Usability Testing Services

Seeing firsthand how users respond to your website, app or prototype is invaluable. Performing usability testing saves you money, time and energy as you are better able to gauge reception of your product prior to launch. Whether you opt to watch via video or observe the tests in person, we encourage you and your developers to see exactly how real people engage with your platform.

Interviewing and recording anywhere from five to ten users at either our state-of-the-art usability lab or via our innovative mobile usability testing lab, we will compile a detailed usability testing report that arms you with the information and feedback you need to adapt and improve.

usability test

Sample PIP (Picture-in-Picture) output

Our Usability Testing Report is an HTML deliverable that:

  • Identifies usability challenges encountered by users
  • Using video highlights from the tests and linking these to your report, we will show you those challenges
  • Ranks challenges according to their severity
  • Provides informed design solutions

We can also help you identify and recruit test participants, design a test plan, and create prototypes for testing.

Interested in learning more?

Call us today, toll-free in USA at 888-GUI-CSSI (888-484-2774) or see our contact information.

State-of the-Art Usability Lab

We utilize a Usability Lab in the heart of Northern California’s technology corridor, just a short trip from Sacramento, San Francisco, or the South Bay.

This State-of the-Art facility includes:

  • 3 digital video cameras with integrated pan, tilt and zoom
  • Omni directional XLR microphones
  • One way mirrors between the user room and the observation and control rooms
  • Three channels of video output including XGA and NTSC
  • An on-duty receptionist for meeting and greeting test participants
  • A comfortable conference room with a live video feed for overflow observers

Reception Area

Observation Room

Control Room

User Room

Mobile Usability Lab

Our Mobile Lab allows us to perform usability testing on your site or in your users’ actual working environment or at one of over 950 locations worldwide. This revolutionary system includes all of the benefits of a traditional lab such as:

  • 3 digital video cameras with integrated pan, tilt and zoom
  • Omni directional XLR microphones
  • One way mirrors between the user room and the observation and control rooms

How it works

What users “say” they want is often different from their actual behavior. Usability tests provide real world scenarios designed to validate true behavior and thus give you more substantive information to use for development and design.

How we do it

Test Prep / Recruiting

By familiarizing ourselves with your user profile, we recruit those falling within profile parameters–our recruitment capabilities are extensive. Taking care of the details, we ensure the process runs smoothly.

We’ll also work with you to develop a set of test scenarios that address key areas of concern. And as an optional service, we can help you put together interactive prototypes to validate your design concepts prior to coding.

For existing sites and apps, we will first perform a Rapid Review. Making the whole process more cost effective, this process allows us to identify key areas of concern first and then focus our testing on those.

Performing The Test

A typical usability test consists of 5-10 one-on-one sessions over a 2 day period. The key is to see how users interact with and consequently react to your product. We record the users’ comments and behavior as they work on assigned tasks, and our software then ties each observation to a specific point in our video capture feed.

Analysis & Reporting

Following any usability test, we have a LOT of data to go through. Our job is to condense this into information that is usable to you as far as helping you implement necessary changes and improvements. Your report will contain our raw observation, user comments, summarized findings and actionable design recommendations.

Fixing The Stuff That’s Broke (Optional)

Turning the results of a usability test into measurable changes is key to the success of your testing efforts. We’ll help you to identify short-term high-value fixes as well as develop a plan for longer term more systemic changes as needed.

Do We Have Time For This?

We understand this is an effort, demanding both time and resources. However, the bottom line is, if you don’t find the bugs, users eventually will. A good practice is to “test as early and as often” as possible. We usually need 1-2 weeks to help finalize the test plan and recruit users, depending on which types of users you need and the complexity of the test scripts

Interested in learning more?

Call us today, toll-free in USA at 888-GUI-CSSI (888-484-2774) or see our contact information.