One way to create a good consumer experience is through the discipline of usability testing.
Usability has been defined as the "measure of quality when interacting with something". This can cover anything from ATMs to websites, mobile phones to retail branches. Usability means people interacting with an organisation can do so quickly and easily. It must be a simple, engaging and enjoyable experience.
The most popular usability method is user testing, which is the process of learning about ordinary customers by watching them interact with a touch point. This involves observing a number of representative users, in one-on-one sessions as they perform set tasks. The facilitator watches what they do, listens while participants think aloud and looks for patterns of behaviour across participants.
User testing is not quite the same as a focus group. Where a focus group will learn about people's opinion, user testing will learn about what people actually do when interacting with a product. Traditional market research is particularly useful for understanding how people think, but generating good customer experiences require more work than that. This is where user testing really shines as we can learn how people will behave in a real situation.
There is a strong attraction to think that there is some "magic formula" to creating a good consumer experience, but this is not the case. Many industries can fall into this trap. In 2003 the LA Times reported that a British academic had determined the requirements of creating a hit movie. Apparently, a box office smash must include: 30 percent action, 17 percent comedy, 13 percent good versus evil, 12 percent sex/romance, 10 percent special effects, 10 percent plot and eight percent music.
As intelligent and attractive as such figures may sound, they don't quite work in real life. The world is a very complicated and messy place full of real people who want to achieve things in the shortest time possible. We have to use a range of research methods in order to comprehend their needs. Simply understanding customer's opinions through market research is simply not enough; we need to understand their behaviours as well.
Usability research simply ensures that consumer interactions are useful, satisfying and efficient. World-class consumer experience would be nothing without it. - 15478
Usability has been defined as the "measure of quality when interacting with something". This can cover anything from ATMs to websites, mobile phones to retail branches. Usability means people interacting with an organisation can do so quickly and easily. It must be a simple, engaging and enjoyable experience.
The most popular usability method is user testing, which is the process of learning about ordinary customers by watching them interact with a touch point. This involves observing a number of representative users, in one-on-one sessions as they perform set tasks. The facilitator watches what they do, listens while participants think aloud and looks for patterns of behaviour across participants.
User testing is not quite the same as a focus group. Where a focus group will learn about people's opinion, user testing will learn about what people actually do when interacting with a product. Traditional market research is particularly useful for understanding how people think, but generating good customer experiences require more work than that. This is where user testing really shines as we can learn how people will behave in a real situation.
There is a strong attraction to think that there is some "magic formula" to creating a good consumer experience, but this is not the case. Many industries can fall into this trap. In 2003 the LA Times reported that a British academic had determined the requirements of creating a hit movie. Apparently, a box office smash must include: 30 percent action, 17 percent comedy, 13 percent good versus evil, 12 percent sex/romance, 10 percent special effects, 10 percent plot and eight percent music.
As intelligent and attractive as such figures may sound, they don't quite work in real life. The world is a very complicated and messy place full of real people who want to achieve things in the shortest time possible. We have to use a range of research methods in order to comprehend their needs. Simply understanding customer's opinions through market research is simply not enough; we need to understand their behaviours as well.
Usability research simply ensures that consumer interactions are useful, satisfying and efficient. World-class consumer experience would be nothing without it. - 15478
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