Posted by
Amit Kulkarni [Admin]
| Posted in
alas
,
formatting
,
functionality
,
surfing
,
testing
,
Usability Testing
| Posted on
8/18/2009 11:55:00 PM
Well, this is very funny and interesting too. I have this habbit of reviewing/testing any site which I come across. Whenever I see something weird or something which is not looking good or needs to be changed, I make a point of it and drop a mail to the concerned person if they have provided any feedback section.
This incident is part of the same story..... I was reviewing/testing some site (I can not disclose the name :)) The site was good in look'n'feel, it was user friendly and easy to navigate. Arrh!! there we go I see one link which was under "Copyright" information. The link was mainly related to terms and conditions for any web portal or any site. I saw that the link is inconsistent with that of the other links on the page. It was not following the same style as the rest all link were. However, when I clicked on the link it used to redirect on the proper page where it is supposed to go. Question comes to my mind......the link is not going with the rest of the other links on this page (as per Usability point of view that needs to be changed) but on the other hand it was going or it was opening the right page (so functionally it was working fine). I somewhat confused whether this issue will come under Usability or Functionality. :( Finally, I let it go....because I do not have to categorize this as I was not reviewing/testing for any client wherein they have asked me to generate the report in the proper format. I feel good.....that I do not have to scratch my head anymore...
As always I took a screenshot of it.....put a note against it (mentioned what I felt was wrong with the site). Once I was done.....I shoot the mail as the site has a link for feedback or suggestion. I was pretty happy and sure that I will get some reponse for this. :)
The next morning I was surfing and alas!!! I got a mail....which I desperately waiting for. I was so sure that the mail would contain this and that.....so I was in own world. Once I opened the mail I was shocked :( the customer or the person who replied to my mail has made me cry (not exactly). The mail says "Thanks for your suggestion and we appreciate your efforts for the same. However, we see that the link is not proper or inconsistent with the rest of the links on that page but it is doing its job. When a user clicks on the link they get what page they are suppose to get."
I close the mail and started doing the work I was doing. Alas!!! but I can not get rid of the thing that easily......as questions were floating in my mind like anything.
Does this not come under Usability Testing?
Is it good if the formatting of the links is not proper but functionality wise they are working proper.
Was it an issue that needs some attention (it was low severity low priority bug) as per my understanding? any many more......
There have been some good amount of time has passed by......and still the page has the link with the same formatting and all.
Does Usability always comes after Functionality or is there any time vice-versa?
Best Regards,
Amit
Testing is my passion !!!!
Hi Amit,
@"Thanks for your suggestion and we appreciate your efforts for the same. However, we see that the link is not proper or inconsistent with the rest of the links on that page but it is doing its job. When a user clicks on the link they get what page they are suppose to get."
This is the heights of Excuse that most organizations don't seem to understand. The fix for the issue that you reported would have been a very easy fix in high probability, but they do not want to do it. Perhaps, this way they can attract the customer to sign the Maintenance Contract for another one year and one more year and so and then fix the bugs for them.
Another common excuse I have heard of is 'Let the customer come back with the escalation. We will fix it then'.
So ideally, they have shipped a buggy product, and make the customer pay the penalty for it in terms of charging them for enhancements, new feature requests, maintenance contract, service contract etc.
Happy Testing,
Parimala Shankaraiah
http://curioustester.blogspot.com
Hi Amit,
You are right. It may not be a bug but need to look into it as far as the look and feel and consistency of the website is concern