Conjoint Analysis for Testing Website Usability

November 1, 2007 |

The following article “Use of Conjoint Analysis for the Design of a New Website” is a must read for anyone engaged in testing websites for customer preferences. Conjoint Analysis is a method of Design of Experiments (DOE) testing based on Voice of the Customer (VOC) data. The process of implementing the test and analysis of the results can be arduous, but certainly worth the effort.

Below is a snippet of the Conjoint Analysis article:

A project manager responsible for the design of financial services website to market a new product or service must consider numerous factors that can influence the effectiveness of that website. Traditional methods often focus more on the art of aesthetics, rather than the science of usability. The use of conjoint analysis in website design can mean the difference between “what you see” and “what you get.”

The marketing team tasked to create the website to support a new product offering considered the typical pathway for website development. That is, to generate feedback on the current site and/or request marketing preferences; identify IT capabilities; design the site; pilot the design; gain consensus; and launch the new design.

This article also ties in with the idea of Design for Search Engine Marketing (DFSEM) which is a 5 phase plan to ensure a website meets all customer preferences and requirements and is fully operational before implementing SEM.