In the latest usability testing results of the new WordPress editor, participants reported an 85.5 score out of 100 on the System Usability Scale.
According to 10up’s testing the Gutenberg publishing userflow, participants were able to complete the last steps in publishing a post with few friction points.
The System Usability Scale is a tool commonly used to measure the usability of an experience.
The score of 85.5 translates to an “Acceptable” score.
10up Usability Testing
In late June 2018, 10up’s user experience designer Sarah James conducted their first usability test on Gutenberg with 10 participants.
Results of testing Gutenberg 2.9.2 showed participants liked the clean interface, but struggled to complete tasks when they couldn’t find basic interactive elements.
Participants gave their Gutenberg experience a score of 69.5 on the System Usability Scale, a score that ranks as marginal.
With many updates to Gutenberg in the past several months, 10up chose to conduct a second usability test with the goal of helping to refine publishing flow.
Five participants who typically publish six pieces of content a week on a content management system were chosen for the second usability test.
Results showed marked improvement, according to the 85.5 score on the System Usability Scale.
Participants were able to add tags, preview a post, and change the author of a post without any issues.
Pain Points to be Addressed
Scheduling a post for later publication as well as changing an image in Gutenberg were problematic for participants.
Some participants thought they had successfully rescheduled a post when they hadn’t.
People encountered issues trying to change an image. Some participants took a long time as they struggled to complete the task.
Or weren’t able to change the image at all.
Wrapping Up
The Gutenberg interface has improved, making it easier for users to edit and publish their posts.
However, testing reveals friction points for users which I hope will be addressed before WordPress 5.0 is launched.
I’m grateful to 10up for sharing the results of their Gutenberg usability tests. Thank you!
