Usability, content strategy, IA and QA

We want people who use your site to love it, so we have additional services including usability testing and reviews, content strategy, information architecture planning and quality assurance.

These services are available separately or part of a larger project.

Usability testing

We can plan and conduct usability testing with actual people. It's essential to hear a fresh perspective on the usefulness of the workflows and content, as well as the overall experience of using the site. The earlier in the development process that usability testing happens, the better too.

There are several options:

• Testing with paper or low-fidelity prototypes can identify organization and workflow issues before development begins (low cost)
• Remote usability testing involves screensharing to observe their screen, and communicating with the tester over the phone (medium cost)
• Side-by-side testing allows us to observe reactions, as well as build up a rapport with the tester (medium cost)
• We can also do a usability evaluation: a single person who is well-versed in usability heuristics will review the entire site in detail to identify all specific usability problems, along with suggestions for improvement (low cost)

When Drupal usability testing, the steps generally include: planning what will be tested, recruiting testers, conducting testing, analyzing the findings, and making suggestions for the implementation team to act on.

Drupal can then be customized to meet the needs of the site's users, such as people who come to your site with a specific goal in mind, as well as your site's content editors. The primary benefit of making your site easier to use is visitors are more likely to return to your site, and enjoy the experience!

Usability testing varies in cost, depending on the approach used, and how often it's repeated.

Content strategy

Website production is often equated with visual interface and functionality. There's a third piece that can make or break the success of your site: great content.

Good content is planned in advance, and your site should be developed and designed around your content. Good content is appropriate to the brand, the project goals, and the audience. Without good content, you have a beautiful, well-built house with no furniture or fixtures.

To help achieve great content, we offer the following services:

• Content inventory (what do you have); content audit (is it any good?)
• Content gap analysis (what are you missing?)
• Content creation guidance (e.g. page tables)
• Content strategy (how are you going to keep your content great going forward)
• Editorial and writing style guides

On smaller sites (less than 200 pages), a solid content strategy usually takes 25-35 hours to create, excluding the content writing and style guide. However, some of the benefits are: content will be meaningful, useful and relevant; creation and governance will go more smoothly; a defined process will save you and your team a lot of time in the future.

Information architecture

Can users find what they are looking for on your site? We are experienced with advising on:

• Site organization
• Navigation
• Labeling
• Vocabularies and taxonomy usage
• Site search

It's difficult to estimate how long IA takes; it depends on the content of the site and if the content exists already, but 5-10 hours is reasonable if you're starting from scratch.

Quality assurance and accessibility reviews

We have conducted many QA and accessibility reviews over the years. We have our own Drupal QA Checklist and can work within the project management system you prefer.

The cost depends on the size of the site, and the exact focus of the QA review.