Have you ever done a usability test on your site?

I should maybe have done this as a poll.

Judging by the replies people either don't know what it is or are not interested in having a usability study.

The problem is, you can get a site designed and you may love it but unless you actually sit and watch a few people actually try and achieve the tasks you are hoping for then you have no idea if it is working as well as it could be. If you don't know where the trouble spots are and your designer isn't going to tell you (because it's not what you want to hear) then the only way to be convinced to to listen to a realy person humming and haaing over the best link to click next or getting annoyed because it didn't take them where they expected.

We did our own test a while ago and were shocked by some of the findings. They were blindingly obvious but we simply hadn't clicked.

We have also had an expert reveiw and made some great changes based on their recommendations but at the heart of it you don't know till you test.

Most people here know, I don't sell usability tests and so I don't have a vested interest in promoting them. I would just love to hear from anyone who has had one. Personally I found it a revelation and it can be done on a shoestring.

Steve Krug's book Don't Make Me Think contains the method and reasons for doing a test.

For our first test we did it ourselves and made changes that we believe really helped.

PM if you want to know who did our expert review.

Mark, bottom line is turnover, we have always grown at such a helluva rate it has been hard to pin point just what is causing it. However ensuring that grass roots people can use the site is one box ticked in the search for the perfect conversion.

Just asking a few people who aren't that interested to post a few comments on an open forum does not constitute a thorough test and if you are serious about your online business it really is simple.

Get a few mates of your mum to sit down and place a dummy order while they describe what they are doing out loud and you watch. It could make your hair stand on end when you realise that what is obvious to you is potentially confusing to your market.

You need to get them to speak every single thought - i.e. "Is that a link? If I click it I expect to be taken to a details page, oh it took me to the free chocolate page, I didn't want that, I better go back, where do I click now? I don't understand what I'm meant to do here, how do I add a message etc etc."

What Steve Krug espouses is that an accumulation of wrong clicks, irritating little problems, difficult decisions all adds up to someone abandoning your site. Smooth out as many of these as possible and people will feel comfortable on your site for longer and therefore are more likely to achieve the goal they came for.

I'm just surprised not more people are interested in this area. After all, once the site is designed and people are finding it, the next step is to ensure they can do what they came for. It's crucial.

Edit to say CJD straight away I can tell you that the text on your site is far too small and grey. My eyesight is reasonable but I could hardly read it and because it was hard to read I was suspicious of the 'small print' feel it gave the site and I couldn't be bothered to read it. Now TEST YOUR SITE.