Andrew’s Usability in the Real World - First date with a Usability Agency

We bought our first house in Yorkshire a few years back, much later in life than many people do. We had no idea what we were doing. I paid scrupulous attention to the choice of paint colours, the cleanliness of the kitchen floor, and the life story of the sellers, while somehow missing out on signs of a leaking roof and a kitchen that was ready to self-destruct.
How were we to know? Sometimes you have to do something once before you know how to do it right.

If you’ve never worked with a usability agency, you might be worried that it’s like that. No need to worry. It’s a lot easier than buying a house, and a good agency will walk you through your options, help you to understand what choices you have, and design a project to meet your needs.

If you’d like to learn from others’ experiences, here are a few tips that might help.

BE CLEAR ON MOTIVATIONS. The most effective research projects come when everyone involved understands the goal of the product, the goal of the research, and can provide a concise list of key research questions. It sounds elementary, but you’d be amazed how many times we talk to project teams that have no common idea what they are trying to accomplish. That’s not to say we can’t provide lots of interesting insights for any product that comes across our desk – but it’s much more effective if we know what you’re trying to accomplish. When we get a pointed question at the beginning of a project, we know the research will be sharp and interesting. We love to hear questions like 'Why do so many users leave after seeing the home page?' or 'Why does no one use our mobile portal?' or 'How can we ensure we don’t alienate our customers with our new upgrade like last time?'

DON’T BE AFRAID TO DISCLOSE YOUR BUDGET. If you have to conduct your usability research within a limited budget, consider telling the agency what your budget is. A lot of new clients prefer to conduct tendering like a poker game, keeping their cards close to their chest. But if you have a good agency, they will work hard to make sure you get good value for money, whatever your budget is.

PLAN FOR WHAT TO DO AFTER THE RESEARCH. After your usability research is completed, you’ll typically get a report with analysis and recommendations. Make sure you have a process for deciding what to do with the recommendations, and enough time to make good use of the findings. Many organisations like to have a meeting in which they prioritise the recommendations according to their own resources and business priorities, and then enter the decisions into a change request (or bug tracking) system.

A FEW OTHER TIPS. As your usability agency designs your research project, they will need to take into account a variety of variables. In some cases, you may want advice from the agency, but in others you may already know what you need. Here’s a brief checklist of items to consider:
• Technical and business limitations. Do you want the research to treat the product as a blank slate, or are there issues that are already settled? If you know of existing applicable research, let the agency know so they don’t reinvent the wheel. If the development system or platform imposes certain technical limitations, let the research team know so they don’t make inappropriate recommendations. If your product has a business model that requires, for example, a certain form of advertising to be viable, let the research team know that too. The more they know about the reality of your product, the better they can design the research.
• Schedules. Is your schedule fixed or flexible? If the project needs to fit within a certain schedule, make sure your agency knows what it is. Good research teams know how to conduct research quickly and efficiently. (If your schedule is particularly tight, discuss early on the practicalities of getting a contract signed with your own company. A good agency will know how to support you with your own purchasing people.)
• Users. Do you have views on how many users you want to be interviewed, or would you like your agency to make recommendations? What market segments or types of users should be represented? Does your organisation already have formal definitions for these users? (You can often save a decent amount of money by recruiting users yourself, but only pursue this if you have sufficient resources to do it on your own. Recruitment requires a very special set of skills, and it is rare for an organisation to relish conducting the work themselves. It is a time intensive activity.)
• Venue. Do you have requirements regarding which cities or countries are required? Would you like the research conducted in homes, in shops, on the street, or in professional one-way-glass labs? (Handy hint: ask the agency to see their labs. Any good agency will be happy to show you around so you can see what you’ll be getting.)

Working with a good agency makes all this easy. If you’re not sure how to start, just pick up the phone and call them.

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I would love to hear what you think. Send me an e-mail at aswartz@usability.serco.com.

Andrew Swartz
Managing Consultant
Serco Usability Services

© 2005 Serco Limited, All Rights Reserved.

Associated Link: Serco Usability Services

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