When you launch your website, you might be tempted to install analytics software and try to get a lot of data before improving the design.
But you actually don’t need a large study to find most usability problems. Research from the Nielsen Norman Group suggests that testing with about five people can often uncover most of a page’s biggest problems, since people tend to stumble over the same things.
Give each person a simple task, like “find out what this costs,” and watch them try it without helping. Ask them to think out loud as they go, so you can hear what they expect to happen. Where they get stuck is very likely where your visitors get stuck too. Fix those spots, then test again with a few new people.
