Our UX offering is comprised of two areas of expertise—heuristic review and user testing.

An expert review —is also known as a heuristic evaluation or scenario review. In the web site review, we would attempt to accomplish relevant user goals and evaluate the experience against research-based criteria to uncover design flaws that prevent users from accomplishing their goals.

This information would be evaluated and scored across 25 criteria covering the following areas:

- Value (e.g., Is the content that’s required to support the specified user goals available where needed?)
- Navigation (e.g., Are menu category and subcategory names clear and mutually exclusive?)
- Presentation (e.g., Does the site use graphics, icons, and symbols that are easy to understand?)
- Trust (e.g., Does site functionality provide clear feedback in response to users’ actions?)

User testing measures a user’s ability to complete tasks. In a typical usability test, a user attempts to complete a task or set of tasks using a web site (or software or a product). Each of these tasks have a specified goal with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction identified in a specified context of use.

A typical session will have eight to twelve participants who participate in the test. Early on during these tests with as few as five users patterns begin to emerge that highlight what parts of the customer experience or process and working well and which are causing problems.

Key stakeholders connected to the website (or product) participate as Observers and their job is to get a close understanding of the customer experience. Stakeholders can be business owners, engineers and developers – anyone who has something to do with the website or customer experience.

Tests can be conducted with live version of the website, beta versions, on-screen HTML or PowerPoint prototypes, or even with paper printouts. These paper prototypes, sometimes called wire-frames, approximate what a user might otherwise see on a computer screen, but save the development team from having to produce an on-screen product.
Often times lab usability tests are also recorded on video for later review and also to present to a larger audience in a company.

Usability ensures that the visitors of the site have the greatest ease of use, ease of learn-ability, amount of usefulness, and least amount of discomfort.