Services

Usability Testing

HFI provides a complete range of services for progressive testing of Web sites and software applications throughout the system life cycle. We identify ergonomic "bugs," and recommend specific solutions. We use a variety of testing techniques to match the deliverable being refined and the type of feedback needed (see Usability Testing Chart).

Features	Benefits
A variety of testing techniques are used to match the deliverable being refined and the feedback required.	Our rapid approach has minimal effect on development schedule.
We provide our own portable testing equipment.	The emphasis is on a low-cost approach without any inconvenience to our client.
Our specialists effectively interpret the data acquired from the testing.	The testing results confirm the appropriateness of the design, minimizing the need for recoding and redevelopment.
We apply our knowledge and experience to use this data effectively for user-based design.	Usability testing does not only identify the bottlenecks for our clients' users; we also provide precise design solutions.

Our range of progressive testing includes:

Phone questionnaires
Protocol simulation
Contrast experiment

One-to-one interviews
Formal usability test
Field trial

Remote Usability Testing
Usability testing is the acid test of interface design. However, classical usability testing is not always feasible – primarily because of the cost factor. It also requires a physical facility and technical infrastructure, as well as the necessity to travel to the various testing locations. Remote Usability Testing (RUT) is the breakthrough HFI has achieved to counter such problem scenarios. We successfully run tests in other countries, across different time zones – all this from the sophisticated remote testing lab in our Mumbai office. HFI's experience over the years has proved that both classical lab and remote usability studies capture very similar performance information. In addition, RUT is the preferred testing method when:
Testing requires participants in widely dispersed locations. The test requires a large number of participants. There are cost and/or time restraints that limit face-to-face testing.

Deliverables to the client are in the form of:

Written report: methods used, results, design recommendations

HFI uses Morae, TechSmith's innovative digital usability testing tool, to help make testing easy, fast, and affordable.

More information on HFI's usability testing services

Detailed consulting sheet
Download (88K pdf file)

Usability testing will keep you honest. As designers, you can follow all the good usability principles that we teach, but you won't really know if your design will work until you observe real users actually using it. Usability testing gets your project out of the realm of opinion-based design, or 'I'm more important than you'-based design, and elevates it to empirical, verifiable, user-based design."

Drew Falk
UX Strategist
Human Factors International