we are: London

FSA - What About Money website

Objective

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.

The key concern was that everything from the look and feel to the brand and URL (whataboutmoney.info) appealed to the youth audience.

The Project

we are: london led the user research on the project, and our involvement encompassed the branding, right through to the development and final build of the site. Our usability team ran the following services:

• Recruitment - crucial to the success of the project was recruiting the right audience for the FSA. This was an extremely complex and difficult audience to reach but by using our national database of market research participants we secured up to fourty 16-25 year olds who possessed the specific attitudes and experiences needed for the project.
• Focus groups - we are: london ran focus groups across the country where we presented a series of brand concepts to the audience in order to obtain immediate feedback on the appeal and preferences. This provided essentail feedback for all agencies involved - directing us on everything from site naming, taxonomy, tone of voice and layouts.
• Usability lab - Our team put together a clickable prototype for the site and held a series of one-to-one interviews at our facilities in London. This phase of the project clarified taxonomy, content requirements and also the best format for presenting information to this audience. The findings from this testing were fed into the final iteration of the IA.
• Expert review – Once the IA had been finalised we are: research conducted an indepth best practice review of the site. This ensured site-wide consistency as well as making sure that it was accessible and in compliance with the W3C standards.

Outcome

This comprehensive and iterative approach to user research throughout the project lifecycle ensured that the site both resonated and appealed to the youth audience.

COI, FSA, Research Accessibility review, Card sorting, Focus groups, Lab Research, Qualitative research

Metropolitan Police careers website

Website usability testing

The Metropolitan Police Services (the Met) have launched a new careers section in their website. To be successful, the new site has to be user-friendly and raise the brand profile of the Met amongst the target audience.

we are:london were commissioned to test the site by Empower, the Met’s communication agency. Our research methodology included a series of user tasks, taxonomy cards and brand-based questions to analyse the customer experience.

we are:london provided an expert team to record both quantitative and qualitative results over three days at the Science Museum ’s testing lab. This data was then translated for the Met into constructive reports on:-

User interaction - to identify the most common routes used around the site and any stumbling blocks.

Card sort - to understand any problems with comprehension of current terminology.

Brand review - to evaluate external reaction to and understanding of the Met’s brand and message.

Competitor review - to benchmark against sites operating in similar fields.

Shelley Rees, Director of Empower, said:

“Ensuring the user leaves the careers site with a positive view and complete understanding of what is involved in the varied jobs offered by the Met is crucial to the success of this site, as is the ease of use and compliance with accessibility standards. we are:london’s expertise in user testing, research and usability ensured that the project ran smoothly and has lead to what is probably the most in-depth user study of any careers site in the UK .”

Design, Metropolitan Police, Research competitor review, Lab Research

panmacmillan.com

Usability for grown ups and kids

Overview

The publishers PanMacmillan were committed to develop a new e-commerce website to replace the existing site. The two key objectives in the development process were to identify and understand user requirements of the site and to stay ahead of the competition.

A combination of traditional qualitative research coupled with we are:london’s website and competitor analysis ensured the development of a site which would satisfy the needs of all key stakeholder groups.

The issue

PanMacmillan needed to test an early development of the site to substantiate their initial research and to review a number of branded prototypes to choose the optimal brand direction. It was imperative that the research covered the broad customer base; which meant reviewing the site with a larger than normal group, including children and retired readers.

Solution

In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of all issues, we are:london ran a full suite of usability tests; which included card sorts to define the taxonomy, lab-based testing, competitor analysis and quantitative analysis.

The PanMacmillan team and their design agency chose to observe each session in order to have first-hand understanding of the user requirements, which resulted in conflicting opinions between the development team and the Board.  Competitor analysis proved very insightful, especially in the children’s section, and the card sort helped to considerably reduce the amount of primary and secondary navigation.

Success measures

1. Solid recommendations through research -  following an initial usability review, PanMacmillan and their design agency added the recommendations to their final business proposal to the Board. They were able to give clear evidence and examples of user requirements, which were contradictory to early business assumptions.
2. Site improvements for enhanced online experience - consequently a number of major positive additions and changes to the site were made, based on the research conducted by weare:london.

Client Testimonial

Clare Bennett, Website Consultant, PanMacmillan

“Chris and the team at we are:london provided a professional and thorough service, allowing PanMacmillan to gain valuable insight into to the usability of their prototype website.  Their research ensured that PanMacmillan were able to identify problematic areas such as content layout (in particular, the right hand channel) and navigation taxonomy (users didn’t understand corporate terminology).

The research also highlighted that the children’s section was a critical area of concern.  By testing with children, it was clear this area held no interest for them due to the corporate interface. As a result, a key business decision was made to develop a separate children’s website, which targeted both parents and children via a child-friendly interface.

The knowledge gained through this user-testing enabled PanMacmillan to make key strategic development decisions prior to the full website build and launch – which saved the business both time and money in post-launch amendments.”

PanMacmillian, Research Card sorting, competitor review, Lab Research, Qualitative research

National Curriculum

The QCA needed to further develop the curriculum.qca.org.uk site, in order to incorporate additional resources and to further enhance the user’s access to information.

The Project

The key issue with the revised design was to ensure that that it remained intuitive and easy to use and did not impact the user’s ability to locate important statutory information.   In addition to assessing the usability of this new site, the QCA wanted to conduct a study of three of their other sites in order to further understand their user’s needs and behaviours.

Solution

We lead the user research on this project, working with both the development agency, Reading Room, and internal teams within the QCA.   We used a range of usability review methods during the course of the project, including both qualitative and quantitative techniques:

• Online surveys – in depth quantitative analysis of user demographics and behaviours
• Remote testing – qualitative study with a range of users, conducted remotely and reviewing two separate sites: www.nc.uk.net  and www.ncaction.org.uk
• Lab based research – full usability lab with existing users of  curriculum.qca.org.uk, obtaining feedback on their site experience as well as assessing their navigation experience of the prototype
• Accessibility review – review of the prototype with a visually impaired users as well as a review by our own in-house accessibility experts to advice on W3C compliance

Outcome

This comprehensive approach to usability research provided the QCA with both understanding of their site’s users and actionable recommendations for further development and change. Prior to this research the web team had only a limited understanding of who their users were and most importantly, how they used the information available to them on site. Our research provided valuable insight into important taxonomy, navigation and content issues which, when corrected, will further improve the overall success and user experience of all QCA sites.

COI, Research Accessibility review, Lab Research, Online surveys, Remote research

FSA - What About Money website

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

BT Vision website

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

BT Vision IPTV

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 Vision TV guide

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

Deloitte Global Careers

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