UX Research

A word about a usability category called “redundancy”

johne — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:58:48 +0000

Is a shorter online quote process always better?

johne — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:18:16 +0000

In a recent project involving an online quote and signup process, we found some interesting results relating to brevity which might initially seem counter-intuitive. Our client had developed an online process that required users to enter the absolute minimum to get a quote. The process was simple, efficient and in three easy steps provided a price, which was then further customised with customer information. Our research showed that customers found the initial process too short, making them doubt its accuracy and feel that the quote would not meet their needs. An estimate that could be further tailored with options, discounts and individual qualifiers was possibly acceptable to them, but the initial quote was not clearly enough promoted in this way. In addition, once a price was presented they perceived that was it.

Customers overwhelmingly preferred to take the time over a few more steps to accurately enter all the information required to get a precise quote once only. Moreover, a greater level of detail was more in keeping with the organisation’s offerings, which were not at the lower end of the market in terms of price.

As with many things, online processes are about achieving a balance appropriate to the task and the target market. Shorter is not always better. Make it too long or difficult and customers will give up, make it too short and it will be perceived as throwaway.

Accessibility Workshops in April

johne — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:01:12 +0000

Introduction to Accessibility (half day – April 19): This workshop provides an introduction to accessible web design and the laws and guidelines for web content accessibility. The workshop is designed for people with little or no prior knowledge of web accessibility. It will relevant to web managers, supervisors, developers and quality assurance team members who need to have a basic understanding of the subject and know how to quickly identify if a site is inaccessible. More information at http://www.maxdesign.com.au/workshops/2010-workshop2/

WCAG 2 in Depth (full day – April 21): This advanced accessibility workshop will focus on version 2 of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) and provide practical advice for people developing and evaluating websites. The workshop will examine common accessibility issues with sites today and involve the use of screen readers and evaluation tools. This workshop is for people with a basic knowledge of accessibility who want to improve their ability to make modern, accessible site that comply with WCAG 2.0. More information at http://www.maxdesign.com.au/workshops/2010-workshop5/

The workshops are part of the MaxDesign CSS, JavaScript and Accessibility workshop program for 2010.

Making things easy

johne — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:52:57 +0000

We came across an interesting dialog box in the course of a recent study worth sharing. A particular flow from quote to purchase was broken in that users could not directly navigate back from the first page of a purchase process to the quote delivery page from which they came. There was no Back, only Close which closed both quote and payment processes completely, losing all data input. Recognising this major problem with navigation on the site that was unable to be repaired because of technical limitations, an interim solution was implemented to warn the user that such an action would cause their quote to be lost, unless a reference number was recorded (pen and paper?). Compounding the problem is this confusing dialog: Continue to Cancel? with options Cancel and OK. How it works is that OK confirms the Cancel, while Cancel cancels the Cancel. Just goes to show that double negatives are not unacceptable. Even stranger is that the button that caused all this was not a Cancel but a Close. Naturally, some users interpreted Cancel as a confirmation of the Cancel, thinking that no-one would want to cancel a Cancel. In reality, most users glanced at this and said OK anyway, not really understanding what the message was on about, and thinking that would be the fastest way to get back from payment to quote. Which of course they didn’t.

Optimising marketing messages with user testing

johne — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:21:37 +0000

Recent user studies we have undertaken involving comparative visual treatments have re-enforced the importance of visual impact and brand identity as an important component of the user experience - one that sets the tone and expectation of the interactions to follow. Balancing seemingly disparate aspects of credibility, relevance and simplicity with impact, distinction and interest can sometimes best be resolved by polling your demographic with a focus group or survey.

Everytime I go to my local pool shop I marvel at their marketing - an image of a surgeon with a flask below is so far removed from what the real pool-guy looks like - are they kidding? Is this a joke? Would this be laughed at in a focus group? Maybe, but its undeniably high on impact and memorability.

Seasons Greetings from UX Research

johne — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:22:16 +0000

UX Research would like to send a Christmas message of peace, joy and love to you and your family for a safe holiday season and a happy, prosperous new year.

We thank you for your support throughout 2009 and look forward to being of greater service to you in 2010.

Digital agencies and usability

johne — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:49:12 +0000

Alex White in Marketingmag.com.au makes some accurate observations on why Digital Agencies sometimes don’t incorporate user centred design techniques including usability testing into their processes – No time, no budget, lack of understanding, etc. It’s common for websites to be launched without clearly defined user requirements and without user consultation, and its no wonder these often fail to meet the expectations of the business. We are now seeing some turn-around, with some Agencies offering usability services such as testing as part of design. The problem is they are doing it themselves and sometimes without the appropriate expertise or level of independence from the design process. As he notes “Agencies just love encircling everything to do with a project”. At UX Research we specialise in usability – that’s all we do – consequently we can do it faster and better than others - it maintains its independence from the design process, and outputs make reference to best practice and standards. We think that clients should insist on independent and expert review processes as part of development

UX are your online quote, booking and signup specialists!

johne — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:58:37 +0000

It has been an awesomely busy last few months for UX Research. It seems that many organisations are finally realising that a modest investment in customer research can lead to big changes in online completions for quoting and signups. This can make a large difference to their businesses. So far this year alone we have completed 10 usability studies on online quote, booking and payment processes, and would like to make the modest claim that we not only know how much this can improve your bottom line, but that we can do this quickly, efficiently and thoroughly. For example, our last review for a major client in the financial services sector yielded 34 prioritised design recomendations which should increase quote completions by 25% and signups by 10%. Does that sound a lot or a little? Their online business is over $10 Million per year.

The Usability of words

johne — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:24:12 +0000

Content is a fairly important usability meta-category [the others are Navigation, Functionality and Aesthetic Design]. Not only should the content be accurate, complete and concise, but also have the right tone to meet the context - e.g. authoritative, friendly, formal, reassuring. We are all aware of the challenge of making information short enough that users will read it, yet complete enough to satisfy their needs.

Content sometimes needs to be tailored to a user’s task flow: In a recent study for online insurance, customers wanted short summaries of insurance cover prior to a quote process, then more detailed documentation once the quote was being seriously considered.

Is there better terminology to communicate your message? Look at this sign on a door at North Sydney Rail Station. Why was egress chosen instead of exit?

Check your content - is it as brief as it can be? Try to write in bulleted lists, support content with images or icons that reinforce the message, keep phrases to about 7 words and provide for aggregation into conceptual chunks using headings or labels.

Is the content accurate? Have a look at this installation guide I came across recently (click on the link below). Needs a bit of editing you think? It’s quite funny.

Installation Guide [492 KB image opens in a new window]

Supporting your UX Studies

johne — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:18:34 +0000

Some companies have their own UX people to conduct customer research.
UX Research is now set up to assist with various levels of support from premises hire to full service.

Lab Facilities
Our lab facility located in Walker Street North Sydney is available for hire.
•    Interview room and client observation room
•    Focus group room
•    Recording facilities
•    Eyetracking equipment.

Day and evening session times available.

Recruitment of participants
We can help organise the participants for your study – turning up on time and adding value to the research, they are selected using a screening questionnaire to ensure they represent the correct demographic.

Eyetracking
We can integrate an eyetracking component to your study using our equipment with an eyetracking expert to operate the equipment and analyse the data.

Session hosting, observation and analysis support
We can supply an experienced analyst as a second (shared or relief) host for larger studies. This way more sessions can be run in any one day. A usability analyst can be available on an hourly rate to take session notes and provide a level of analysis that you need to get the study completed efficiently.