Modern e-commerce is undoubtedly a fierce contest for every customer. Attractive products and promotions are no longer enough to achieve lasting success in this highly competitive sector – an intuitive, frictionless shopping experience now takes centre stage. This raises an important question: if the user experience is so crucial, how can businesses create it effectively and continue to improve it?
Data – the foundation of usability testing
The answer begins with reliable data, which should underpin every good UX project, whether it involves a website or a mobile app. One of the best and relatively straightforward ways to gather such data is through usability testing with real users. Testing can begin at the very earliest stage of the product lifecycle – even during prototyping. It is a proven way to identify and remove barriers that make a product difficult to use and often discourage customers from completing their orders.
What is usability testing?
Usability testing is one of the most widely used and important UX research methods. It involves observing how real users behave while completing tasks on a website or in a mobile app. Its purpose is to identify usability issues and understand the needs and opinions of end users. To deliver genuine value, the process should conclude with a report that provides a basis for further work – specifically, tangible improvements to the digital product.
Who does this affect?
Usability issues are not solely the concern of the UX team. Their consequences can also affect:
- E-commerce owners and managers responsible for sales.
- Marketing teams that generate traffic but have limited control over what happens once a user enters the online shop.
- Decision-makers who set priorities for the platform’s development.
- UX, analytics and development teams responsible for designing, implementing and optimising user journeys.
- Customer service departments that receive enquiries arising from unclear or confusing website functionality.
Testing brings these perspectives together and allows development decisions to be based on actual customer behaviour rather than internal assumptions alone.
Observing behaviour vs gathering opinions
To determine whether a product is genuinely usable, we should first observe carefully how people use it1 – including:
- how they complete the tasks for which it was designed;
- what they say about it; and
- what ideas they have for improving it.
In usability research, what a user does matters more than what they merely say. Jakob Nielsen points out that evaluating a product’s usability requires us first and foremost to observe people as they complete tasks. Their opinions can be helpful, but they do not always lead to the right solution. If a participant says, ‘I would definitely have noticed the button if it had been larger’, the one thing we know for certain is that they did not notice it. Its size may be the reason, but the issue could equally lie in its colour, position, wording or the hierarchy of the overall view. It is the researcher’s role to identify the problem and select a solution based on the evidence gathered and their design expertise.
Effective research therefore combines two approaches: observing users as they work through a scenario and asking questions afterwards to understand their doubts and motivations.
Why is usability testing essential in e-commerce?
Above all, because of the costs that a poorly designed website or app can generate. Every person who reaches an online shop through a paid campaign represents an acquisition cost. If they abandon their purchase because of an interface barrier, part of that budget is wasted. In e-commerce, even a minor obstacle can interrupt a purchase. Users expect to find a product quickly, see the full cost of their order, choose a convenient delivery option and pay securely. An unclear message, no indication of an operation’s status or the need to correct a form repeatedly can undermine trust, cause customers to abandon their purchases and ultimately send them to a competitor. Usability testing helps uncover such issues before they are rolled out at scale, or identify their causes when an online shop’s performance begins to decline.
When should you conduct usability testing?
There is no need to wait until the product is complete. Usability testing can begin with an interactive prototype and be repeated at subsequent stages of the website’s development. It is particularly worth planning research:
- before launching a new online shop or app;
- during a website redesign;
- before beginning a campaign expected to drive substantial traffic to the shop;
- when basket abandonment rises or conversion falls;
- when analytics reveal that users are dropping out at a particular stage;
- when customer service repeatedly receives similar enquiries; and
- after significant changes have been implemented.
Testing should not be treated as a one-off ‘exam’ at the very end of a project. It delivers the greatest value as part of an ongoing optimisation process.
What should be tested in e-commerce?
The scope of the research should reflect the business objective. Rather than trying to assess the entire website in a single session, it is better to select the journeys that have the greatest impact on sales.
Product search and selection
Check whether users can find the right product, use filters, compare options and access the information they need to make a decision.
Product pages and adding items to the basket
Research can reveal whether the price, availability, delivery cost, product options and add-to-basket button are sufficiently visible and easy to understand.
Basket and checkout
This is one of the most important areas to test. Among other things, you should establish whether users understand each step, can edit their order, complete forms correctly and see the full cost before making payment.
Delivery, payment and error messages
It is worth checking whether the available options are easy to select and whether messages clearly explain what has happened and how the issue can be resolved.
Mobile experience
On mobile devices, factors such as the size of touch targets, legibility of content, keyboard behaviour, form length and layout stability all matter. A process that works well on a desktop computer may not be equally convenient on a smartphone.
Five of Nielsen’s heuristics that are particularly important in e-commerce
Heuristics are established principles for interface design. They can help teams develop research scenarios and carry out an initial assessment of potential issues.
- Visibility of system status – users should know whether a product has been added to the basket, a payment is being processed or an order has been placed.
- Match between the system and the real world – language, icons and the sequence of actions should reflect concepts familiar to customers, rather than the organisation’s internal terminology.
- User control and freedom – customers should be able to change the number of products, select a different option or delivery method, or return to the previous step with ease.
- Consistency and standards – similar elements should look and behave consistently throughout the website.
- Error prevention – forms should reduce the risk of mistakes through appropriate field types, helpful prompts and validation displayed at the right time.
A heuristic evaluation cannot, however, replace user testing. An expert can identify a potential problem, but only observation can reveal whether – and how – it affects customer behaviour.
How can you measure the scale of a problem and the impact of changes?
Qualitative observations should be considered alongside quantitative data. This makes it possible to assess which problems occur most frequently, set priorities and compare results before and after a change is implemented. The following metrics are worth considering and selecting according to the stage of the product lifecycle and the purpose of the research:
- Task Success Rate – the percentage of participants who complete a given task, such as finding a specified product and placing an order.
- Time on Task – the time required to complete a task. A shorter time may indicate that the journey has become simpler, but the result should always be interpreted in the context of the task and the quality of its completion.
- Error Rate – the frequency of errors made while completing a task. A high result may indicate unclear instructions, inappropriate validation or a confusing interface structure.
Error Rate = (Total number of errors / Total number of attempts) × 100
- Conversion Rate – the percentage of users who complete a commercially important action, such as making a purchase or submitting a form.
Conversion Rate = (Total number of conversions / Total number of visitors or interactions) × 100
Additional metrics
Depending on the issue, it may also be worth analysing abandonment rates at individual stages, the number of customer service enquiries, the recurrence of errors, the number of attempts required to complete a task and the proportion of transactions completed on mobile devices.
It is unwise to promise a specific increase in sales in advance. The outcome depends on the scale of the problem, the quality of the changes implemented, traffic sources and many other factors. A properly designed measurement framework does, however, make it possible to determine whether more users complete the task after optimisation, make fewer errors and move through a key journey more quickly.
Usability testing step by step
Although effective usability testing requires the experience and expertise of a UX team, it is useful to understand the stages involved.
Define the business objective
Begin with a specific problem, such as a high basket abandonment rate, low mobile conversion or a large number of payment errors. Establish a baseline metric against which the result can be compared after changes have been implemented.
Select the journeys to investigate
Focus on the tasks that matter most to both customers and the business. The scenario should define the user’s objective without suggesting how they should achieve it.
Recruit the right participants
Participants should reflect the website’s target audience. Relevant criteria may include their shopping experience, age, device, frequency of online shopping and familiarity with the particular product category.
Conduct and document the sessions
The moderator observes participants as they complete tasks, asks follow-up questions about specific situations and avoids leading them towards particular answers. With the participants’ consent, sessions may be recorded to support subsequent analysis.
Identify and assess issues
Each issue should be described in terms of where it occurs, the behaviour observed, its potential commercial consequences, its frequency and its severity for the user.
Prioritise recommendations
Recommendations should be prioritised according to the issue’s impact on the key task, the number of users potentially affected, the business risk and the cost of implementing the change.
Implement changes and measure the outcome
Once the changes have been implemented, compare the results with the baseline. Check whether the task completion rate has increased, completion times have fallen, the number of errors has decreased or conversion has improved. Conduct another round of testing if necessary.
This approach ensures that every stage of usability testing delivers tangible business benefits: higher conversion, a better customer experience and, as a result, greater trust in your e-commerce website and a stronger competitive advantage.
From observation to business decisions – a summary
Usability testing is not an end in itself. Its value lies in the way it connects customer behaviour with business performance, helps teams select the problems worth solving and reduces the risk of investing in ineffective changes.
Conducting the tests and gathering the findings is only half the work. The next step may be to consider the issues in the context of the customer’s entire relationship with the brand. In our next article, we will explain how research findings can be used during Customer Journey Mapping workshops to turn individual observations into improvements across the entire customer journey.
At Infinity Group, we conduct usability research, prioritise findings according to their impact on users and the business, and translate them into recommendations and ready-to-implement design solutions. We can also support your team during implementation and outcome measurement, making research part of a broader product optimisation process. If you would like to uncover hidden issues in your e-commerce platform, complete the form below.
- https://www.nngroup.com/articles/first-rule-of-usability-dont-listen-to-users/ ↩︎
