January 14th, 2012 
Travis 
One of my favorite usability websites is UserTesting.com. By giving users a unique scenario and particular goals to accomplish, you get to watch screen captured videos that allow you great access to your target audience’s tendencies.
From my own personal experiences, I have created my “Ultimate User Testing Cheatsheet” for you to use as well.
Happy converting!
Scenario:
You’re new to (insert your industry here), and you’re looking to (insert goal here). You’ve made similar purchases locally, but this is your first experience with buying this product online.
Task 1:
Look at the website for five seconds. Then look away and answer these questions (without peeking!): (1) Say the first thing that comes to your mind about the layout and design of the site. (2) What do you remember? (3) What do you think the site is about?
Task 2:
Purchasing on a website is much different than buying at a local store. What concerns would you have about buying online versus locally?
Task 3:
When shopping online, how do you typically search for a product on a website? (ex- clicking on the top navigation bar, left navigation bar, search box, or clicking through the center of the index page, or another preferred option)
Task 4:
Search the site and find three products you’re interested in. Add them to your cart. Continue to checkout. Provide fake info until you reach the credit card information section of the checkout process. Was it difficult to enter any of your information? Were there any steps that seemed difficult to complete?
Task 5:
If this wasn’t a test, would you have made a purchase? Why or why not? What did you like about this website? What did you NOT like about this website? What would you change? What did you like/dislike about the buying process.
Task 6:
Now that you’ve gone through the checkout process, do you have any more concerns about buying online versus locally?
Task 7:
What unanswered questions do you have about the following topics (list any specific concerns you think a potential customer might have)
Task 8:
Did this website leave any other questions unanswered?
Task 9:
What would be the best way for this website to provide the information you’re looking for? (please provide suggestions)
Task 10:
Imagine that you aren’t sure if you want to purchase these products from (your company), so you want to do more research. Naturally search the internet- however you would normally do research on the web- and see if you would still buy from (your company). What research do you do on a company before you purchase from them online?
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