Usability engineering, User testing & User-Centered
Design
Usability is an attribute of quality and a general term that encompasses
all things that have to do with ease-of-use of a products interface
and controls. User-centered design is a full lifecycle methodology
employed to ensure products meet the needs and expectations of
its targeted users. Products are optimized to the users experience
by
being designed from start-to-finish keeping the user fully in mind.
Users should be able to utilize the controls, feedback and display
to effect the users desired result. Usability engineering is the
employment of systematic methodologies to measure and improve ease-of-use.
User testing informs this by supplying empirical measurement data
which allows:
The end objective of usability engineering is to increase the users
acceptance of the product thereby increasing the products acceptance
in the market.
Usability standards
ISO 9126-1 defines usability as the capability of software to be understood,
learned, used and attractive to the user, within its context of use.
ISO 9241-11 defines usability as covering ‘effectiveness’ (degree
of task completion), ‘efficiency’ (time & effort
to complete tasks) and ‘satisfaction’ (positive attitudes
toward the product and freedom from discomfort). 'Learnabilty' (effort
required to learn) and 'memorabilty' (degree of recall over time)
are further aspects of 'efficiency' and 'effectiveness'.
Our methodology and reporting meets relevant international standards,
such as:
Usability Services
2 pound specializes in the applied and experimental domains of Human-Computer
Interaction (HCI) and Engineering Psychology. As a Usability Specialist
we use specialized knowledge and methodologies dealing with analytics,
statistical metrics and User testing. Usability analysis is not
solely about performance benchmarking- it is an integral part of
design
in a user-centered system. Usability results are actionable in
that measurements are related against available benchmarks and
include
details and summaries of where, why and what should be done.
Lifecycle User Testing
User needs analysis and User focus groups are a precursor to qualitative
and quantitative usability testing- they catalog subjective user
opinion upon which a user-centric design should be informed. User
needs analysis occurs prior to and during the early design stage.
Results define design, user experience and marketing requirements.
Formative and Diagnostic usability testing is performed repeatedly
during a products iterative design and developmental stage. Its purpose
is to provide quick feedback that reiteratively shapes the product
design and direction. Testing early and often helps to uncover structural
problems that may become to expensive to fix later on. The test method
includes expert heuristic testing and user stream-of-thought recording.
Summative and Measurement usability measures, compares and validates
the usability of a product once it's in a final state. Testing is performed
in a usability lab.
Services available include the following domains:
• user-centered design • information design • needs
assessment
•
GUI design • plain language • paper prototyping • usability
guidelines
•
heuristic evaluation • user testing • qualitative and quantitative
analytics
•
human factors • ergonomics • human-computer interaction
•
focus group testing • testing methodology • task, process
and flow testing
