Knowing Your Audience

I've been working on a custom web-based system for a local company and have realized the importance of knowing who will be using any system you develop. Knowing the audience, their skills, and abilities helps you frame your development directly around them. I've noticed this because after working face-to-face with my client, I realized that a slight internet incompetence exists. Now that I understand this individual's perspective of the internet and how they think it works, I can tailor the web site to add extra explanations where complex functionality exists.

Several years ago while working at Utah State University I had the opportunity to record a user testing session with a blind tester. Using a screen reader, he navigated the web site as good as any of us did. The most interesting element of the test was how fast he setup the screen reader to "speak" the elements on the screen. He played it so fast that my colleagues and I couldn't even understand what the screen reader was saying! It really brought a real sense of "we've got to make this better to work for everyone."

I encourage you to do the same. The importance of user testing will only present itself when you see unassisted testers run through your web site. The bottlenecks and confusing areas become self-evident. You may even realize just how "bad" your design is.

That's happened to me a few times.