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Usability & User Feedback Research

User Research & Work Analysis

Observing and interviewing users in their work or home environment yields powerful insight and understanding of users' constraints and needs when using technology. From interviews and work observation a realistic work flow model and feature needs analysis can be derived.

Usability Evaluation

For each design phase, several methodologies are available for assessing the usability of and users' reactions to the design. This data is used for design modification and improvements. Watching real use of the completed product or comparing it to the competition is useful for future releases or other new products.

Budget Usability Techniques

Getting user feedback doesn't have to be expensive. There are several budget usability research techniques available through Sage including Usability Walkthroughs, User Experience Surveys, and Journal Studies. See the table below for more information about these techniques.

Research Technique Comparison Chart

Technique Name	General Questions Answered by Technique	Development Phase Technique is Most Helpful During
		Pre-Design/ Research	Design & Implementation	Post-Design/ Planning
User Experience Surveys	- Who is using my product? - What is my product being used for? - What features of my product are being used? - What features are easy and difficult to use? - Are user's satisfied with my product?
Journal Studies	- What are users' annoyances and delights with my product? - What are the usability problems users are experiencing when using my product? - What are users' feature requests for my product?
Natural Use Observation & Ethnographic Interviews	- What is my product being used for? - What is the user's workflow while using my product? - What products are being used in conjunction with my product? - How can my product become a more integral part of my users' daily workflow?
Work Flow & Task Analysis	- What are the detailed procedural steps my customers are perform to get their job done? - What is the user's workflow while using my product? - How are other products being used in conjunction with my product? - How can my product become a more integral part of my users' daily workflow?
Focus Groups	- What are users' reactions to a new product or feature idea? - What are users' ideas for solving a design problem? - What do users like and dislike about my product?
Usability Walkthroughs	- What are the predicted usability issues with my product? - What changes could be made to improve the usability of my product?
Low-Fidelity Usability Testing (Paper Prototypes)	- Is my design direction usable and useful? - Is my design direction intuitive and easy to learn? - Will my design direction help or hinder my users productivity? - How can my design's usability be improved?
High-Fidelity Usability Testing	- Is my product or feature usable and useful? - Is my product intuitive and easy to learn? - Does my product help or hinder my users productivity? - How can my product's usability be improved?
Rework & Recall Exercise	- What usability problems and successes are users having while doing real work? - What is my product being used for? - What features of my product are being used?
Competitive Usability Testing	- How does my product's usability compare to the usability of my competitors? - What do users like and dislike about my competitor's product?