Services
Research
User Experience Research Studies & Methodologies
We specialize in Ethnography, a qualitative, observational research methodology. Within the technology industry this is more commonly referred to as Usability research. In other words, usability research helps to validate design & development decisions by watching how your customers use your product or app with a real-world scenario.
Once your end-users are recruited to be participants, during a usability research study they are asked to perform a series of scenario-based tasks. The tasks are commonly focused around real-world use cases. Key stakeholders of an application/system are encouraged to observe the actual end-users interacting with the application/system (or even a prototype or developmental iteration).
Data collected for analysis may include:
- subjective-anecdotal feedback
- success rates
- task times
- error rates
- subjective-satisfaction ratings
Our experts have directly planned, facilitated, and/or supervised over 300 Usability Research Studies.
Contact us to discuss tailoring a research study for your team's needs.
User Research
Planning to build a new product or app? Looking for which capabilities you should add to an existing product or app? Want to know how people actually use your product or app in their actual workplace? Research methods conducted with your customer base can help to uncover new insights... such as, what keeps them up at night?
- Field Research
- User Interviews
- Contextual Inquiries
- Persona / Target-Audience Identification
Contact us to discuss tailoring a research study for your team's needs.
UX Design Audit / Assessment
Need to have an expert conduct a User Experience (UX) Design Audit (aka Heuristic Evaluation / Design Assessments) of either an existing system or concepts of a new concept?
Using agreed upon set of Heuristics/Criteria, our Heuristic Evaluation / Expert Review will provide a report with an executive summary, list of the Heuristics/Criteria used for the Design Audit, and an evaluation description with Usability Severity Rankings
Contact us to discuss conducting an audit / assessment.
Usability Research Studies
Below is a common, standard uability research sequence of activities from planning, conducting, and analyzing an observational, usability research Study.
- Planning & Preparation
- Initial Consultation Discussion (1 hour meeting)
- Draft of Study Scenarios (includes up to 1 revision, after 1st draft prepared)
- Walkthrough of Scenarios (1.5 hour meeting)
- Schedule Participant Sessions
- Conduct Study Sessions
- Each participant session to be up to 45 minutes (location to be determined during Planning & Preparation)
- Debrief & Analysis
- Debrief Meeting (1 hour meeting)
- Report [outline listed below]:
a) Executive Summary
b) Data about the Participants
c) Research Findings Summary
d) Usability Issues List with Severity Rankings
Contact us to discuss tailoring a research study for your team's needs.
Terminology
Usability
The effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which specified users achieve specified goals in particular environments.
- Effectiveness: the accuracy and completeness with which specified users can achieve specified goals in particular environments.
- Efficiency: the resources expended in relation to the accuracy and completeness of goals achieved.
- Satisfaction: the comfort and acceptability of the work system to its users and other people affected by its use.
Source: "Usability - ISO 9241 definition." W3C. https://www.w3.org/2002/Talks/0104-usabilityprocess/slide3-0.html
