10 minute improvement: Usability

What do I mean 10 minute improvement? The idea is, this is something you can genuinely achieve in less than 10 minutes. It's that simple.

Usability.

What is it? No-one answers the question better than Krug, in his book "Don't Make Me Think". If you can find the time, read it - it's well suited to the business professional (short - thus quick to read, condensed, jargon-free). In a nutshell, usability is making your website is user-friendly.

The best way to do this? Ask someone that's never seen it before, to perform a specific task or find a specific bit of information on your website. To make this work they must be:

• External to your organisation.
• Unafraid to give you honest feedback.
• An average web user (don't ask a website guru, don't ask your grandmother - unless she's a silver surfer).

You are asking them simply to do a specific task (buy a product, find out what your core values are, etc.), and list all the frustrations they encounter along the way.

You'll be surprised at the results.

Ben