[Sigia-l] Testing your own sites

[Jacqui Olkin]

Christopher,

I work as the creative director/user experience lead for Web design and 
redesign projects. My methodology typically includes a few different types 
of usability activities applied at various points, for diagnosis, 
assessment, and validation purposes.

I have never had a client resist having me "test my own work." I explain 
that the testing is our 'gut check' to make sure that the IA/design/content 
will be understood by the intended audiences and that any issues with 
functionality or process flows are addressed before launch. But, then, I 
typically use a few different low-cost/high-yield methods, and those may be 
easier to sell than lab studies.

It could be that the other company's clients were really most concerned 
about the cost that the lab-based testing and focus groups added to their 
project budgets. I think that as clients have become more educated about 
usability and the influence of usability has grown, the trend has been to 
take usability out of the lab and use methods that are cheaper but no less 
effective that lab-based studies.

I understand that the other company's lab and focus group are in the process 
of being dismantled, but perhaps they could have saved these if they had 
found a cost-effective way to sell the lab and focus group services a la 
carte (independent of their own Web design projects), or rent out the lab to 
other companies.

Jacqui


Jacqui Olkin
Olkin Communications Consulting
jacqui at olkincommunications.com
571-643-6020 ph.
703-834-5653 fax
www.olkincommunications.com

web . print . content . strategy



>From: "Christopher Fahey" <askrom at graphpaper.com>
>Reply-To: askrom at graphpaper.com
>To: <sigia-l at asis.org>
>Subject: [Sigia-l] Testing your own sites
>Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2007 12:35:10 -0500
>
>On the NYC-CHI list today, a representative of a big web shop said this:
>
> > My company is dismantling its focus group and
> > usability testing lab, due to a chronic lack
> > of space and clients' growing reluctance to
> > allow our agency to do testing on our own work.
>
>Has anyone else working on the consulting side observed this phenomenon? My
>company's thinking has always been that, basically, it takes an awful lot 
>of
>chutzpah to try to sell in-house usability testing services as part of a
>design and development process.
>
>If you do offer design and usability testing services, have you observed
>client distrust of the model? How do you get over it?
>
>Does anyone else decline to sell such services for the same reason I don't?
>
>Thanks,
>-Cf
>
>Christopher Fahey
>____________________________
>Behavior
>http://www.behaviordesign.com
>212.532.4002 x203
>646.338.4002 mobile
>

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