Review: Flow Interactive shares Usability Case Studies

Flow Interactive, a British usability consultancy, has published four case studies of its work for clients, giving snapshots of the problems to be solved and what methods were adopted.

The clients featured in the case studies on the Flow website are BBC Radio 4 Online Services, for whom they performed expert evaluations and usability testing, also running a user-centred design workshop; the Design Council, who commissioned a context study and work on interaction design from Flow; and Yell.com, with a study of usability testing. The studies are short, but offer an insight into the work performed, the reasons for it and the response from the client.

Other features of general interest on site include a list of questions about the value of usability work from different perspectives:

'* Is usability for me?
* I have a limited budget and a tight schedule. Won't usability just soak up time and money?
* Our product is still under development. We're not ready for usability yet, are we?
* I've got a team of well-paid designers for this.
* I'm an investor. Why should I care about user experience?
* I'm a producer. Usability just complicates my job, doesn't it?
* I run an agency. What possible use is usability to me?
* I'm a designer. Aren't usability people just going to pick holes in my work?'

The answers are what one would expect, but put simply and clearly.

Click on the 'Finding our offices' link for an impressive example of user-centred design thinking in practice.

Associated Link: Flow Interactive

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