Flow Interactive announces Remote Testing Deal

Flow Interactive has secured exclusive rights to provide the UserZoom remote usability testing tool and online research software services in the UK. On the same day that Foviance launched (see UN story: The Usability Company and WebAbacus launch Foviance), fellow UK consultancy Flow Interactive announced it had made a deal with Spanish company Xperience Consulting who designed the UserZoom software tool and have been running it for four years.

UserZoom, says Flow, is specifically designed to provide deeper insight into user attitude and behaviour than either online surveys or quantitative web analytics tools. Particularly interesting in this context is that the company says the system can be set to provide intranet access to a ‘management scorecard’ where usability and satisfaction metrics can be tracked over time, for a client's site or that of the client's competitors.

The combination of these companies' launches this autumn - both stressing longterm analysis and management - must beg the question as to whether we are seeing a new level, or even kind, of service appear in usability in the UK.

The UserZoom software brings together a panel of users to gather information about efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction levels for key user journeys. Users are recruited using an automated screening process, and may be located in the UK or internationally. Flow has already applied UserZoom to provide a current client with insight drawn from simultaneous, multilingual testing in the UK, France and Germany. The UserZoom application includes a reporting tool, designed to enable easy extraction and rapid analysis of the data collected.

Flow Director of Consultancy Phil Barrett said: 'Userzoom is a fast, cost-effective way to deliver insight drawn from large user groups in one or more countries. We believe traditional usability lab sessions still deliver the greatest depth of insight into the needs, attitudes and behaviours of users. Nonetheless, statistical evidence can be a very compelling tool to help businesses make far-reaching customer experience decisions.'

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