I‘ve seen far too many usability reports that are a mish-mash of problems and recommendations with no clear prioritisation. The result: they don’t get implemented and the business suffers.
As a User Experience specialist it’s your job to tell clients and developers what usability problems they need to fix first. Resources are not limitless. How do you do that?
Prioritising problems is much easier if you have clear criteria of what constitutes a minor problem and what constitutes a major problem. For example, if I see more than 50% of users encounter the same problem, and that problem directly affects my client’s business I’m likely to rate it as a major problem. It’s something I want them to fix - fast.
Severity criteria should take account of 3 things:
- The impact on the user - how much of a barrier is it to users - a speed bump that causes a little hesitation, or a roadblock that stops them dead in their path?
- The impact on the business goals - does the problem affect key business goals?
- The frequency of occurrence - will users encounter the problem every time they use the product, or only once?
Explicit criteria will ensure you deliver usability test reports with consistently prioritised recommendations. After a couple of projects, your clients or developers will know what to expect. And if you work in a team with other user experience professionals, you can all deliver consistent reports - something that will make life easier for the whole team.