10 Tools to Improve Your Site’s Usability on a Low Budget

Testing the usability of your site is one of the smartest things you can do. Usability involves making a website’s interface easier to use and simpler to understand, so that the user’s experience is as enjoyable as possible.

Ideas about what makes for the best website design don’t always translate perfectly when put into practice. Elements that one person might consider easy to use may actually turn out to be confusing for someone else.

Usability testing allows you to discover many ways in which your site can be improved.

How much testing should I do?

Usability testing may sound daunting, but in reality, a small investment can yield large gains. Jacob Nielsen, one of the best-known usability gurus, says:

“The best results come from testing no more than 5 users and running as many small tests as you can afford.”

- Jacob Nielsen (Why You Only Need to Test With 5 Users)

That’s right. Just 5 users will provide enough results to help you make effective updates to your website. While you could test with 15 users to find most or all problem areas on your site, testing with just 5 will uncover 85% of issues, which gives you the most value for your money.

Other trouble spots can be identified by testing a subsequent round of users, and with each additional test, the number of issues uncovered will decrease.

It’s important to note that the very first usability test offers the greatest insight. Even a small amount of testing can yield significant results and reveal big issues and problem areas early on.

This means that you don’t need to spend a lot of time or money to benefit from usability testing.

On a tight budget?

Usability testing sounds like a good idea, but you’re probably wondering if any affordable options exist.

The answer is yes. Plenty of free or cheap tools and services are available to help you test and optimize your site.

Here’s our selection of some of the best and most affordable options to get started with.

1. Userfly

Userfly is an interesting new startup. The service allows you to put a little bit of JavaScript on your website and then track a lot of your visitors’ actions, from mouse movements to clicks and keystrokes (except password entries, of course).

This means that you can replay a user’s session exactly as it happened, and not just on a single page either, but across your entire site. You can see where the user’s mouse moved and exactly what they typed.

You can start using Userfly for free, with a limit of 10 captures. The Basic plan gives you 100 captures at $10 per month, which should be plenty to get you started.

2. Feedback Army

Feedback Army is probably the fastest way to get feedback about your website (aside from asking your colleagues). This service is powered by Amazon’s Mechanical Turk engine.

As the name implies, Mechanical Turk is a human-powered “engine” designed to solve tasks that can be completed in a short period of time. Feedback Army asks users questions about your site and quickly gathers feedback and impressions so that you can improve the user experience.

The cost is relatively cheap: $10 buys you 10 responses. However, don’t expect detailed reviews. Also, it is important to construct your questions carefully to receive the highest quality and most effective feedback.

3. Five Second Test

Five Second Test is a free usability testing service that offers three different ways of testing: “Classic,” “Compare,” and “Sentiment.” The Classic test shows and then hides a screenshot of your page and asks users to recall elements that they remember.

The Compare test shows two screenshots and asks users which they prefer. The Sentiment test shows one page and asks users to pick their favorite and least favorite elements.

As you can probably guess from the name, testers have only 5 seconds to provide feedback after seeing a question. Also, each test can be marked as public or invitation-only, which is helpful if you need to limit exposure.

4. UserTesting

UserTesting offers a more traditional approach to usability testing. Give UserTesting your website’s demographic, and the service will select the right users to browse your site.

In return, you’ll receive a video of the users’ screens as they navigate your site, along with a running audio commentary of their responses. You will also get a written report detailing the areas and functions that the users liked and disliked and anything that may have prompted them to leave the site.

All of this costs only $29 per test. Such low-cost and high-quality deliverables make UserTesting a great option for those looking to perform detailed tests of their websites, without having to resort to more expensive, comprehensive usability testing.