Checking your websites with the BLAT test

You've been staring at the same project for weeks. Your design eye is shot and the finish line is in sight. You can't see the wood for the trees.

This is exactly when you need fresh eyes. At Liquid Light, that's what the BLAT test is for.

BLAT is a timeboxed, no-holds-barred review where everyone gets a go at one of our nearly finished websites. Each person gets an hour to click around, prod things, and use the site as a real person would. The goal is to find holes.

It might be a personal preference. It might be a niggle. It might be the tiniest of nitpicks. Doesn't matter. It goes on the list.

The project manager then reviews the list and decides what to action, postpone, or drop. It's not personal. It's priorities.

Things that tend to come up:

Spacing between two particular elements

Accessibility of a link in a specific context

Unexpected (or missing) behaviour from an interaction

Image sizes affecting performance

Print styles nobody tested

Odd flows between pages

Future website improvements or additions

Anything goes, as long as the note includes:

A link

A description

A screenshot where possible

Side note: No, BLAT doesn't actually stand for anything. We all know what it means (although out of all the recommendations from Claude my favourite was Brutally Look At Things )