User Testing the Widget Customizer 0.13 Plugin I’ve…

User Testing the WidgetWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. CustomizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings. 0.13 PluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party

I’ve tested the Widget Customizer 0.13 plugin with the Twenty Fourteen theme on WordPress r26863.

Summary

  • No problems adding, reordering, or removing widgets
  • Content and Primary labels for widget locations weren’t clear to the user
  • Trouble with scrolling the slide-out, but it could have been a one-time user error</
  • Widgets can get a little lost if you add one to an already long list
  • ”Find widgets” search seems to obscure the last widget description
  • Feels messy to see all the widget controls stay open
  • Its not clear, at first, how to exit the customizer

Successes

No trouble adding a text widget. She clicks “Save & Pubilsh” a lot—seems to assume it’s needed to see the changes. (0:23)

No trouble reordering widgets, but again hesitates when looking for right vs left sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme.. (0:56)

No trouble removing widgets. (1:01)

Points of Confusion

She has no idea what sidebar is which. The quick red glow seems to have helped a bit. (0:31)

Scrollbar jumps back to the top, not sure what she did to trigger that. (0:12)

She expected the new widgets to be added to the top. (0:18)

Has some trouble reading the “Twenty Fourteen Ephemera” widget description at the bottom of the slide-out panel. (0:17)

Other Insights

It doesn’t seem to bother her that all the widget controls stay open — but boy does it feel messy. (0:19)

Its not clear, at first, how to exit the customizer. But she gets it eventually. (0:33)

If you’d like to see the full video, you can download it here: 2b86a9a1.mp4 (9:25)

(For Reference) Tasks Used in the Test

  • Go to Appearance > Customize Add some text in a new widget at the top of the left sidebar.
  • Look through the widgets and pick two that you like. Add both of them to the sidebar and say why you picked them.
  • Rearrange the widgets so the bio appears at the bottom of the right sidebar.
  • Remove all of the widgets from the left sidebar except the text you added before and one other widget you think is the most important to keep.
  • Verify that the updates you’ve made are visible on the site separate from the live preview in the dashboard.

User’s Computer Info

  • Operating System: Windows 7 6.1
  • Browser: Windows Firefox 26.0
  • Display: 1920

Next up: a couple more tests with version 0.14 of this plugin.

#user-testing, #widgets