Business Case: Usability studies
Why usability?
Market studies show that E-business consumers and intranet users both want websites that are easy to use. The Meta group predicts that "Third generation sites (2001+) will focus on the user experience", and they suggest that once a site is deployed, feedback loops should incorporate measurement tools to regularly review site design and functionality.
The need for usability studies
Despite the abundance of design recommendations and guidelines:
- An estimated 90% of websites provide inadequate usability (Jakob Nielsen).
- 36% of all US website owners conduct usability research, and less than 5% in the UK (The Usability Company).
- 6% of Global 3500 intranet owners carry out user surveys and 8% perform website log file analyses (Forrester research).
The need for automated usability studies
Tools and methodologies are needed to accelerate and improve the website design process due to:
- A projected growth of 196 million new sites within the next five years.
- Usability laboratories and user surveys are time consuming drains on human resources.
- Professional user interface consultants are expensive and in short supply.
As part of our website improvement service, we use a unique diagnostic tool called NaviGaugeTM, which identifies navigational deficiencies in a website or intranet and provides a quantitative measure of its ease-of-use.
"By 2003, 60% of G2000 enterprises will have consistent Web site benefit metrics that are tracked regularly to show improvement over time ... reaching 80%+ ... by 2005."
Kurt Schlegel, META Group Inc., March 2001.