Understanding the user
How can you know exactly what the needs, wants and limitations of your users are? Guessing usually only gets you half way. The best is to ask and observe them and make their feedback part of an iterative development process.
From the first idea to maintenance
The goal is to define the product or user interface in a way that people want or need to work rather than to force users to change their preferences to accommodate your system.
The International Usability Standard, ISO 13407, specifies the principles and activities that underlie user centred design:
- Understanding the context of use
- Description of the users, their tasks and their environment
- Specification of the solution requirements
- Concepts and prototypes
- Evaluation by end users
- Continuous user involvement - gaining insight
Users' requirements and expectations can highly vary depending on the context of use as well as social or demographic differences and age. These all need to be taken into account. User feedback can be gained for example by ethnographic research, usability tests, card sorting or in user interviews which will deliver, for example, the following results:
- An understanding of your users' expectations and needs
- A feeling for their preferences regarding the interaction design
- A list with key requirements and functionalities from a user's perspective
- Usually new insight and recommendations for the site development
- Strengths and weaknesses of your current product
There must be a continuous process of design, feedback, measurement, and redesign, which is repeated until the usability objectives are met.
Integrating your business and branding strategy
In parallel we will study and discuss your business and branding strategy with you. Our goal is to gain a sound understanding of your business structure and processes as well as possible technical restrictions. With a solid knowledge of your business and your users' needs we will be ready to start.
Taking it a step further - innovation and creativity
Typically your users will not come up with innovative ideas. Users are good for providing valuable feedback on the status quo, but that's often it. Usability and brand consistency alone often don't carry you that extra mile which is necessary to get ahead of the competitor. We will create concepts which truly engage the user and persuade him to do on your site whatever fulfils your business purpose, and he should enjoy doing it. There is no such thing as a boring product or software - there are just boring interfaces. Let's take it a step further.
