What we do | Testing
Usability testing is a way of testing your design with real users, long before you build it - or, if it's already built, measuring how well it works. With user testing you get to see what works and what doesn't, and what your customers think of it, without the risk in building and launching it first.
Without either usability evaluation or usability testing, you may be building a product that contains major usability flaws - and the cost of correcting these later can be up to 200 times as much. Why trust us? Well:
- Thirteen years experience usability testing thousands of people
- Trained usability professionals in both the UK and Australia
- Mobile lab - test anywhere, any time
- Created AURA, unique usability testing software
- Implemented usability testing services in four different agencies around the globe
- Available now for testing around Australia
Our testing services
Our testing services are cheap, easy and effective. We can test faster than most others - results can be presented the next day in most cases - and our mobile lab means we have a range of flexible approaches to where and how we test.
We ask your users to work with your product as if they were using it in the real world. In a controlled lab environment we can analyze their behavior within the interface, providing much more accurate results than market research - what they tell you is not always what they do. We then analyses the video, audio and logged comments and produce an in-depth report of findings, which we present back to you.
We can test in many different ways, but four primary forms of usability test are:
- Issue testing. This is the most common form of testing, where we are looking for the usability flaws in the design.
- Goal-based testing. The objectives of your organization and of the users are identified and then measured during testing to see how well they are achieved.
- Money on the table testing. For e-commerce sites 'perfect' environments are set up - people who want products that are in stock, and have the money to buy them. We know how much they intend to spend, and measure how much they actually do. As all other factors are removed, any shortfall is down to usability issues. Factored up this can tell you how much your shop is losing every day due to poor usability.
- Value testing. Current product/site users are tested first to see where they find the real benefits and values. Then new users are tested, to see how well those benefits and values are communicated within the site. If new visitors don't see the benefits, they won't stay.
See more on our testing services...
In detail
Firstly we meet with your team to define what type of testing you require and how the testing should take place. We'll also define where you want to test and to what timeframe.
We then professionally manage the recruitment (if you need us to) and develop a test script to meet your objectives. We will manage the testing process completely, and whilst it is not essential to our process we highly recommend that some of your team view the sessions as they take place.
Once testing is complete we collect and compile the results, and then analyses them to produce the findings. A full report is created, and we will present this back to your team during a half-day results analysis meeting.
AURA software
AURA is a unique usability testing software application, created by us to help test faster and more effectively.
AURA has been designed over the past ten years to focus purely on capturing, analyzing and reporting on user research. Unique in its approach, AURA allows us to report back on testing faster and more accurately than ever before - usually within hours of testing being completed. This includes full audit trail approaches with time and reference markers, every question asked and response given, every usability issue and where and when it occurred, as well as for which users and profiles.
Deliverables
- Full electronic report, including:
- Executive summary of findings
- Overview of methodology used and steps undertaken
- Key findings from the tests
- Recommendations for correcting each issue
- Software recorded sessions, with user picture-in-picture, audio, screen activity, and more data
- PowerPoint presentation of key findings
If you want to know more about our testing services or want to see an example report, please contact us.
What they say
"Usability testing before launch allowed us to make
sure our new site was fast, friendly and easy to use. You helped ensure
that customers can quickly find the products they want and purchase them
easily, helping the new John Lewis site maintain the high quality that
customers expect from John Lewis."
John Phipps, Vice President Commercial, John
Lewis
"Gary is one of those rare people whose vast knowledge-base
is teamed with a natural ability to teach and share..."
Lisa Clague, Senior Business Analyst/Strategist, Hyro
Ltd.