Why should your company embrace user testing of your site or printed materials?

4 top reasons why:

• Testing challenges your assumptions: either as a business owner, developer or design professional. It lets you see it through your customer’s or user’s eyes and understand what matters to them. And it’s a great way to settle design decisions.
• It gives you a clear direction on how to improve things. Testing picks up any flaws in writing, layout, functionality, information and graphic design. Both online and offline, flaws lead to confusion and frustration. At worst, you lose a sale or receive a large volume of calls to customer support.
• That’s why this sort of testing needs to be about behaviour, not opinions. Even if you ask, people can’t always articulate what they think. So you need to watch how people use it.
• It’s not just about identifying usability issues. User testing can uncover brand and business insight, what the user experience is like and the best way to structure information. And it can be an opportunity to find out how you compare to your competitors.

How do we go about user testing?

We typically observe and record people from your target audience performing realistic pre-defined tasks they’d commonly do on your site or with your print materials – this could be making a purchase or entering some specific data.

A typical user testing session. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/l-i-n-k/

During each one-to-one test lasting approximately one hour, we collect data about the error and success rates of the tasks – where people stumble and what’s causing it. We also collect qualitative data about the participants’ experiences using the site or document as they talk me through what they’re doing and thinking. We can record: how they navigate, their level of understanding and how they’re making decisions.

Finally we carry out pre- and post-test surveys to gain deeper insight into the participant’s attitudes, opinions and experiences. It’s also a great opportunity to test recall, recognition and brand awareness.

Has your company already embraced user testing?

What did you learn about your customers?

Are you interested in finding out more about user testing?

Drop me an email or give me a call on 07531 122 532.

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I’ve just written a guest blog post for Afia, a tone of voice and copywriting agency over in the Midlands.

A couple of weeks ago Ben Afia and I headed over to Bangor University to set up a collaborative research project and run a workshop for Dr Intriligator’s Consumer Psychology students.

Ben Afia talking Tone of Voice at Bangor University

Check out the post here: ‘Well, this is embarrassing’ – tone of voice from around the world.

Your experiences

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Got any other good examples of companies getting their message lost in translation?

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They were all rejected by focus groups, one of the most popular market research methods (Ingrid Fatell). Ingrid wrote ‘The Focus Group Panacea’ back in 2006, but I still think it’s a very relevant article. She says:

‘I agree with Dev Patnaik of Jump Associates, who refers to focus groups as the “crack cocaine of market research” – many marketers are so dependent on them, they’re terrified of making a decision on their own.’

Like Ingrid, I agree that it’s not time to ‘throw the focus group out of the window’. But, as people are notoriously bad at predicting their own behaviour they need to be used with caution, particularly when it comes to innovation.

Sony sold 200 million Walkmans over 30 years (www.techdigest.tv) - rejected by focus groups

There are now an estimated 2.2 millions ATMs across the world (ATMIA) - rejected by focus groups

Baileys currently ranks 7th in the international league of top selling global premium spirit brands (www.baileys.com) - rejected by focus groups

Wired Magazine put together a commentary on ‘Steve Jobs Best Quotes Ever’. It’s no surprise that he has an opinion about focus groups too…

‘It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.’

So what place does market research have in innovating the products and services of the future?

I believe that research, and more specifically ethnographic research, user/usability testing can play a very important role in the innovation of the products of the future. I see the user’s role as a ‘tester’, rather than a ‘designer’.

As researchers we find out how the new innovation fits in with day-to-day life and we test if the product meets the end users goals – does it actually work for them and fulfil a purpose? I also believe that it’s an on-going testing process; from product inception to release. It’s about putting the end user and their behaviour at the centre from the very beginning. And certainly not just about asking their opinion!

Exploring co-design

In a couple of weeks time I’m off to the ‘Exploring Co-Design – The Creative Consumer Workshop’ in Bristol organised by the Creative Industries Knowledge Transfer Network. The event plans to explore how creative businesses can co-create products and services in partnership with the end consumer, enabling customers to participate in a company’s innovation process.

I’ll let you know how the workshop goes. I can’t wait to hear about what other people think about involving end users in the products of the future.

Your innovations and market research

• Where does your product innovation come from?
• Have you experienced co-designing any products or services with the end user?
• If you’re a market researcher, what role do you think you can play in developing the products and services of the future?

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Bungee cords are great. But, only when you can get them out of their packaging.

I had to quickly put up a sign. I thought it would be a two minute job. Well, it should have been quick.

First of all I couldn’t open the clear plastic outer packaging without using scissors. Fair enough I thought, Tesco don’t want the packs bursting open creating a spiders web of loose cords.

Battle number one. Cords removed from clear packaging with the help of scissors

So I got my sign and bungee cords outside . Only then did I notice that each cord was held folded in two by thick clear plastic to stop them slipping through a round piece of plastic holding all four cords together.

The cords all neatly held together by the black circle and clear plastic on each cord

Ok, I nearly cut my fingers splitting the clear plastic, but at least all I had to do was pull the cord I wanted through the black plastic circle, or so I thought. That didn’t work – I couldn’t pull them through. The black plastic circle wouldn’t even break when I stamped on it. Time to find some pliers – scissors weren’t going to do the job.

Cutting the plastic circle with pliers

Although I got the job done I’m sure it would have been worse if I were disabled, old or young – or didn’t own pliers!

Job done!

A customer or user experience is about every step of the journey. From initial contact with a product or company to actually using whatever it might be.

A couple of weeks back I wrote a post called ‘People don’t want a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole.’ inspired by Nick Disabato’s book called Cadence and Slang. During my bungee cord experience a passage from the book sprang to mind. It reads…’

‘Ideally a product’s packaging should reflect the product as an extension of its own design. But regardless of how appropriate the packaging is, it should be humane and unobtrusive.’

I couldn’t agree more. The design of a bungee cord couldn’t be more practical, but the packaging couldn’t have been less so.

Your packaging

• How humane and unobtrusive is your packaging?
• Does your packaging exemplify the quality of your products?

Your experiences

• Have you got any examples of a product’s packaging letting it down?

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I’m not advocating you introduce poor customer service, but when things go wrong it brings opportunities.

I was just another victim of the slow pre-Christmas postal service, or so I thought. When one of my Christmas presents didn’t arrive on time I just assumed it would turn up in a couple of days.

Three weeks has now passed since I first made my order – time for some investigation. Before dropping an email to the small online retailer I had pretty low expectations. I was expecting excuses ranging from the snow to a good old ‘well, it’s marked as dispatched on our system’.

To my surprise, within a couple of hours I’d received a full no quibble refund. I also received this email apology…

‘Hi, I understand that this is a nightmare so I am issuing you a full refund on the basis that if the item does arrive I would like you to contact me so I can arrange for it to be sent back to us. I hope you understand. Happy New Year’

How refreshing. Although the goods didn’t turn up this time, it was beyond their control. And because they were honest, I’ll repay the honesty by sending back the item if it does arrive. Would you shop with them again? Yes.

It’s often the case that imperfection leads to better customer engagement. There’s a greater opportunity for you to interact with your customers – impress them when things go wrong and they’ll love you for it.

Do you have any shopping experiences of imperfect service leading to love? What happened to you?

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This ‘polite notice’ is placed above every power socket in a cafe I visited last week.

Free wifi – great. But it’s not so useful when your laptop battery’s dead.

Firstly, let’s look at the actual costs…

Not the easiest question to answer, but how much does it cost to charge my Dell laptop for an hour? Using UK Power’s Electricity Running Costs Calculator the answer appears to be a few pence.

The more important question is how much more would I spend on food and drink if I could’ve carried on working once my laptop battery died? The answer – more than the few pennies in electricity it would have cost to charge my laptop.

What do you think of this ‘polite notice’?

Even if you’re not in the cafe to charge you laptop or phone this message creates a certain tone – it’s not a friendly welcoming one.

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I now need to wear glasses. I also like a bargain so went online to find a good deal on the pair I liked. It was all going so well. I found one online retailer doing them a fair bit cheaper than everyone else – perfect I thought. I found it quite frustrating I had to create an account before I could find a total price including lenses, but at this stage I forgave them as the price was good.

If it's out of stock please tell me before I order. I might even be willing to wait. (photo zimpenfish)

I ordered, paid and got a confirmation email. Job done, or so I thought. A couple of hours later…

‘Please disregard the email below [order confirmation stating dispatch within three days] as it states your order will be despatched in 3 days, unfortunately our stock has not been updated on this product and will need to be ordered from our supplier as soon as this process is complete I will re-email with the correct ETA.’

Not even a ‘sorry’ or ‘we apologies’.

What’s more annoying is that I had to keep chasing for updates, the ‘re-email with the correct ETA’ never happened without some encouragement. The most annoying thing – I was charged for the glasses the moment I ordered them.

My lovely new glasses. Great once they finally arrived.

One thing is certain. I’ll not be shopping with this particualr online retailer again, even if they are cheaper than everywhere else.

What annoyed me so much?

• Being charged for the glasses three weeks before they arrived.
• Before I ordered there was no indication that they weren’t in stock.

If you do sell online please tell me before I order if I’m going to have to wait weeks – I might even be willing to wait if you give me some warning. And never charge me before you dispatch what I’ve ordered.

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They’re unavoidable, expensive and almost certainly a bit dirty and unpleasant. Motorway service stations come a close second to traffic jams on my list of things I don’t like about doing lots of driving. A recent visit to Westmorland’s Tebay Services however was actually pleasant. I even ate in the restaurant – I recommend the fish and chips, in fact all of the food on the menu looks delicious.

The view might be a bit better than most, but it's what you get in the building that impresses me most. Photo - John Thurm

What’s so special?

The basic formula is still the same – parking, petrol station, building with toilets, shop and restaurant, but the owners Wesmorland have just gone the extra mile. Not only is there a outdoor picnic area with lake, dog walking path and clean toilets but, the food is actually good and tasty. Be warned though if you’d rather eat Burger King or KFC, look elsewhere. There’s no fast food outlet here. But, if you like to eat good quality food at a reasonable price, served very quickly look no further.

Fresh, clean and well stock with delicous food - this really is a motorway service station.

Take a look at the shop. As well as selling the usual snacks you’d expect you can treat yourself to something a bit different, maybe even organic and locally produced. Now that is different!

You can of course buy the usual drinks you'd expect, but anyone for an orangic traditional lemonade for a bit of a change? Yes please!

What can we take from Tebay’s example?

It’s possible to turn something bog standard into something special and a little bit different. It’s not even that different – it’s just made the normal experience a whole load more pleasant.

Next time your near junction 38 of the M6 give it a go – you might even enjoy the experience!

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Walk into the supermarket and you’re faced with 30+ milk products to choose from. It’s not just the dairy aisle or supermarkets though. Everywhere we go we’re faced with a barrage of choices. But does giving all this choice actually make your customers happier?

Too much choice? (Photo: michael.newman)

My current house building project has involved lots of purchasing. Everything from cables to kitchen taps. Yesterday when faced with a choice between ten different brackets to hang my shower head from I just had no idea what to choose. What makes it worse is that there aren’t just ten out there – this was only the brackets from one brand. In the end I just asked a member of staff which one people usually buy – that’s the one I went for. I doubt I’ll regret the choice as although each was slightly different they all do the same job and look very similar.

Next choice - shower dial. Where do I start? They all appear to be the same.

What I learnt is that choice is good but customers need some direction, particularly if they aren’t an expert in what you’re selling. I had to ask for help, but a simple ‘recommended by us’ or ‘best selling product’ label would have gone a long way to help.

I appreciate choice is necessary. We want to be able to specify products based on our needs and at the end of the day we don’t all want the same thing, but do we really need 30 milk products to choose from?

Choice is a subject that fascinates me. After yesterdays shower head holder incident I went home and bought a copy of Barry Schwartz’s ‘The Paradox of Choice – Why Less is More’. I’m hoping the book will shed more light on the paradox that exists – we say we want to simplify our lives but, we also want total control over the details in our lives. I’ll let you know what I think of the book.

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‘We live in a world that is owned by men, designed by men and managed by men – and yet we expect women to be active participants’. That’s what retail anthropologist Paco Underhill tells us he includes in almost every speech he delivers.

Paco has just released his new book ‘What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly’. I’ve read one of his other books ‘Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping’ from cover to cover many times. When I spotted the release of this latest book I got my name straight onto the waiting list.

Front cover of What Women Want by Paco Underhill

I’ve now read ‘What Women Want’. Firstly, it’s an excellent read – go buy a copy, and if you’ve haven’t already bought ‘Why We But’ also add it to your shopping list. Secondly, I want to pull out some of the key points Paco makes in the introduction. As women become wealthier, more powerful and more independent they’re shaping the world around them more and more and they’re make more purchasing decisions than ever before.

In the introduction Paco draws together a short-list of what women want – he doesn’t think it’s very complicated:

• Cleanliness
• Control
• Safety
• Considerateness

In this post I’m going to look at two points on his list in more detail…

Cleanliness

Paco argues that women don’t just like clean, they demand it. It’s not even conscious for many women. It’s a sixth sense something traceable to the hunter-gatherer days where cleanliness played a crucial role in child rearing and the collection and preparation of food. So how clean is your store, corridor or reception area – take a look now? All it takes is a hair in the bath in a hotel room or a dirty shop fixture and she might not come back to visit you again.

Dirty lock on a High Street fitting room door - enough to put some women off visiting a store again

Considerateness

Paco doesn’t mean politeness, he says it’s more about weight and muscle. I think height also plays a major part. If you sell bulky items is it obvious she can get help getting them to her car? Men have a tendency to not admitting they couldn’t manage, but he claims most women will know full well when an item is too heavy or cumbersome. If you haven’t already got a sign up saying assistance is available, get it up there now.

You might ask, doesn’t making it more female friendly make it less male friendly? I don’t think it does. I believe anyone walking into a cleaner, more considerate environment would be happier.

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