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Methodology & Process

 

The Essential User Experience Methodology & Toolkit

When consulting we base our procedures on our Essential User Experience Methodology & Toolkit.  The Methodology has been designed to make sure that:

• Users and tasks are easily understood.
• Users recognise their own requirements.
• There is effective user-researcher communication and understanding.
• Implementation costs are minimised.
• Users have a high-quality user experience.
• The product or service our clients provide has added value.
• Effective marketing collateral is provided during the course of the project.

The Methodology is based on existing and proven usability engineering methodologies developed by international usability gurus including Jakob Nielsen, Jeffrey Rubin, Alan Cooper, Larry Constantine and Lucy Lockwood, and Deborah Meyhew, and informed by our own experiences crafting usability for ICT projects.

Six stages contribute to the Essential user Experience Methodology:

1. Concept Analysis

2. Discovery (User Requirements Elicitation and Specification)

3. Design Step 1 - Abstract Design

4. Design Step 2 - Detailed Design

5. Prototype Development

6. Deployment

We welcome queries about our methodology which we will make available upon request.

Process

At The Usability Laboratory, everyone plays a part in contributing their expertise to a project. Ultimately, we still rely on a set of proven steps to ensure every output meets a specific requirement before proceeding to the next stage.

Our working process for evaluation and testing is DEFINE - PLAN - DO - ANALYSE - DELIVER.

Take for example the process we would use for a stand alone usability study:
 

DEFINE		Define Project Scope & Planning Strategies - Type of Product(s) - Stage(s) of Development - Problem(s) to Solve at Each Stage - Methods for Solving the Problem(s) - User Profiles
PLAN		Plan Research Details - Methods for Solving the Problem - Tasks for Participants to Perform - Questions for Participants - Modes of Analysis - Equipment & Resource Requirements - Participant Recruitment
DO		Application Functionality & User Acceptance Testing - Functionality & Utilities - Structure & Organisation - Workflow & Navigation - Content Readability - Interaction Mechanisms - Branding & Look - Accessibility - Platform Testing
ANALYSE		Results Analysis - Counts: Errors, Timing - Ratings - User Comments - Paths Taken - User Reactions - Good & Bad Usability - Urgent & Important - Prioritised - Development Impact
DELIVER		Feedback Reports - Verbal & Written Reports - User Feedbacks - Identification of Problem Areas - Identification of Good Usability - Recommendations - Resolution Priorities

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