karma points, plus, for each tested page, another 1 point. How many points - so many people will be able to view the downloaded screenshot and answer the questions.
A big plus of this application is that it is possible to choose a testing language. And you can show the project in Russian only to Russian-speaking users.
UserPlus
On this site, you can test web pages in two ways:
- On your own, with the help of The Advisor Tool .
- On real people, with The Tester Tool .
The application for testing sites with real users The Tester Tool is now in beta. But in the future, the developers promise that the customer of the test will be able to set certain tasks for users, and then observe how the person solves them step by step on the site. Each link click and each screenshot will be recorded and provided to the customer for further analysis.
But with the help of the Advisor application you can independently evaluate the site and get a usability assessment for it. This tool can be used at the design and development of templates to get a site that meets the expectations of real users.
How it works?
Create a project and upload screenshots of the site pages. (In the free version you can upload one screenshot per month.)
Then mark up the screenshot interface elements.
We answer questions from the checklist for all selected interface elements. The list of questions is quite impressive.
At the output, we obtain a usability assessment for each tagged element and the page as a whole.
Usabilla
Usability testing on the Usabilla site takes place in five stages:
- Create a new test: specify the URL of the site that we are going to test, and the language of testing. Available in 20 languages, including Russian.
- Specify the site pages for testing. You can download their screenshots from a computer or specify the path to them on the site.
- Choose questions that we want to get answers from users. You can use standard, predefined questions or formulate your own.
- We find and invite people who are ready to take part in testing and share their opinions.
- The program accumulates test results and user reviews, and then provides statistics grouped in a convenient form for analysis. Test pages can be viewed as heatmap.
The video gives a fairly accurate idea of ​​how Usabilla works.
You can test two pages for ten people for free.
onceptFeedback
This is not exactly user testing, but this resource allows you to get feedback from the professional community of designers.
In Runet there are resources similar to ConceptFeedback: re: vision and Russian Creators .
Optimal Workshop
On the OptimalWorkshop site, you can optimize the site using three different tools:
- Optimalsort is a tool that helps to organize the structure of the site using the card sorting method .
- Treejack is an application for testing a multi-level information architecture (IA) site. To begin testing, the structure of the website must be organized as a table and loaded into Treejack.
- Calkmark is designed to test the usability of web pages. It helps to understand how easy (or difficult) users of the site to find the necessary information. To get started, download a screenshot of the web page and set some task before the users. Calkmark collects answers and provides test results in the form of a thermal click-through map, and also reports the average time it takes to complete each task.
For each type of testing, we set ourselves the tasks, and then we find the users and invite them to participate in the study.
In the free version, you can create only small projects, with the following restrictions:
- OptimalSort: ten participants and 30 cards for one survey.
- Chalkmark and Treejack: 10 participants and 3 surveyed tasks in one survey.
4Q
This free online tool can be integrated into the site. He creates a small survey of site visitors, consisting of only 4 questions. Questions are formulated in such a way that you can identify the most reliable feedback from users.
It integrates with Google Analytics and is available in 10 languages, although unfortunately there is no Russian among them yet.
Feng-GUI
Feng-GUI simulates the user's gaze during the first 5 seconds of the visual effect. This application creates a map of eye movement on the page (heatmap) based on an algorithm that predicts what a real person is likely to look at.
Right on the main page of the site you can download a screenshot and see the likely areas of increased visitor attention.
Clickheat
This free, open source software integrates into the site and creates a visual heat map of visitors' clicks on a web page. And since the ClickHeat code is located directly on the server, the map reflects the result of the work of the real users of the site.
Webvisor
The Russian system, which, after installing javasript-code on the pages of the site, allows you to monitor and analyze user behavior.
With its help you can:
- Record the actions of site visitors: clicks, scrolling, keystrokes, filling out forms, highlighting and copying text.
- Play recorded actions in live mode.
- Conduct a detailed analysis of the behavior of visitors to the website.
- Create user activity maps: heat maps of clicks, attention maps and scrolling maps.
The free version records 100 visits per day, 2 of them are reproduced for analysis, and the data is stored in the WebVisor system for two days.
SitePolice
Another Russian-language online tool for usability testing sites. It allows site owners to test their resources with the help of auditors, and auditors to earn their labor.
How it works?
- The customer submits his website to the “policemen” court, formulates several questions to which he would like to receive answers, and selects an audit tariff plan.
- Auditors write a site report in a practically free form. The report has only two mandatory sections: “analysis of site usability and ways to solve problems” and “general conclusion”. For their reports and activity on the site "police" get points, which can then turn into money.
- If the customer does not mind the audit, then all reports of the “policemen” remain on the site of the service for general viewing.
Unfortunately, there is no free or test version of the service for audit customers.
Comparative table of tools for usability testing
| Title | Russian language | Who is testing | Test objects | Test results | Availability of the free version |
| UsabilityHub | there is | Service testers; other usabilityhub users | Webpage screenshot | Answers to the questions formulated at the beginning of the test; heat map of clicks | Free with limitation - users of the free version must test other sites themselves |
| UserPlus | there is | By means of the questionnaire; service testers (in beta) | Webpage screenshot | Assessment of the page for compliance with international standards | Free with limit - one screenshot per month |
| Usabilla | Not | Users invited by customer testing | Screenshot web page; live page | User activity reports grouped for further analysis; heat map of clicks | Free with a limit of 2 pages, 10 users |
| Concept Feedback | Not | Web design community members | Screenshot web page; live page | Reviews, evaluations and advice of the professional community | Is free |
| OptimalWorkshop | Not | Users invited by customer testing | Screenshot web page; site information architecture | Information structure of the site; heat map of clicks; the amount of time users spend on performing a task | Free with a limit - OptimalSort: 10 participants and 30 cards, Chalkmark and Treejack: 10 participants and 3 tasks |
| 4Q | Not | Real users | Work site | User answers to 4 questionnaire questions | Is free |
| Feng-GUI | there is | On their own, with the help of a program that simulates a user's view based on a special algorithm | Webpage screenshot | Heat map of the eye movement on the page | Free with restriction - kata eye movement of small size |
| Clickheat | there is | Real users of the site | Work site | Heat map of clicks | Is free |
| Webvisor | there is | Real users of the site | Work site | Video recording of the actions of real users; activity cards; analytics | Free with restriction - record 100 visitors per day, showing 2 visits per day, storing information for 2 days |
| SitePolice | there is | Real users of the site | Work site | Free form report | No free version |
PS The article about bourgeois tools was previously published in our blog . For the Habr version, the description of the Userfly service was removed from it ( WieFix had already talked about it in his habratopic ), added two Russian-language services and a comparative table.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/109010/
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