How User Research Can Make Your Product Better

How User Research Can Make Your Product Better

Customer Understanding Icon

CUSTOMER UNDERSTANDING

  • Market Research & Segmentation
  • Contextual User Understanding
  • Scenario Gathering & Workflow Analysis
  • Customer Modeling & Persona Development
Design Concept Validation icon

DESIGN CONCEPT VALIDATION

  • Feature Validation
  • UI Layout Testing
  • Visual Design
  • Information Architecture
  • Design
User Interface testing icon

USER INTERFACE TESTING

  • Usability Issues
  • Terminology Issues
  • Information Architecture
  • Refinement
Benchmarking icon

BENCHMARKING

  • Baseline Success Metrics
  • Satisfaction

WHY WORK WITH US?

  • Single point
    vendor management
    URI is responsible for staffing projects appropriately. When running simultaneous projects or projects run in quick succession requiring increased resources, there is no need to hire or manage multiple vendors.
  • Research
    scalability
    URI can run as many labs as necessary by adding more resources to a project. If you have a sudden need to run 10 or more usability labs in a month or a number of labs simultaneously, we are able to accommodate seamlessly.
  • Only pay for
    work done
    There may be months when your company may not be running any studies or running only a single study. Because URI operates on a project basis, you don’t need to pay for research staff during down times.
  • Simple forecasting of
    vendor budget use
    When reviewing actual impact of where vendor budget was spent, it is simply a case of listing out all projects completed. Likewise forecasting is simply a case of listing out the expected number of projects with a standard price for each.
  • Faster
    Turnaround
    In the case where a high priority project needs to be delivered quickly, URI has the option to allocate multiple researchers to run and analyze projects in parallel and deliver on rush projects.
  • Simple access to
    international research
    URI has the capability to conduct research in person or online in most locales worldwide.
  • Access to a wide range
    of methodologies
    URI is able to conduct research outside of usability lab testing such as search relevancy testing, entrance and exit surveys, online diaries, focus groups, contextual inquiry and ethnography. As such we are able to answer research questions that may be outside of the scope of traditional testing.
  • Simple
    pricing structure
    URI has simple, per project pricing for all research. All costs are defined up front, with no hidden or additional charges.
     
     

OUR TIMELINE PROCESS

PROJECT DEFINITION
Determine:

  • Team and roles
  • Goals and scope
  • Audience profile(s)
  • Research focus
  • Methodologies and metrics
  • Timeline and milestones

RESEARCH PLANNING
Commence:

  • Participant recruiting
  • Research plan development
  • Test resource setup
  • Data collection setup

PRODUCTION
Review & Approve:

  • Research plan
  • Data collection metrics and tools
  • Test resource configuration
  • Run-through/pilot

TESTING
Execute:

  • Research moderation
  • Data collection
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ANALYSIS & REPORTING
Deliver:

  • Data analysis
  • Insights report findings
  • Presentation to client
timeline

Process Modeling and Information Architecture

Modern products are frequently complex. Process modeling and information architecture take a high-level view to ensure the system always supports the user. Building on user research, personas are developed to capture the needs, behaviors, and pain points for each user group. Process modeling captures how personas perform tasks in a task flow diagram. An information architecture, which is developed to support the requirements described in the personas and task flow diagrams, is a blueprint for how information can be organized to make the whole system easier to understand.

process modeling

Some of our methods include:

Task flow modeling, Information architecture, hierarchical task analysis, persona development and use case studies.

info architecture

We help answer questions like:

Do users understand our new navigation scheme?
How could the information in our product be better organized?
Where are breakdowns happening in common user tasks?