Usability research
We have published some articles about Usability research within this section. Feel free to read through these and improve your knowledge of the area:
- 29/05/2012 - The Race for Taxi App Domination – An expert review of 6 top iPhone taxi apps
- The following report looks at the evolution happening in the world of mobile applications built to find and book cabs directly from smartphones.
- 22/05/2012 - What slot machine and social games can learn from each other
- Just because games are from very different genres and have different revenue models (freemium, free to play etc.) does not mean that they cannot learn from each other. The problems and solutions highlighted by one style of game can sometimes be adapted for the benefit of another. The mechanics of a game that lead to the most player engagement are not always the most obvious parts. Looking at many different style of game can assist us in finding out what real points of engagement and disengagement are.
- 26/04/2012 - Mobile apps – some usability guidelines
- Mobile apps should clearly prioritise key content and provide a 'Back' button if the device does not. Mobile apps should also minimise users' data entry and ensure a consistent user experience across different mobile device orientations.
- 18/04/2012 - Usability testing video games with biometrics
- Biometric user testing can move the possible benefits up from helping to create brilliant and intuitive user interfaces to assisting developers to create genuinely engaging and fun games. The entire player journey can be tested to ensure that the pacing and design is creating the psychological results in the player that the developer is aiming for.
- 26/03/2012 - Social gaming – a usability perspective
- Social gaming is used for short periods of relaxation and distraction. Social games should provide: simple and repetitive tasks; tutorials; social interaction; support for interrupted gameplay; visibility of other players' activity.
- 26/02/2012 - Web analytics – use in improving usability
- Web analytics gives a unique insight into users' real world behaviour. Important issues include: value scores for all KPIs; early warning systems; A/B testing alternative designs; setting targets based on past performance.
- 20/01/2012 - Interactive TV (iTV) – some usability considerations
- Interactive TV (iTV) services should be simple and displayed in a central 720 x 576 area. Navigation should be clearly split between top-level and in-application (using the remote's colour and Arrow/OK buttons). Usability testing is vital.
- 19/12/2011 - Expert usability reviews - how to get the best value
- Reviews require a firm grasp of the design problem and should precede usability testing. They should also: use multiple experts, include other relevant designs (including competitors’) and strongly communicate their results.
- 25/11/2011 - Ethnography – when and how to use
- Ethnography can help investigate very complicated or critical design challenges. A good researcher is essential when observing and/or interacting with target audiences in their real-life environment.
- 07/11/2011 - Why children love tablet PCs – usability implications
- Tablet PCs' easy method of interaction is central to their attraction for children. Tablet PC experiences designed for children should promote: user control (including levels of difficulty and repetition), a wide variety of experiences and regular touch-interactions.
- 03/10/2011 - Video game usability testing – factors to consider
- Video game usability testing uses the same principles as any other form of usability testing. Identifying relevant audience segments and providing a realistic context of use are key considerations.
- 05/09/2011 - Tablet PC and iPad - usability guidelines
- Tablet PCs are mostly used for passive consumption, rather than interaction-heavy tasks. Interfaces should avoid Flash; use large, well-separated touch-targets; and minimise data entry.
- 01/08/2011 - Writing for the web – signpost guidelines
- Web content should be written with signposts that clearly communicate what issue is being covered. Signposts must be visually noticeable, make sense out of context and communicate their message as clearly and directly as possible.
- 08/07/2011 - Personas – help for usability projects
- Personas detail a fictional user's relevant mental models, context of use and goals (to represent a target user group). Personas should be formally presented to a design team and only carefully reused.
- 10/06/2011 - Social media usability: content & activities
- Organisations' social media must deliver a clear benefit to the audience. Other usability considerations include having: a strong audience-focus, appropriate timing and custom copywriting.
- 15/05/2011 - International usability testing hints & tips.
- Planning on running international usability testing for your project? Take a look at some of our hints and tips drawing on experience from projects we have run for our clients.
- 02/05/2011 - Mobile usability testing: Advice on how to use it
- Mobile usability testing uses many traditional testing skills. Some particular issues to consider include: field testing's greater potential benefit, including each mobile device category within your testing and using a device-mounted camera to observe & record sessions.
- 28/03/2011 - Usability Testing: When to use remote usability testing
- Remote usability testing offers greater audience diversity and higher fidelity to real-world user motivations than in-person methods. We take a look at various methods in this article.
- 14/03/2011 - Usability Testing: How to statistically compare the usability of different designs
- Usability testing can be used to quantify usability. This can allow you to compare a site's statistical performance before and after a re-design, in order to find out if it has improved. This method is not perfect, but can be very useful.
- 07/02/2011 - User expectations are important
- Meeting user expectations throughout a site normally delivers good usability. Ways to make sure you meet expectations: user research, reviewing competitor sites and following usability guidelines.
- 10/01/2011 - Users are impatient and don't pay attention
- Users are impatient, so sites should load quickly. Most users only scan web pages, so they should be specifically written for the web.
- 26/04/2010 - Using humour in the user experience
- We look at how humour is being used in some websites on the web and ask if is the punch line is falling flat?
- 25/03/2010 - Getting Agile with User Experience Research
- In this article we take a look at how research, planning, and testing can go Agile.
- 25/02/2010 - Eye tracking the user experience
- We look at how to find the right method, tools and media to measure your user experience and when to apply eye tracking.
- 25/02/2010 - UK retail mega menu navigation review
- We take a look at some of the key retail sites in the UK and the use of 'mega menus'
- 21/04/2009 - Ten tips for homepage usability
- Is your homepage working hard enough? have a look at our ten tips your site should address.
- 21/04/2009 - A/B testing and what it means
- Read our quick overview about A/B testing and see if its something you could benefit from.
- 20/04/2009 - Beat the recession with ten e-commerce usability tips
- Read our quick tips to optimising your e-commerce site, highly relevant given all the discussion around a recession.
- 23/02/2009 - Navigation usability
- Navigation is absolutely critical to any website and getting it wrong will have fairly negative effects on your end users and their experience on your site.
- 19/02/2009 - Mobile usability
- What are the key considerations for mobile and handheld usability? What should you be doing to improve the end user experience?
- 18/02/2009 - Intranet usability
- What are the key considerations for usability on your company Intranet? We explore some of the areas in this article.
- 09/02/2009 - Writing for the web
- What are the key considerations for writing for the web and how can you improve the copy on your own site?
- 07/02/2009 - Usability for the elderly
- We focus on the elderly and their use of the web. This key demographic is often referred to as the "Silver surfers". Find out how you can improve your site to cater for these users.
- 05/02/2009 - Usability for children
- There are still a lot of unknown variables about the children of the "Digital generation" but we take a look at some of the characteristics of children as web users.
