E-commerce Link : Conceptual Thinking

The whys and hows of website design concept testing

Recently, I spent a week preparing for and moderating concept tests for one of my largest clients. Concept testing—which is different from usability testing—puts two different website design treatments in front of representative users to see if one concept is perceived to be more usable or engaging than the other. Once a design is chosen and client-approved, the build phase can begin.

Users' opinions about graphic design are obviously very subjective. Just as people have different tastes in music, food and home décor, so too do their preferences differ online. When asked to compare two designs side by side, participants may have a difficult time articulating what it is that they like about a design. Even if they can find the words, people's rationale for their tastes is likely not related to the business or brand goals at the core of a design concept.

The fact that someone dislikes bright colors doesn't help us as researchers to assess the emotional impact of an interface or how it aligns with intended brand attributes. Therefore, we must create tests that try to structure participant feedback, and remove some of the subjectivity that accompanies their varying tastes.

First, begin with the participant recruit. As in other user research, it's important to make sure you're testing with a representative user population. If possible, recruit from a customer list or develop a screener to filter out participants who are wildly dissimilar from your typical user base.

Next, draft a discussion guide. Your discussion guide sets the objectives for your test and then outlines the activities and questions that the moderator will ask the participant during the course of the research. Having a script will ensure that each research session stays on track and that each participant experiences roughly the same stimulus.

I generally like to break the discussion guide down into components so that each piece feels like a separate activity or game, keeping participants engaged and cooperative throughout the session. This is particularly important in concept testing where all questions are repeated for both concepts. (To control for bias, don't forget to alternate which concept is shown first to each participant.)

Background and Rapport
With the tests I ran, I started by asking a series of background questions to help the participant feel more comfortable: What do you do for work? For fun? How much time do you spend on the computer each week? What sites do you visit most regularly? It's important to be friendly and to establish a rapport right from the onset. You'll find your users to be more open and talkative if you're not too stiff or business-like.

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