Why UserTesting.com?
The Problem:
People in charge of websites—developers, designers, managers (we’ll call them “website owners”)—generally don’t do usability testing. That is, during the development of a website, they don’t watch people use their site to discover where it is unclear or frustrating. Why? Because doing this type of testing is currently expensive and time-consuming and gets in the way of meeting tight deadlines.
It’s expensive.
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“Hiring someone to conduct a test still costs $5,000 to $15,000, and as a result it doesn’t happen nearly often enough.” — Steve Krug
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It’s time-consuming.
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"Many people believe in user testing, but in real design projects, not much testing takes place. Why the discrepancy between belief and action? Mainly, it is the company’s inability to fire off a quick, small test when faced with a design decision. Few organizations can run such tests within the deadlines required by fast-moving development projects." — Jakob Nielsen
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One reason that usability testing is needed is because website owners are too familiar with their own company’s products and terminology. So even though their intention is to create a great website, oftentimes a visitor experiences confusion or other problems and so exits the site. And usability testing is becoming more important as the web moves from just web pages to applications.
The Solution:
Our goal at UserTesting.com is to provide the fastest and cheapest usability testing on the market. We give website owners access to a network of pre-screened users who are articulate and observant and who meet specified demographics. With UserTesting.com, website owners can request that one or more users attempt to complete a task on their website. Users, speaking their thoughts as they browse, will have their screens and voices recorded. The resulting videos will immediately be made available online for the website owners to watch. Thus, the website owner gets to see their site with “fresh eyes.”