Using the Web Testing Scorecard to Measure Website Functionality

Jan 16
09:58

2009

Sam Miller

Sam Miller

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Web testing scorecards will focus on website features that encourage more visitors. Having such features ensure more quality directed traffic to your website.

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Web testing scorecards will focus primarily on the Graphic user interface (GUI) that websites use to enable web users to navigate within website pages easily. The functionality of website GUI has great influence on the volume of traffic a website generates.

Graphic user interface is designed to give users effective control over computers. Control,Using the Web Testing Scorecard to Measure Website Functionality Articles in this case, will mean the ease with which the GUI responds to users commands. Establishing the quality of the GUI of a website will essentially be the first thing a web test scorecard will endeavor to accomplish. The goal logically will be to provide users the desired graphic interface functionality by using the most relevant web technology available.

When testing a website design, the homepage will naturally get the initial attention. The questions to ask are: How does a visitor find the homepage? Do the homepage menus allow for easy navigation within the website pages? Does the homepage design and construction encourage more visitors? Being biased, a website owner or developer will most likely supply favorable answers but there is a better and more accurate way of measuring homepage functionality and that is, to ask users what they think.

A web test will determine the GUI efficiency by measuring the ease and speed with which users navigate from the homepage to website pages and back and to connect with major links. A good GUI design will always provide conspicuously located navigation points in all pages and graphic buttons that produce graphic identity, which tell searchers they are still within the website domain.

The construction of the site should provide direct links to pages embedded within the website. A well thought out GUI will not lack links that will return searchers to the homepage; otherwise, they will be locked in the page and will not have the chance to visit other pages of the website. Better still, each page should have links to other pages and sections.

Another web test useful in measuring website functionality is the interface speed. Searchers are known to give just 10 seconds waiting time to access websites before clicking away. This means that the website interface should be aligned with the access speed of most users. Internet searchers generally use dial-up connections. A website with overly elaborate bitmap graphics will be slow and inefficient. Corporate and university sites can afford to be more ambitious with graphics, as they usually employ faster modes of acquiring access to servers. Still, it is best to be conservative with the use of graphics. A fast loading page will always find favor with users.

A web testing scorecard will give importance to overall website construction and features that provide convenience to users. It must promote efficiency of interface in terms of ease of navigation from the homepages to pages buried within the websites, from one page to another and back to homepage, and speed of accessing major linkages. The scorecard should be focused on testing whether the website is able to provide what visitors came for, which is the best gauge of website’s functionality.