Usability Testing with Kantuit Experience Labs™

Web sites aren't HTML. They're not visual design. They're not content. They're not usability. Web sites are the total experience that people have of them.

Great sites don't succeed because they are easy to use. Great sites don't succeed because they have great content, good visuals or a great value proposition. Great sites succeed because they have all of these things.

We're actually exploring a lot more than just ease-of-use when we're doing usability testing. We're probing on brand, whether people get the site's value proposition, and whether they're seeing the kind of content they're looking for—in addition to whether a navigation label makes sense, or whether they can figure out how do find their next step in a multi-step registration process.

Reports and PowerPoints are great, but what do I really get? What are the real results?

Even if you're new to usability testing, chances are you get that usability testing will reduce your overall development costs by helping you find problems with your site before they really start costing you money, because, for example, nobody can find the download button, or only 30% of prospects "get" your registration page. And you'd be right.

But are findings really ever that earth-shattering? Even though we've done thousands of usability tests, we always learn something new. We never come out of a study with less than 30 major findings. Seriously. There are always showstoppers like "Wow, I can't believe people didn't understand our value proposition."

There are intangibles too... What we find is that once teams drink the usability Kool-Aid, usability testing becomes an indispensible part of the development cycle, not just a nice-to-have add-on. It's a product-shaping exercise, not just testing. (Thinking about it like this also tends to minimize the pain that naturally happens when we see our designs put in front of real people for the first time.)

Lab-based testing and remote testing can be done at any point in the development lifecycle. This means we can test non-functional prototypes, wireframes, or even just concepts that haven't been built yet. Whatever you've got, we can put it in front of users and get meaningful feedback. That said it's important to recognize that we gather different data depending on the state of the prototype or concept we're testing.

Usability testing uncovers why users are having a problem, where the problem is, and what users expect. But too often we forget that usability testing is also about validating what is working right. Finding out what works and that all important why it works is just as important as finding out what is wrong.

Lab-based testing is the gold standard. Lab-based testing involves inviting real people into a research facility one at a time and watching them do stuff on your site (or prototype).

It sounds simple but we're there with our lab coats on (not really) and with our experience (really) to make sure everything gets captured the way it should. You and your team can observe, consume M&Ms and IM each other. Along the way an amazing thing happens: you start to see your web site the way your customers do.

Did we mention we go where you need us? The lab is portable (it's a couple of souped up laptops with cameras). Meet us at a focus group facility (we’ve worked with most of them), invite us to your offices (we can test there too), or the sunny beaches of Hawaii. We're game.

Eye tracking can be combined with lab-based testing to get data on where people are focusing the most attention.

Remote testing is a lot like lab-based testing but without requiring participants (or your team) to go anywhere. And that's good, right? Rather than holding the tests on specific days or in one or two locations, we interview and record users’ in their native habitat using our ultra-cool remote user testing web technology. Observe from the comfort of your cube, your corner office, or your swinging bachelor pad. Yeah baby!

• Full analysis and report
• Actionable findings and recommendations
• Topline report
• Heat maps
• Highlights video
• Success rates
• Strategic Blueprint
• Remote viewing
• Management presentation

Is usability testing expensive? Depends on where you sit. Typical costs start out at around $15k and go up from there depending on the deliverables you need, the number of participants and so on. If you want a quote for your project just give us a jingle or contact us online. We'll set up some time to talk with one of the honchos here to learn more about your needs. Then we'll write up a proposal which can be handy to show to your boss (unless you're already the boss!).

Ok, you know the drill. We have experience (we've spent thousands of hours in the field). We have a killer client list (check it out), and we're easy to work with (most of our business comes through word-of-mouth and repeat customers). We have the lab coats and the advanced degrees. We know how to manage a project (facility selection and logistics, participant recruiting) so it goes off without a hitch.

But can't we do it in house? Sure, but keep in mind that a usability pro with any degree of experience will cost you big bucks to keep on staff. For all but the biggest firms it makes good economic sense to hire an outsider.

Hiring outsiders has the added benefit of bringing new sets of eyes to the project too.

Every usability project runs with the following steps.

1. Project strategy and goals kick-off conference call/meeting
2. Develop participant screening questionnaire
3. Recruit participants
4. Develop research design and discussion guide (parallel with recruiting)
5. Interview and observe participants
6. Analyze and report on results

Most usability projects require at least 3 weeks from signoff to final report. This is to allow for enough time to recruit participants. In a pinch we can execute faster, when the scope is limited.

We manage all logistics and closely supervise the recruiting process. You weigh in on the research design and can invite your team to the facility to observe the sessions.