Usability Research Center
Websites should be designed to facilitate and encourage efficient and effective consumer interactions. User-centered design (UCD) is an approach to enhance usability. It is a structured development methodology that involves users throughout all stages of website development in order to create a site that meets user needs. A handful of consumer-centric usability research studies are listed below...

:: SiteSURF Benchmark™
Building Websites by Gaining Insight into the Strengths Of Competitive Sites

Study Objective::
Benchmarking your website against competitors is a strategic approach to develop great design ideas. This process uncovers which strategies resonate or do not resonate with consumers, thereby providing a strategic advantage. Learning the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats by benchmarking helps redesign with intelligence.

The Research Methodology::
SiteSURF Benchmark™ defines industry website leaders, always from a usability and user experience perspective. Hundreds of users are asked to participate in a study, perform certain tasks, and answer key questions about a specified number of industry sites in order to determine which market player (website) performs best.

• How does your website perform compared to your competitors?
• Which site offers the best customer experience in its industry?
• Which site performs strongest with regard to specific tasks?
• Which features come through as points of differentiation for competitive sites?
• What do users like best and dislike most about each website?

The Value Proposition::
The true value of benchmarking websites with SiteSURF™ Benchmark is its ability to gain insights based on authentic user ratios and rankings. Different groups of users perform the same tasks and answer the same questions across a number of competing site, and SiteSURF™ Benchmark captures which one performs best.

Study Objective::
SiteSURF™ Task puts your website prototype in the hands of your website visitors in order to gain their direct feedback on its performance and learn if there is a need to redesign completely or make minor improvements.

With SiteSURF™ Task you can evaluate many scenarios:

• Evaluate the process of performing a task and determine whether any significant improvements are required. Example – Ask the user to search for content on your website and evaluate the ease of this process.
• Evaluate different features, designs, colors, and messaging to determine which prototype resonates most with site visitors.
• Assign the task to complete a registration process and highlight any bottlenecks that hinder process completion.

The Research Methodology::
SiteSURF™ Task usability research is conducted with either existing website visitors or the target segment from the Online general population. Participants are asked to perform the tasks that are evaluated and then provide their insights with regard to the tasks performed.

The Value Proposition::
SiteSURF™ Task provides valuable insights to optimize features that will have a positive effect on key performances.

Our Other Usability Research Services...

Quick Perception Test::
Quick Perception Test is a usability testing service that offers three different ways of testing: “Classic,” “Compare,” and “Sentiment.”

The Classic test shows and then hides a screenshot of your page and asks users to recall elements that they remember.

The Compare test shows two screenshots and asks users which they prefer.

The Sentiment test shows one page and asks users to pick their favorite and least favorite elements.

User Experience Video::
User Experience Video offers a more traditional approach to usability testing. You’ll receive a video of the users’ screens as they navigate your site, along with a running audio commentary of their responses. You will also get a written report detailing the areas and functions that the users liked and disliked, and anything that may have prompted them to leave the site.

This allows you to view the user website experience in their natural environment.