Miskeeto

The fastest way to test your site, ever.

A miskeeto byte from Robert Hoekman, Jr. Posted on September 23rd, 2008

Need a lightning-fast, super-cheap way to run a usability test? Keep reading.

When Jared Spool (UIE) talked about running 5-second tests to test the usability and understandability of a web page, I was inspired. I’ve used this trick many times since, and can personally vouch for its greatness. To spread the word about this great technique, I wrote about it in Designing the Obvious.

And then a man named Matt Milosavljevic read the book, got inspired, and built an application that—you guessed it—facilitates 5-second tests. And in doing so, created what may be the fastest way to test a site … ever.

1. Create an image of a screen you’d like to test. This can be a screenshot of a current app, a comp, or even a sketch on a napkin (scanned, of course). Tip: you can use Skitch to create screenshots in just a few seconds.

2. Upload the image at www.fivesecondtest.com and plug in your email address.

3. Email the URL for the 5-second test (shown on the subsequent page) to anyone willing to give you some quick feedback. If you have a decent amount of followers, post the link to Twitter and/or Facebook and ask for volunteers.

4. Sit back and relax.

When a user clicks the link, she sees a page that explains how the test works and what to do. When she clicks the button to start the test, your uploaded image displays for 5 seconds, then disappears. The user is then asked to enter everything she can remember about the image (via 5 input fields on the next screen). When she clicks “Done”, she sees a Thank You page and an email is sent to you that contains all of her responses.

Once you have replies from a few users, you’ll spot the trends. Are they noticing the most important things in your design? If not, tweak the design and run another test.

Simple as that.

The whole thing takes about 30 seconds to set up, and 60 seconds for your users to complete. It really couldn’t be easier.

And with that, you’ve officially run out of excuses not to do some kind of usability testing. If you have a minute to gossip by the water cooler, you have enough time to run a usability test.

Many thanks to Matt for turning what could have been a far more complicated application into something extremely simple. Not only will I start using this app regularly, I’ll be recommending it at every available opportunity.