Press
Research Drives Innovation
Apple has attained universal recognition as one of the most innovative companies in the technology industry. The products that they have introduced, from the Mac to iPhone to Apple TV, have mainstreamed user experience concepts and interaction models, shifting the entire industry. Read More »
Ahead of the Curve: Technology Trends and the Human Experience
With the arrival of the new year, we’ve been paying attention to some new trends that are coming to fruition. Many of them are technological trends, but some are interesting social trends. Read More »
Planning User Research Throughout the Development Cycle
Last month, we talked about ways that user research can go wrong. This month, we’ll discuss how research planning can reduce costs and decrease the time it takes to perform user research. Read More »
Getting Good Intel: How User Research Can Go Wrong
As we’ve discussed in previous articles, the belief that some research is better than none is not accurate. This month we’ll explore this belief and its possible consequences in depth. Read More »
Research Guidelines You Won’t Find in a Textbook
We meet a lot of people who do user research, but don’t have a research background or extensive training in research. Sometimes they are UX designers or graphic artists at a company that doesn’t have researchers. Read More »
Recruiters—Your Best Friends When Conducting Research
Research is all about people, so it’s important to find the right people when you’re conducting user research. Whenever you’re trying to get accurate data about a product through a study such as a focus group, usability test, or expert interview, Read More »
The Challenge of Targeting Late Adopters
We’ve met with several startups recently that are targeting market segments in which there is a lot of room for growth. Some of these are representative of segments that are showing rapid adoption of more advanced technologies like smartphones and tablets. Read More »
Do’s and Don’ts for Focus Groups
Focus groups have gotten a bad rap over the years as UX research has shifted away from this very traditional method of market research. Read More »
This Is Not Just a Test—It’s Primetime
When engaging in any form of product usability test, there are certain very important guidelines to keep in mind. One guideline that user researchers commonly overlook is testing with a version or mockup that is free of glitches, bugs, or known errors. Read More »
How Zelda Paved the Way for Zynga
Many of us remember playing Atari and Nintendo games growing up. If you asked any thirty-something about what it was like to grow up as the video-game industry evolved, you would probably Read More »
The Dangers of Design by User
In last month’s column, we talked about ways to include users in the design process by employing Subject-Matter Experts (SMEs). While it is always advisable to understand the user perspective, Read More »
Today’s entrepreneur: Bryan McClain – VatorNews Feature!!!!
Innovators will often live unstable lives. But as they courageously take risks, they’ll make several mistakes which become valuable lessons for the rest of us. Read More »
Subject-Matter Experts: Putting Users at the Center of the Design Process
This month we’ll discuss the process of putting users at the center of the design process and what that means in regard to both design and product strategy. Read More »
The Future of User Interaction
We think it’s appropriate to kick off the new year with an examination of what the future holds for user experience and product development. Read More »
Getting the Most Out of the Freemium Model
Freemium business models seem to be gaining in popularity and rapidly becoming a dominant factor in the success of Web startups. Massively successful social-gaming companies like Zynga and Playdom Read More »
Barriers to Adoption and How to Uncover Them
Adoption is key to the success of products and services. When clients come to us to evaluate a concept, prototype, or completed product, the evaluation really boils down to one fundamental question: Will people use it? Read More »
Inspiration Beyond the Lab
Over the last ten years, both of us have read countless articles about innovation, entrepreneurship, and socially responsible ventures that change the world. Read More »
Usability for Mobile Devices
The mobile space is the new Wild West of technology. Much like the Web during the 1990s, mobile is the new domain at the forefront of innovation. Users are discovering new capabilities, integrating them with their daily lives, and experiencing new interaction models. Read More »
Creative Ways to Use Unmoderated User Research
Over the past year or two, unmoderated usability testing has become a popular option to help guide product design. It is especially popular for Web sites, providing startups the opportunity to get relatively quick-and-easy user feedback on design iterations. Read More »
The Value of Education in Research and Human Factors
One of the strengths of the UX industry is the diversity of the people in the field. This diversity ensures variety in the perspectives UX professionals contribute to the design of a product. Read More »
So, You Want to Do User Research: Characteristics of Great Researchers
One of the best things about user research is that anyone can do it. On the other hand, it takes real commitment and a lot of personal development to do user research well. Read More »
Navigation Usability Study – A Success Story
In the beginning of 2010, Metric Lab conducted a study on a new navigation feature for Microsoft’s Bing™ for mobile app. The study sought to understand how people interact with navigation systems while driving an automobile. Read More »
Enhancing User Research with Emerging Technology
As technology evolves and new gadgets and electronics emerge in the marketplace, our options for the use of technology in conducting our user research continue to expand. Read More »
Contextual Interviews and Ethnography: Two Different Types of Home Visits
It’s important to make a distinction between these two different research methodologies and the kind of data you get from each. Both involve visiting a participant in their homes or other environments but they are distinctly different. Read More »
How to Listen to the User and Hear the Experience
When someone is speaking, do you think about what the other person is saying, or do you think about what you are going to say next?
At ActiveComm Labs, we are big believers in communication and what it can do to improve research. Our background in both user experience research and communication has allowed us to harness the experiences of our users and provide the most accurate feedback to our clients. Our background in communication includes many years of research and training with hostage negotiators across the country. Through this training we learned the skills and techniques that negotiators use to resolve crisis situations and how to apply them in a research setting. We consider Active Listening to be one of the key components of an overarching method that we call Active Observation®. Active Observation® is a synthesis of Active Listening skills, influencing techniques and advanced observation of non-verbal communication such as facial expressions and body language to generate a deep and dynamic understanding of an individual. Read More »
The Future of Mobile Applications
Mobile applications are the new kid on the block. The inception of the iPhone has given birth to a whole new market for applications that are relatively cheap and easy to create. With the number of mobile applications on Apple’s app store projected to exceed 100,000 by the end of the year [http://mashable.com/2009/08/05/flurry-iphone-apps/], mobile apps are the exciting new frontier that invites both large companies and independent developers to innovate like the early days of the internet. Many app developers have treated the mobile space much like the web, providing information on demand, but they are just scratching the surface of what is possible with a personal device. Having applications that run on a single mobile device that sits in our pocket, allows engagement possibilities that can help us tackle lifestyle shifts like never before. Read More »
The Science of Negotiation – Patterns to Predict Success or Failure
No one ever plans for their marriage to fail. However, with time – 30 years – and many research subjects, the noted psychologist, John Gottman, Ph.D, developed a coding system that enabled him to do just that – he was able to predict with 90 percent accuracy the outcome of marriages – successful or not. By analyzing patterns of communication between married couples, he and his team developed a framework so nuanced that they could accurately make this prediction with only 15 minutes of dialogue. Though it sounds like science fiction, Gottman has replicated his results repeatedly and even made predictions with an astonishing 80% accuracy with just a three to four minute sample. Read More »
Applied Training is the Secret to Active Listening
The art of hostage negotiation does not focus on one particular moment: the most successful negotiations are built from solid understanding of the hostage taker, and the development of mutual trust between negotiator and taker. Many negotiators have found that the most effective way to accomplish this is to listen actively to the hostage taker as he tells his story, absorbing and processing not only content, but also emotion and subtext. This deeper understanding can give negotiators better leverage to convince the hostage taker into giving up and walking out.