Usability studies in UI design

In a usability study we observe real users doing real work with your product. There's no substitute for this feedback.

Early testing uncovers problems before you ship a product, saving time and money. Testing with prototypes lets us find problems before you write any code. Read a detailed description of a study or download a free copy of our sample usability report (PDF).

What can we learn watching users?

"Was I successful?" a participant asked in a recent study. We learned that the product has insufficient feedback, which stopped customers from getting their work done.

We had two methods of looking up phone numbers in an application and participants' preference was a surprise. Sometimes there's no way to decide how to present a feature without observing customers using it.

A recent study with a paper prototype had great results. Participants found ways to do things that we'd never though of, but the design supported them. We also found a few problems that were easy to fix because no one had written any code yet.

People feel stupid when they make mistakes. That doesn't make them like your product very much.

The usability report

The outcome of a usability study is a usability report. It is our analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your product and provides clear recommendations for fixing problems and building on strengths.

Quotations from participants support the recommendations. An expert review is part of every report, giving you our impressions of the UI. Download a free sample usability report (PDF) to see what we can do for you.

Usability testing can be more focused than focus groups because we work with individuals who are doing something, rather than talking about doing it. Let's talk about running a study on your product.