Instructions

You may be starting out on a new project, or perhaps this is a re-design of an existing site. In either
case, this spreadsheet contains a short test that you can use to measure the likely success of your site.
The questions assess how closely you followed (or plan to follow) a customer centred design approach.

You can use the results of this test as a before and after measure for your site, or you can use it to
identify particular areas for improvement . You can also use it as a checklist after you complete each
phase of the design to check that the key issues have been addressed.

To start, click on the "Worksheet" tab below.

Answer each question using a scale of 0-2, using the following key:
0: No.
1: Kind of.
2: Yes.


This test is taken from the book "E-commerce Usability" by David Travis (Taylor & Francis,
2002). For more information, visit www.usabilitybook.com.


design of an existing site. In either
case, this spreadsheet contains a short test that you can use to measure the likely success of your site.
The questions assess how closely you followed (or plan to follow) a customer centred design approach.
You can use the results of this test as a before and after measure for your site, or you can use it to
identify particular areas for improvement . You can also use it as a checklist after you complete each
commerce Usability" by David Travis (Taylor & Francis,
Your score:
Chance of success:
Comments:
Are you customer centred?
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
6 0
7 0
8 0
9 0
10 0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
6 0
7 0
8 0
9 0
10 0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
6 0
7 0
8 0
9 0
10 0
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
6 0
7 0
8 0
9 0
10 0
Your score:
Chance of success:
Comments:

Your results will appear here once you start to complete the worksheet. Complete the cells
underlined in blue.
Are you customer centred?
Analyse the opportunity
Have all the project stakeholders been identified (not just the end users)?
Have the motivations of each stakeholder been made explicit?
Has the list of stakeholders been prioritised and is there an explicit management strategy for the
most important stakeholders?
Does the project have a site mandate or vision statement that clearly communicates the aims of
the project to the development team?
Is it clear how the site will make money?
Are the objectives of the site clear and unambiguous and are they consistent with the
organisations overall business goals?
Is the value that customers will get from using the site clear and obvious?
Have competitor web sites been identified?
Has customer research been carried out to identify the most appropriate market or beachhead
segment that will be the prime focus of the first release?
Are the target customers clearly identifiable (i.e. the site avoids trying to be something for
everybody)?
Build the context of use
Have potential customers been consulted and have their goals been identified?
Is there a specification of the range of intended customers for the site?
Is there a specification of the environments (physical, socio-cultural and technical) within which
customers will use the site?
Is there a specification of the different tasks that customers will want to carry out at the site?
Has this list of customer tasks been prioritised and have the critical and frequent tasks been
identified?
Has this prioritised list of tasks been used to deliver the web site in stages, with the most
important functionality delivered first?
Was information about customers, their tasks and their environments collected using a range of
techniques (e.g. surveys, interviews, observation)?
Has the context of use information been reviewed and verified?
Has the context of use information been presented to the design team in an engaging and
accessible way (e.g. as personas and scenarios)?
Has the context of use information been used to drive the design process?
Create the user experience
Have key performance indicators been set and has the site been evaluated against these metrics?
Are these criteria based on clear customer input and do they cover the areas of customer
performance (effectiveness and efficiency) as well as customer satisfaction?
Has the conceptual model for the site been identified?
Has a content inventory been produced, and has this been sorted, ordered and categorised to
match customers mental model of the information?
Is the navigational framework of the site and the terminology used for navigation items based on
this customer research?
Have various prototypes been developed and evaluated and have the results of these evaluations
been used to improve the designs?
Has the design been tested for usability with representative customers?
Has the design been changed to address the findings of these evaluations?
Have usability defects been prioritised based on their impact on customers and have the defects
been tracked to completion?
Has the design been documented in a Style Guide?
Track Real-World Usage and Continuously Improve the Site
Is feedback from customers (e.g. help desks, post-release surveys and customer visits) collected
regularly and frequently to ensure that the site continues to meet business and customer needs?
Is this information used to identify changes in the customer base, their environments and their
tasks?
Is the specification of the context of use (customer, environment and task profiles) updated
regularly to reflect any major changes?
Is this information used to identify the key areas of the site to maintain and enhance?
Are measures of conversion rate, fulfilment and customer retention tracked regularly and
frequently?
Has there been verification that the business requirements were met?
Has there been verification that the stakeholder requirements were met?
Has there been verification that the site objectives were met?
Has there been verification that the key performance indicators were met?
Did the design team hold a post-implementation meeting to discuss the effectiveness of usability
processes and identify areas of improvement?

Your results will appear here once you start to complete the worksheet. Complete the cells
underlined in blue.
0 Poor Your company considers usability to be unimportant. Customers
are rarely, if ever, asked to evaluate site designs. Your e-
commerce development is unlikely to ever turn a profit.
25 Fair Your company recognises that usability is important, but there is
no focus for it in the organisation. Usability methods are applied
in an ad hoc manner. On those occasions when customers are
involved, it is usually too late to make many changes.
45 Good You focus on usability during some parts of the development
lifecycle and try to match the site to the needs of customers. You
want to involve customers more, but your company feels that
customer involvement isnt necessary at certain lifecycle phases
(probably the pre- or post-design phases).
65 Excellent You apply usability principles to the design of e-commerce sites
and your company has integrated usability fully into every phase
of the lifecycle. Customers are involved in the design process
early and often.