Yuseo puts spotlight on online user experience

FRANCE-- Usability researcher Yuseo has teamed up with panel provider Ciao Surveys to conduct a major quantitative study of users' experience with online retailers.

The E-performance Observatory study combined qualitative tests with a quantitative usability survey carried out online with the help of Ciao.

Participants from France, the UK and Germany were asked to look for products and information on sites including Amazon, Play.com and Laskys, while Yuseo tracked their mouse movements and gathered feedback on the experience through questionnaires before and after the test.

Jean-Pierre Le Borgne, Yuseo's development manager, told Research that by using samples of hundreds of people for each site, the project aimed to bridge the gap between web analytics and qualitative usability research. “The main problem we've encountered with user tests is quantifying the issues you identify,” he said. “You can't prioritise because the sample is too small, so we need to work with more solid data with statistical value.”

Le Borgne said the study highlighted plenty of room for ‘e-tailers' to improve, with only half of the participants managing to complete their tasks on even the best-performing sites.

It also highlighted differences between the attitudes and behaviour of web users in the three countries surveyed, with UK users attaching much more importance to speed than those in the other countries, and German users most keen to read feedback from other customers before making a buying decision.

The report is now available on a syndicated basis and Yuseo hopes to repeat the study once a year.

Author: Robert Bain