we are: London

What About Money website

The FSA wanted to create a website for young adults that provided information on everything from how to pay for university to buying a car and that could also direct users to other reputable sources of financial information; What About Money.

we are:london was enlisted by the FSA to provide usability and accessibility services from the very inception of the Whataboutmoney? site.  This involvement from the beginning of the project ensured that users were consulted and considered right from the initial brand conception stage all the way through to the final HTML build, which ensured that the site is credible, appealing and functional.

The Project

The target user group were consulted right from the very start of the project. We ran focus groups and iterative user testing labs, and for each of these services we carefully selected respondents who were  representative of the potential site users. Here is an outline of the services that we provided over the  course of the project:

• Focus groups– we presented two brand concepts to four different groups (two in London and two in Glasgow). All groups followed a similar format with participants encouraged to feedbacktheir thoughts on the designs and brands as well as contribute their own ideas. The end result was a report which summarised the brand direction that the site should be aiming at;
• Lab-based testing – once the wire frames had been finalised and the structure of the site confirmed, we ran a series of one-to-one interviews at our labs in Battersea.  During these sessions users were asked to explore the site, undertaking specific scenario based tasks, which would assess the intuitiveness of the navigation and taxonomy.  Our report highlighted some areas which required minor changes in order to provide the best and most natural user experience.  It also recommended that the homepage design be revised in order to make the messaging about the site’s target audience as clear as possible;
• Homepage design review – once the homepage design had been reviewed we re-tested it with a sample of 12 users.  Each participant was asked to look at the design and feedback their initial impressions; telling us whom they thought the site was aimed at and what it was about. This testing proved that the messaging was now clear after the design revisions, and that those aged from 16 all the way through to 25 could find content that they felt was directly aimed at them;
• Expert review – as part of our service provision, we also conducted an expert review, offering advice on how to make the site even more intuitive for the users;
• Accessibility review – in order to ensure that the site was accessible, we conducted a review of the site and advised the teams on how it could be made W3C AA compliant; and
• UAT– because of our understanding of the site as well as our experience in UAT, we were asked to conduct a full test of the site. UAT took three weeks and allowed us to fully review the site and ensure that all bugs and issues were resolved prior to launch.

The key concern for the FSA was that everything from the look and feel to the brand and site URL appealed to young people. The diverse range of services used on this project has ensured that the target audience were thoroughly consulted. We seldom work with a client who has such an appreciation and understanding of the user’s needs and this comprehensive approach guarantees that the site will provide the user with a good experience.

COI, FSA, Research Accessibility review, Expert review, Focus groups, Lab Research, UAT

Interface design & research

The BT Vision website provides comprehensive TV and radio listings, games and service information as well as an e-commerce area for service and programme orders.

we are:london was appointed to make fundamental changes to the existing site that would improve usability, accessibility and navigation. The site needed to reflect the high standards and quality of the new TV service.

Issues & Requirements

• BT required an updated website that identified what the product was, and present it in a clear fashion.
• The site needed to support both new and existing customers.
• It was essential that the navigation was clear and easy for customers to find what they were looking for fast and efficiently.
• As the service grew, there was a requirement to ensure the website design was flexible to accommodate further additions.

Recommendation

we are:london recommended the User Centred Design methodology to research, prototype and test the website with end users. As highly skilled, experienced project managers, we are:london managed the entire project for BT; managing other external agencies and providing cohesive solutions.
Solution

To initiate the project, We carried out a full discovery workshop, identifying BT’s objectives and defining key customer profiles. These customer profiles were taken on ‘user journeys to determine the next stage of the development process.

Information Architecture

The Information Architecture was developed in conjunction with the internal BT Vision team and one other partner agency. We took full responsibility for the project management of this job, providing guidance on the wireframes and identifying the key components for the IA.

In addition, we are:london was responsible for ensuring that the content, design and branding, met with BT Vision’s business objectives for the site.

Usability testing

Extensive lab based testing was conducted with both existing and prospective BT customers; research techniques employed included eye tracking in the lab and an online survey on the existing site. The online survey results reflected the findings from the lab based testing and reinforced the need to make changes to the key site sections.

Tantamount to the success of the website, was the ability for visitors to the site to find the information that they were looking for quickly and to be able to understand the product as efficiently as possible.

Following extensive testing of the site navigation and feedback from the client, we are:london worked with the BT Technical team to implement the final changes and build the site.

Result

The new website is now streamlined to show content in a more powerful and dynamic way. Navigation is easier and more intuitive; with an improved taxonomy ensuring visitors to the site can find what they are looking for quickly and efficiently.

An ongoing review process with continued multivariate testing and further site development is now in place.

BT, Design, Research, Strategy information architecture, interactive prototypes, Lab Research, user centred design

Interface design & usability research

we are:london lead phase 1 of BT Vision’s functional design development through to its successful launch on Monday 4th January 2007.

Phase 1 included the system’s navigation design; enabling users to access the many services offered by BT Vision, including EPG (electronic programme guide), film and PVR (personal video recorder). we are:london also ran competitor analysis workshops for user interface team.

we are:london’s team lead the user centred design process through Information Architecture, Strategy and Usability Testing, working very closely with BT Vision’s design team.

Chris Averill, MD of we are:london said:

We have been developing the Information Architecture for BT Vision since the initial stage of the service. For over a year we have been working closely with the BT Vision design team through workshops, brainstorms and strategy sessions, creating prototypes which we tested in our usability review labs. Our biggest challenge was to develop a series of complex interactions into a fast, simple user experience whilst dealing with very detailed business requirements on a platform that was still under development.

we are:london undertook Phase 2 of the interface development; adding new services and reworking the core navigation and Video on Demand store structure.  New promotional tools and increased functionality will also be implemented as the service develops.

Chris Averill added:

Having been at the heart of the system’s development for the last 16 months it is very exciting to see the service launched in the UK.  It has been an extremely complex project, not only meeting both BT and end user needs, but also ensuring that the core platform from Microsoft and interaction principles were acceptable to a broader European market - in alliance with Microsoft. We are currently developing access standards with BT Vision and are planning to undertake more usability and access audit labs.

BT, Design, Research information architecture, IPTV, Lab Research, rapid prototyping

The Deloitte Global Careers website receives over 55,000 unique visitors each month. Applications can only be made online so to ensure they were attracting the very best caliber of applicants, it was crucial that information was easy to find and that all processes were as simple as possible.

The Project

Each country had direct control of both their careers site and the technology used to deliver it. Although many shared the same platform style and structure several were operating with an independent model. Deloitte wanted a uniformed look to each country’s website ensuring a level of consistency in design and usability whilst providing each with flexibility in their information hierarchy.

We undertook the following Usability Research services:

• Lab based testing – Enabling UK and US users to test the site before launch, revealing what is working and what isn’t.
• Remote online testing - Using Keynote for quant / qual research in France, Spain, Holland, Australia and the USA allowing us to connect with geographically dispersed users over the internet, providing a rich insight into the key usability issues.
• Card sort – An effective method of establishing an intuitive nomenclature strategy to ensure that content is labeled in the language of your users.
• Accessibility compliance – Making sure the site is accessible to everyone.
• Project management – Working with multiple stakeholders to ensure all parties’ commercial requirements are defined & delivered using a seamless and unified methodology.
• User centred design – Through our proven methodology, detailed site maps and high level wireframes are produced to define the information architecture and navigation of the application. Interactive prototypes are tested thoroughly to ensure the end product is fully functional.

Outcome

Within months of the launch the new the award winning global site template had been adopted by over 85% of their main country practices and saw a 30% increase in qualified users year on year.

Deloitte, Design, Research, Strategy information architecture, Lab Research, Remote research

Ethnographic research

Working along side Coca-Cola’s communication agency, TMW, we are:london were commissioned to research the current intranet and propose a range of improvements to meet the needs of the broad target market.

Field work approach

Our first task involved interviews with all key users of the intranet, across a range of sites in the UK. The initial interviews were undertaken with staff at head office, observing free use and task based analysis.

The rest of the interviews and observations were at field offices and main production plants, where we interviewed shopfloor workers and line managers, gaining invaluable insight into the use of terminals outside of desk based offices.

Our researchers:

• Interviewed staff, recording and documenting each session
• Undertook observed free use intranet use across office and plants
• Ran an expert or heuristic review of the intranet

The outcome was a detailed report with supporting screen recordings of actual use showing key issues and successes of the current intranet. The supporting research had a range of graphical examples of proposed solutions along with quick win ideas.

Coca-Cola, Design, Research Ethnographic Research, Expert review, Intranet