Variable Internet Connection Speeds

When conducting usability tests, it is vitally important that you replicate the environment to match how your site is used in the real world by your 'average user.'

Your home page may take under a second to download on your DSL office connection, but your users may have to wait ten to fifteen seconds because they connect at 56kbps (kilobits per second) or less.

Since most unqualified users (those who are not certain your site has exactly what they need) will give up on a Web page if it takes eight seconds or longer to download, you may be losing a large percentage of your users without realizing it.

Some Web sites are popular with busy executives who are often on the road. They may be connecting to your Web site using a 14.4kbps mobile Internet connection or worse! So if this is true with your site, test your site on a 14.4kbps connection.

It's vitally important that you conduct usability tests on Internet connection speeds that match those of your users.

Did you know...

Currently two thirds of U.S. Internet users access the Web using 56 kilobits per second or slower modems.

Web backbone connection speed ranges from 1.543 - 26.767Mbps (Megabits per second). The average is 5Mbps.

Source: Zona Research, Inc.

Usability Testing Environment >>>