[WebPub] From the WebPub Blog: YouTube¹s Usability Testing

[David J Conlon]

Developing a seamless web experience is one of the most challenging parts of
website design and development. Not only does a website have to be
attractive to end-users, but the interface must be intuitive for the users
to find what they need or to discover what you, as a content provider, want
them to discover.

This key question of ³What Goes Where?² is the focus of usability testing.
YouTube offered insight to their extensive usability process in the redesign
of their ³Watch² page (the page you see when viewing an actual video).
Youtube¹s user research revealed some important findings about the desires
of their target audience.
More information on YouTube¹s Usability Testing is available on their blog
here: 
http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2009/10/inside-user-research-at-youtube.h
tml

MIT is lucky to have Usability services available to the community for free,
and this is a great asset for both existing websites as well as new
websites. The members of the MIT Usability Group are colleagues aiming to
foster usability practices within the Information Technology community at
MIT. The team is composed of human factors professionals, usability experts,
accessibility specialists, information architects, and user interface
designers. Definitely a great asset to the MIT Community!


More information on MIT¹s Usability Group can be found here:
http://ist.mit.edu/services/consulting/usability


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David J. Conlon
Web and Database Consultant
Departmental Consulting & Application Development - Client Support Services
Information Services & Technology (IS&T)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building N42-240g
Cambridge, MA 02139