Thursday 28 July 2011

Local government usability testing

I came across a blog the other day by the Camden Borough Council web team. Great to read about a group so committed to putting the user at the centre of a website overhaul. I suppose one positive from the ongoing rounds of cuts in the public sector - and we have to grasp these positives when they arise! - is an increased user focus in the field of web communication and service delivery.

Now that resources are tighter the drive for greater efficiency and doing more business online is growing. And you can't make people do more online - ease of use and user focus has to be at the core of everything you do.

So it's nice to read about what another public sector web team is up to. And it's great that they're sharing their experiences.

This article is worth a look as many of their findings have some resonance for University web pages too, plus their analysis of eye tracking versus other forms of user research provides some food for thought. While I would agree with their view that eye tracking is an unnecessary expense in almost all cases, I'm dubious about the more implicit conclusion that click analysis is a better option than accompanied surfing user testing (they call it think aloud).

Camden web team usability testing and research findings

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