An Informed Foundation on which You Can Build Success

When you understand what your users want, how they expect to get it, and how they behave online, you can create clear, intuitive pathways that make their online experience great, whether they’re  shopping for an item, registering for classes, or applying for insurance. 

    With over 25 Nielsen Norman Group UXC-certified professionals, we can help. Nielsen Norman Group is a world leader in research-based user experience, so you can trust that you’re getting industry-leading research and advice that meets you -- and your clients’ -- needs.

    user research process, user research plus user testing equals results

    User Research + User Testing  =   Results

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    User Research

    Deliver a solution that meets the needs of your target demographic. As part of your website design-build or as a standalone service, we perform user research exercises including:

    • stakeholder engagement sessions;
    • focus groups, interviews;
    • job shadowing;
    • card sorting;
    • process mapping; and
    • surveys

     

    User Testing

    The key to success on any project is understanding what your clients and customers actually want and need -- and delivering based on their expectations. We help to not only identify the need, but also to ensure that you’re speaking your customers’ language.

    • Surveys and feedback gathering to set baselines and receive anecdotal insight;
    • Card sorting exercises to define intuitive language and content groupings;
    • Tree testing to validate navigation structures and language assumptions;
    • First-click testing to ensure alignment with key content areas, images, and calls to action;
    • Moderated user testing to observe real-world behaviour and identify usage patterns

    Ultimately, you get a better product that’s aligned to your users’ actual needs, which meets their expectations and behaviours.

    Validate

    Validating assumptions, testing models, and measuring success minimizes rework and lays the foundation for success. No matter how much research you do, in the end, you’re still going to be making some assumptions and recommendations about user needs. The best way to ensure those are correct is to validate those findings and assumptions, and work to refine language and information architecture. To support this, we execute some or all of the following tactics:

    • Tree testing
    • First-click testing
    • Moderated and/or unmoderated user testing

     

    Get Results

    Executing user research arms you with the information and data you need to make decisions that matter to your customers. An investment in user research and discovery results in:

    • a reduction in wasted development time by up to 50 per cent*;
    • a $100 return on investment for every $1 spend on UX*;
    • an average improvement of KPIs by 83 per cent†;
    • focusing in on your customers’ needs first;
    • maximizing SEO efforts;
    • understanding how to integrate social media and other online and offline tools;
    • breaking down internal silos;
    • eliminating barriers caused by jargon;
    • understanding what part of your processes challenge your users; and
    • learning what solutions your customers actually crave.

    * ExperienceDynamics.com, 2014
    † Nielsen/Norman Group, 2008

    Iterate

    Times change and so do user needs. UX testing can help you adjust to those needs quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively. Our user research can help you establish guidelines and protocols. And ongoing efforts can help to continually refine solutions to meet ever-changing market needs. Deliverables can include:

    • style guides and best practices;
    • training and documentation;
    • ongoing moderated user testing; and
    • ongoing unmoderated user testing