Philosophy
The true value of a company lies in the perceptions of its customers, and these are generated through interaction with a company’s products and channels – websites, call centres, retail spaces, applications and devices. In order to be able to improve these interactions it is important to understand and measure customer reactions to and use of these interfaces. This is where a usability study can add value.
Usability is a well established method to observe and measure customer interactions with a product/interface; we place real customers at the heart of the research to gain their feedback. Explicit feedback can provide background to why customers behave in the way they do, their prior experience and perceptions and what elements they like and dislike.
Implicit feedback is also gathered via observations – what behaviour do they exhibit? Have they misinterpreted something? Are they hesitating?
OTOinsights uses many different flavours of usability testing including:
- Studio based
- In situ, conducting the study in the
- Remote, here the interviews are conducted using a shared desktop, in which participants take control of the moderator’s computer and the interview is conducted as the participant
How it works
There are 5 stages to a usability study:
1. Set up
We will meet with you to understand your objectives then we form a project plan giving the exact dates when milestones will be completed. OTOinsights will advise on the exact approach to be taken.
2. Recruitment
OTOinsights has the experience and resources to perform high quality recruitment. Remember that research is only as good as the individuals you ask questions of. The research ‘participants’ – actual customers – are key to the study as they have had experience with a client’s products, or are a target audience for future use. We ensure that participants match specific profiles, for example, in a financial study it may be important to ensure that participants manage their own finances. We ensure that participants arrive on time, are greeted and made comfortable, and are paid for their participation.
3. Testing
During testing, the participants will use the product whilst being interviewed by an experienced researcher. This is where insights are gained into exactly how they use your product, which can often reveal unexpected behaviour. By understanding their rationale we can provide recommendations on how the product can be designed to improve their experience. Testing usually occurs in our specialist studios (OTOinsights has its own studios in Central London, Boston and Singapore) where external variables such as distractions can be controlled and you can view the sessions via video link. When conducting PC based studies we use Morae. But we also have experience conducting usability studies will many different products including mobile devices, prototype (paper and high fidelity, etc.). All interviews are recorded to video. Alternatively, testing can take place remotely – via a web link – ideal when shorter interviews are needed with geographically diverse participants. Finally, testing can occur in-situ – that is, in the participant’s own domain of use, whether that be their home or work place. This is a powerful way to understand how their context affects use, for example, what hardware do they use, what is the environment like, do they combine software with paper notes and other resources?
4. Analysis
We use a combination of participant comments and researcher observations together with our extensive experience of standards and best practices, to discover weak points in the product. Morae can be used if required.
5. Reporting
We deliver the insights to you. Typically we use a presentation style report with images to convey the ideas as efficiently as possible. We then present back in person or via telephone to give you the best opportunity to ask questions and understand the research outcomes.