ConsultingEach year we conduct dozens of studies, tests and evaluations. And still we continue to grow, each year completing more studies than the previous year. Our knowledge of interactive interface usability is based on years of daily observations, analysis and recommendations.
Expert assessments and consulting do not replace user testing. But upstream of an interactive interface overhaul, extensive functional developments or a technical migration, our consultants' assessments identify the usability aspects of particular technical, functional, site structure or content choices. Within just a few days, an expert review can be conducted on the interface in question and compared to a few carefully chosen benchmark interfaces.
Through the assessment, we can determine the main usability issues, select the best practices and identify the risks, for example, before briefing a firm or establishing a set of functional specifications for the IS.
"An expert review can be completed within just a few days."
User-Centred Design
We rely on structured methods, such as the User-Centred Design process defined in standard ISO 9241-210.
This development method is based on our extensive knowledge of users and on repeated user feedback at each step of the project. The method can be broken down as follows in most of the cases we handle: user segmentation, typical usage scenarios, personas; definition of success indicators; usage storyboards; information architecture; sitemaps, flow charts, functionalities; creation of models that will be tested by users; repeated testing, and more.
These steps happen concurrently with the development steps and serve as a supplement to them.
Iterative methodology consists of conducting a series of user tests and (re)defining the functional specifications and/or IT development. Adjusted, for example, as the functional bricks are put in place, or in other words, as mini-sites are developed, this iterative methodology allows us to include the needs expressed by users in the development of the interface, in real time.
"We have methods of taking into account a broad spectrum of users and the context in which they are using a particular system.
They solidify the development process and foster innovation."
Based on our observations of users and an effort to understand their needs, Design for Lucy assists in designing successful, simple and innovative products, websites and apps.
Creative processes may involve the teams at a company and/or that company's customers. Involving these teams provides us with feedback and affords us the benefit of company's own expertise. Working with our clients facilitates our understanding of user needs right from the initial phases of the creative process. We may or may not choose to take this approach, depending on the needs of the project.
Usage StudiesDesign for Lucy offers a complete range of qualitative and quantitative studies (with or without eye tracking) in order to gain an understanding of the actual usage of websites, prototypes and models, as well as apps, business application or software interfaces, interactive terminals and more. Based on our observations and analyses, we make clear operational recommendations that are easy to translate into IT developments.
"We don't just listen to what users have to say; we observe them in action. That's because sometimes what they say they are doing is very different from what they are actually doing.".
User testing can be done face-to-face or remotely. They allow you to rigorously observe your users while they perform tasks that correspond to the pages/side of the interface to be tested. The nature and criticality of the difficulties that users encounter in the realization of predefined or free usage scenarios allows us to propose areas of improvement: taxonomy and vocabulary, sequencing and hierarchy of information, perception of the right shapes, contrasts, call-to-actions...
User tests can be carried out face-to-face in a lab or remotely. Remote tests offer several advantages. In particular, they make it possible to recruit participants who are scattered throughout a market. It is possible, for example, to test an app with consumers located in the four corners of France in highly urbanised areas and rural areas.
Personas are defined based on a concrete summary of your targeted users. Unlike marketing segmentation, personas are defined by their contexts and usage scenarios, as well as by their socio-demographic profile.
Observing the users of a particular website or the consumers of a given product, over a period of a few hours to a few days, allows us to decipher their usage and behaviour by gaining an understanding of their worldview.
Concretely, ethnographic research is a method that consists of immersing oneself in the usage contexts of users or consumers, without any preconceived assumptions, in order to put oneself in a position to see things from their perspective.
Eye tracking is both a technology and a research technique, which allows us to record where a user's or consumer's eyes go when reading a web page or looking at an in-store display, for example. Results are rendered in the form of a heat map, which indicates areas where the participants' gaze falls. Results are objective, generalized and very informative, and they can be particularly helpful when the results of a study have to be presented to multiple decision-makers within a company.
Our consultants are accustomed to using eye tracking within the context of website testing and analyses of physical paths at points of sale.
Training
Our training programs are intended for:
Web project managers
Site managers
And the people who work on their teams, such as content managers, graphic artists and designers and developers.
Training programs take place over two days and are held for small groups of four people.
Our training content is explained through real-life examples that the participants encounter in their jobs. We are convinced that the methods and concepts of usability and user experience are best learned through practice and workshop discussions.
"The best sites are created by teams who are educated in the principles of user experience.
These teams have an understanding of their users and of the way their sites are actually used."
UX research is a discipline that is often omitted from basic training; however, it is now widely considered one of the keys to creating a successful interactive interface. The purpose of our training programs is to give participants an understanding of web usability and to teach them the basic methods of User-Centred Design.
Usability, definitions, advantages and objective measurement.
The aim of usability is to design interfaces so that users can naturally perform the tasks that they wish to complete. In other words, it deems an interface to be satisfactory when its users feel that it is usable and effective.
Typical user behaviours.
Their usage and their perception of websites, mobile sites and apps.
Best practices in web usability: browsing, search engines, forms, functionalities, formatting and graphic design, content.
User-Centred Design methodology.
AFNOR and ISO standards.
Managing a diverse range of users.
Practical tools for obtaining reliable user feedback.
How to measure the usefulness and usability of a site from the user's point of view.
Establishing reliable, objective indicators.
Integrating UX research in a project.
Each portion includes group exercises and time for questions and answers.
