In June's edition of Useworthy we discussed the use of online tools, which would compliment usability testing. We touched on the idea of opt in surveys. This month Laura Marr looks further into The Usability Company's latest offering of online research solutions: The E-Mission Scorecard, which is part of the WebIQ suite of products.

In simple terms the E-mission Scorecard sits on the client side server and shows a pop-up survey to a client's predetermined percentage of visitors (for example 1 in 20 visitors could be asked or 1 in 1000) The Visitor then chooses whether or not to take part. Surprisingly opt in rates are as high as 12% even though there are no incentives for doing so. Visitors are asked 4 questions at the start of their visit and 4 when they leave the site.

At the start the 4 questions are regarding their demographic group, how they found the site, how they would rank the company whose site they are on in terms of brand strength, and lastly what they expect to achieve on the site.   Then just as they are about to leave (For example when they type in another URL they are asked 4 exit questions: Overall site satisfaction, whether or not they were able to achieve their objectives – was the visit a success? How they would change the site, and what they now think of the brand.

It is an excellent tool for uncovering usability issues and getting honest feedback from a user who is happy or frustrated. Actual task times are recorded so a client will know where problems are arising. Who hasn't spent a frustrating hour trying to locate something - a specific brand of deodorant or a specific measurement of apples - and wants someone to moan to?  In turn the site owner (Intranet or Internet) has indispensable feedback. By combining the data captured from the 8 questions, clients are able to identify who their users are, the users objective for visiting, if they achieve their objectives, if they didn't, why they didn't, specific suggestions for improvement and their feelings about the brand or product affinity. There are no privacy issues. Feedback is voluntary. Those who wish not to participate are respected and screened from future invitations.

Find out more about WebIQ. 

Return to newsletter