I didn’t plan on testing the Israeli ISOC website. All I wanted to do was sign up for a conference. I received an error message that I have to enter the system.

The problem is that there aren’t any instructions on how to do this.

Israel ISOC Internet site has serious usability issues

Unfortunately there is no phone number, or other contact info available for me to sign up offline.  When I backed up I did find a phone number but I just got a recording.

I am a resourceful website user and eventually found a tiny contact us link at the bottom of the page. It linked to a page with phone numbers. The automated answering machine didn’t give me good choices but luckily I found the right person.

She knew about the bug.

I can understand not having enough resources to fix a bug. But I can’t understand why they didn’t leave a more helpful message – with contact info so people can sign up offline.

Website Usability Test – Lessons Learned

• Always check your forms and try to break them
• When a bug is found – immediately update error messages so people are not left high and dry
• Fix bug as soon as possible. If it is not worth it to fix the bug make sure your error message is effective

In difficult economic times, conversion optimization becomes more important. Usability testing is the most important tool for increasing conversions in most cases. Make sure you are doing them frequently.

You will be surprised by reviewing this usability test. Since we can’t post tests we do for our clients, the following is an unsolicited review.

Here is what we found in out New York hotel Usability Test.