Usability Evaluation of Selected Oman-based eCommerce Websites

Since the advent of internet technology, e-commerce websites has become a common place for consumers to conduct business transactions. Having a user-friendly online system can make a huge difference in the successful completion of business transactions. Companies have employed different strategies in their web design so as not to solicit negative impressions among potential consumers. Thus, it is necessary to understand consumers’ visual preferences and expectations. A web design that includes content, functional, and navigational elements must be well planned and carefully executed to provide a distinct user experience. Usability testing helps refine the user experience and validate web design assumptions. The best websites that dominate the market are those having excellent web design and offer great customer experience. Thus, on the part of the companies, it translates to more revenues. This primary purpose of this study is to examine the usability of three (3) Oman-based e-commerce websites which sell similar products. It made use of quantitative and qualitative data in its analysis which are gathered from conducting three (3) surveys: pre-task survey, post-task survey and post-test survey. This study measured the task time and success rates in the post-task survey and compared the mean and usability score of these websites. This study sought to determine some weak areas in the usability and design and recommended areas for improvements. Furthermore, the outcome of this study is hoped to provide web designers and developers gain a good understanding of consumers’ behavior towards the use of shopping websites and employ better or alternative web designs that can improve user tasks and workflows. Most importantly, since the company websites that are evaluated are based in Oman, it will help Omani entrepreneurs meet some organizational targets. This study revealed that one website needs serious improvement in its product overview and general usability factors, a