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UXamine : Optimize UX for
Success
TM
It’s a familiar scenario – you have a concept for a digital product or feature
that will win you more users and you’re working feverishly to get it to market
fast. You build what seems intuitively right, hoping that you’re making the right
design decisions, but then when it goes live, you realize that your users may
not think the same way you do. And now you need additional development to
improve the live product. You’re hoping you get it right this time.
Enter UXamine™, AnswerLab’s solution for guiding the optimization of
wireframes, prototypes or live products before you invest in development.
Optimization Through Observation
UXamine reveals user reactions to wireframes, prototypes or live
properties so that you can optimize them before development begins.
Through first-hand observation of users’ interactions with your stimuli
or live property, AnswerLab’s experienced UX researchers help you
understand exactly what is and isn’t working so that you can build the
best product for success. With UXamine, you will:
• Uncover what users see, think, do and feel in response to a topic
or stimuli.
•
Learn how to optimize your wireframes, prototypes, or live
properties to meet user needs.
•
Save time and money by observing and understanding users’
reactions before development begins.
How UXamine Works
UXamine employs one-on-one research sessions for first-hand observation
of user interactions with concepts, prototypes, websites, applications, or
other products or services.
Research Approach
• AnswerLab creates a detailed project timeline, recruits all study
participants according to agreed-upon screening requirements,
and sets participant interview schedules.
• AnswerLab researchers then conduct remote or in-person, one-
on-one interviews with local research participants to observe them
as they interact with stimuli or live digital properties. Interviews are
available for live remote viewing and are also recorded.
Why UXamine?
• Concrete, actionable
insights at any stage of a
product’s lifecycle, from
informing initial strategy to
optimizing features of an
existing product.
• Prioritized recommendations
for optimizing designs
based upon analysis of
user reactions, behavior and
underlying motivations.
• Consulting and guidance
from the industry’s most
trusted UX advisorsw
measurement to identify
trends and demonstrate
the impact of UX changes.
L earn more about how
Google used AnswerLab’s
UXamine to establish 25
principles of mobile site
design that delight users
and drive conversions
http://www.google.com/
think/multiscreen/
whitepaper-sitedesign.html
• While observing, researchers assess the stimuli or properties’ overall ease of use, architecture
and navigational flow, content clarity, organization, relevance, and/or look and feel.
• Researchers also interview participants using techniques designed to elicit attitudinal and/or
behavioral data to generate actionable insights that address the research objectives.
Analysis approach
• AnswerLab researchers synthesize their findings on users’ usage patterns, unmet wants and
needs, and satisfaction levels to identify the greatest user pain points.
• They examine these pain points in the context of client business goals and objectives.
• They then use this information to prioritize a set of detailed recommendations that address user
paint points and optimize designs for business success.
The result is a detailed plan for optimizing your digital properties so that you can be confident that when you
build them, you build them right.
What You Get
UXamine clients receive detailed reports presented by a lead UX Researcher that include:
• Prioritized strategic and tactical recommendations for optimizing the stimuli or digital property to
best achieve client’s business goals.
Example: Prioritized List of Recommendations
Overall Recommendation: Proceed with Design 2 with several refinements.
1.Ensure in-page navigation is clear and simple to use.
• Increase discoverability of in-page navigation bar with visual highlighting and a more prominent placement on the page.
• Simplify how users can access additional information within the tool.
- Allow users to click directly on an image or graph to get additional details, not just at text link below.
- Consider a feature to bring up additional information or details when users hover over a graph or image.
High
Medium
2. Provide guidance on navigation features within the tool where they are unclear.
• Include a pop-up instruction or tutorial to explain how to swap the order of widgets within the tool, and explain the
purpose of the menu icon at the top of each widget.
3. Make refinements to the ‘[title]’ section for improved clarity and understanding of content.
Medium
• Re-label views and charts with more descriptive titles (e.g., [sample title]) to help users understand the types of
content included within each section.
• Modify the chart type used for the [title] graph, consider simplifying information within the graph, and use larger font.
4. Simplify design elements on Design 2 to streamline the look and feel of the page.
Low
• Keep the box outlines as dividers between different charts, but consider removing additional lines and icons where
possible so the page feels less cluttered.
CONFIDENTIAL | Proposal
7
• An assessment of which aspects of the stimuli or digital property are working well and which areas
can be improved, illustrated via screenshots and participant quotes.
Example: Findings and Participant Quotes
•
•
•
Many participants expected to click directly on
graphs to pull up additional details, and felt this was
more natural than clicking the text links below.
Some participants wanted to get additional details by
hovering over certain features (i.e., hovering over
‘[name]’ label would bring up description or
snapshot).
Some found it confusing to have multiple links under
a graph (as in Concept 3) and preferred to have only
one link for additional information (as in Concepts 1
and 2).
Example: Illustrated Finding
“I think there were 3 options below the
graph on the last page. I’m not
confident that I would have known
which one would take me to see more
information. This one having just one
[link], it's more simplified.” –
Participant 11
Some participants wanted to
be able to click on an image
and have that act as the
inventory filter
“It would be nice to
be able to click… on
a [label] and bring
up that [topic] that
would give you
some comparison.”
– Participant 6
CONFIDENTIAL | Proposal
Visitors Found the Site Attractive But Had Trouble Navigating It
5
“It would be cool if I could just click
on the car instead of having to
choose it from a list.” - Richard
CONFIDENTIAL | Proposal
• Recordings of all participant interviews.
New York, NY • San Francisco, CA
Contact: info@answerlab.com www.answerlab.com
8
When to Use UXamine
UXamine can be used at any stage of a product’s lifecycle to optimize
digital designs before they go through the development process.
Use UXamine if you need to:
• Inform your initial product strategy by selecting and optimizing
the best design to hand off to the development team.
• Identify the most significant user pain points with your existing
digital property to determine which elements should be improved
in subsequent product releases, and in which priority.
• Determine which digital properties and products provide the best
user experience and why so that you can emulate best-in-class
features within your own product.
“From their initial
proposal to the lab
sessions to the
final presentation,
AnswerLab’s quality
has been top notch.”
— Kate Aronowitz
Director,
User Experience Design,
LinkedIn
Why We’re Different
AnswerLab is the user experience research partner trusted by the world’s leading brands. We
have delivered user experience insights to the world’s most visited web and mobile properties
and guided the user experience decisions for companies that attract hundreds of millions of
unique monthly visitors. Since our founding in 2004, our sole focus has been providing impartial,
custom user experience research to help our clients understand what people see, do, think and
feel when using mobile applications, websites, and other digital products and services. Our clients
rely on our objective insights and recommendations about product concepts, features, design,
and messaging to create engaging user experiences that drive results.
Copyright © 2014 AnswerLab. All rights reserved. All trademarks listed are the property of their respective owners.
New York, NY • San Francisco, CA
Contact: info@answerlab.com www.answerlab.com