Services are Certified Usable by Australian Consultancy

PTG Global, an Australian usability and user interface design consultancy, has launched a new product: Certified Usable™.

'When your technology passes our testing process with end users, we grant the use of the Certified Usable logo on the technology, its packaging and website,' says the company. 'Whether you’re selling technology or using it to service staff or customers, Certified Usable is your guarantee that end users can use it quickly and easily, without error and with satisfaction. Certified Usable™: Confidence that your technology is user friendly.'

Many commercial companies and professional organisations have contemplated certification, or some kind of endorsement, but it has so far been rejected as a troubled area. Would it be possible to sue a consultancy that issued such a promise and was then found to fail in the eyes of its client or their end users - either in the thoroughness of its scoping and analysis, or, more likely, in its ability to convince the client to use its research findings? Can responsibility for the usability of a product be laid entirely at the door of an independent agency that may not be in a position to implement the recommendations made? Should a mark of this kind be applied if not all recommendations are taken up?

PTG Global - the Performance Technologies Group Pty Ltd - originally focussed on usability and technical testing and since 2004 has focussed heavily on requirements and 'high performance' user interface design. Its tagline is "Making technology work", which, the website says, 'reflects our commitment to making technology usable for people while also ensuring that it is aligned with business objectives and their key performance indicators'.

The Australian usability community is intrigued by the development, but not sure that unilateral behaviour by a single, not particularly well-known company will be the best trial for such a complex undertaking.

Meanwhile, PTG Global has trademarked 'Certified Usable' and published the following on its site:

'Whether you’re selling technology or using it to service staff or customers, Certified Usable is your guarantee that end users can use it quickly and easily, without error and with satisfaction.

'For vendors, Certified Usable allows you to genuinely make the claim that your technology is user friendly. Your customers are assured that it will do what they want and be easy to use, out of the box.

'For purchasers, Certified Usable gives you peace of mind that the technology you’re buying will be usable for your staff or customers. If it isn’t Certified Usable, find one that is, or ask the vendor to get certification before you buy.

'Certified Usable™ is for all business and consumer technology
* Self service (e.g. internet banking, account management, speech systems, IVRs, intranets and extranets)
* Productivity and business software (e.g. ERP, CRM, workflow and other desktop applications)
Consumer electronics (e.g. PVRs and home theatre equipment)
* High technology (e.g. GPS, mobiles and PDAs)
Complex high risk applications (e.g. process control and mission critical applications)'

Associated Link: PTG Global: Certified Usable

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