Usability testing

Hi,

I'm just really curious to know what other designers do in terms of usability testing? How do you ensure your sites work well, and how do you convince clients of this? I know experience is part of it, but I'm particularly curious to know if there is any usability testing sites or software that you might use?

We've designed our own tool, but I'm curious to know what others you might have tried, and what makes one stand out more than the other.

Thanks.

just do a double test and a triple test if all links are working properly.
and be sure to test it also on all the major web browsers and resolutions.
It's a lot of work I know but in the end that's what you are getting paid for :-)

Thanks for the reply. Yes, you are right. Double and triple checking everything is essential. It's amazing how many little things can slip through, isn't it?

I usually double check everything manually and then use several of the browser simulation tools to verify that it's compatible with all major browsers. Once I've verified that it works fine, I'll ask for some human input from family/friends to make sure that they're able to navigate it without problems.

Browser compatibility is the bane of my existence, like you say though, it's very important.

I'm really happy to see our browser share is now like 50% Firefox, 20% Safari, 15% Chrome, 15% IE.

Just hope IE goes down more!