SERVICESStrategy & Research
No amount of graphics or programming wizardry will make a design succeed if the design is based on false assumptions about user needs. Gaining a clear and accurate picture of user needs is a prerequisite to producing good design. Let User Element help your organization gain valuable insights, to help ensure your development dollars are well-invested.
Strategy
Even before design works begins, you first need an overall product strategy. Achieving clear direction with multiple stakeholder groups can be challenging. User Element can assist this process by providing services for:
- Brainstorming sessions
- Stakeholder and customer interviews
- Focus groups
- Competitive analysis
- User research (more below)
User Element will compile and analyze results of the above activities, and provide you with a written report. The results can then be used to determine next steps (in the case of performing research) and/or as an input to the user interface design.
User Research
When it comes to usability and user interface design, understanding user needs can be quite difficult. Typically, functional requirements can be readily identified and described. However, usability requirements are often ambiguous, if not hidden, and difficult to articulate. Ironically, it is often in this murky area that the opportunities for innovation exist. Good research technique allows you to explore and draw out information from research subjects in an objective and structured manner. User Element utilizes various research techniques:
- Direct observation/field studies
- Interviews
- Out-of-box experience
- Usability testing
User Element will compile and analyze results, and based on this produce actionable recommendations. As well we produce other types of artifacts that subsequently become the foundation for the user interface design. There are:
- User profiles and personas
- Task analysis and modeling
- Use cases & functional requirements
- Product road maps
