Web Usability Testing
and Prototyping Services

If your Web site is not getting the results you expected, chances are it's failing to align with user needs. Consulting users early in the site design process — ideally preliminary to actual design and development — identifies top user priorities, shortens the development lifecycle, and averts costly design errors.

If your site is complete but failing to deliver results, a round of user testing can quickly identify where problems are occurring. (If budget constraints preclude this option, consider a usability review instead.)

If your site is not yet built, our prototyping service provides an inexpensive way to collect valuable information about user biases, assumptions, and expectations before a single line of code has been written.

In either case, the knowledge gained will facilitate key decisions concerning site architecture, content, presentation order, and link strategy and reduce the likelihood of expensive and time-consuming retrofitting down the road. These services offer many other benefits.

 

BrainWave has developed a unique methodology which we call the BrainWave UserRSP™ (User-based Rapid Site Prototyping) process. Fast, scalable, and easy to implement, this process can be applied at any stage of site development, although best results are obtained when users are consulted before your site is built.

Our UserRSP™ process has been deployed several times and is demonstrated in our popular Web Usability course.

 

Those who have participated concur that the BrainWave UserRSP™ (User-based Rapid Site Prototyping) process offers distinct benefits. It:

• streamlines the design process, shortens the development lifecycle, and reduces costs
• identifies top user priorities, thus facilitating phased implementation (where necessary)
• shifts the focus from look and feel to content, navigation and functionality
• quickly identifies content areas, presentation order, and link strategy
• creates a working model of site architecture without incurring the cost of electronic prototyping
• facilitates small design improvements that can have major usability payoffs and offers the ability to make changes quickly, easily, and on the fly
• provides the flexibility to try out new content with minimal investment
• provides a detailed permanent record of design issues and decisions as well as user behaviours
• ensures that all functionality is fully tested and provides for immediate feedback during design and testing
• identifies ambiguous wording, erroneous assumptions, and places where the project team's priorities are being placed ahead of user needs
• helps design team get it right the first time (critical since users won't give you a second chance)
• encourages user participation in the design and development process right from the start of the project, providing your team with reality checks throughout the development effort
• unifies the design team and resolves conflicts/impasses by consulting users on key design decisions
• forces the design team to actively and constantly consider user perspectives
• aids in identifying site audience and communications goals
• accommodates and identifies the needs of multiple audiences, whose needs and experiences may differ.
• obtains real user data to correct erroneous assumptions and ensure user needs, wants, and sensitivities are fully considered in site content and design
• provides insights into the behaviour of potential site users and a rich source of data on user needs and expectations for both content and navigation
• leads to happier users and fewer complaint emails and phone calls

 

Anyone can build a web site, but few companies specialize in usability testing and prototyping. BrainWave team members have overseen the design and implementation of user test beds at various levels of complexity, from small informal test sessions to a large-scale testbed involving iterative rounds of testing with user groups representing multiple audiences. Clients are delighted with the results.

BrainWave principal Pam Blackstone is especially known for her expertise in this area. She has published several articles on the subject and teaches a popular course which introduces current usability standards and techniques and which incorporates this topic.

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Example projects:

• small informal test sessions
• large-scale testing and prototyping

E-mail us for more information...