Services

Domain Analysis is used to understand the full context and environment in which your product operates. When undertaking a domain analysis we use a selection of approaches aimed at understanding your business, the environment in which your business operates and how your users interact with your business and/or product.

Tasks may include:

• Expert Interviews (internal and/or external)
• Contextual Inquiry
• Field Observation
• Competitive Analysis
• Process Analysis
• Technology Analysis
• Business Domain Modelling

Selection of tasks can be tailored to suit your scope, time and budget.

The number one rule in any user-centred project is to determine who your users are and what they want to do. We use a variety of approaches to better understand your users' characteristics, the tasks they need to complete and the expectations they bring to the process.

Tasks may include:

• Surveys/Questionnaires
• Contextual Inquiry
• User Interviews
• Scenarios/User Case studies
• Focus Groups

Benefits of user research include establishing a realistic foundation early in the project, exposing hidden requirements and ruling out unfavourable ideas before it is too late (and costly) to make changes.

During the requirements analysis phase we identify the current and future needs of both your business and your stakeholders. These requirements then act as a touchstone for all ongoing development and provide the basis for translation into a design concept.

Tasks may include:

• Business Process Analysis
• Stakeholder Management
• Requirements Management

Stamford's capacity for conceptual design sets us apart from the usability crowd. This often-neglected phase is the powerhouse where clear requirements are converted into a focused model, forming the DNA of the design solution.

Tasks may include:

• Requirements Analysis - Analysing the formal results of our process to identify patterns, relationships and directions
• Affinity Diagramming - Organising ideas to form and explore conceptual relationships
• Design Brainstorming - harnessing creativity to translate directions into design models.

Interaction design builds on the information and conceptual design framework, adding functional elements through which the user is able to both control and receive feedback from the system.

Our approach involves analysing the steps within a user's activity to ensure the product interface supports effective and accurate task completion. Identified user goals and processes are addressed through applying a comprehensive range of tools and methodologies. The outcome is an optimised solution for user interaction.

Tasks may include:

• Collaborative design
• Control and feedback design
• Procedural design
• Feature design
• Cognitive walkthroughs

Deliverables from the interaction design process include sets of screen blueprints or wireframes for use by developers. Alternatively, a business process diagram, flowchart or report may be provided for management.

The Information Design phase of a project relates to the organisation and shaping of data or content across the site. During this phase we gather, structure, and present information in line with proven user-centred principles.

Tasks may include:

• Information Analysis
• Internal Content Workshops
• Workflow Diagramming
• Card Sorting.

Deliverables from the Information Design phase include Information Architecture Diagrams, Site Maps and Procedural Flowcharts.

Where Information Architecture focuses on grouping information, Content Design focuses on the information itself. A content plan maps the content required for the product. We can also write or translate content for web presentation while providing "writing for the web" training to ensure ongoingly web-relevant content.

In prototyping we develop a model of the proposed user interface so that we can test various aspects of the design, illustrate ideas or features and gather early user feedback.

Prototyping greatly reduces the risk and cost of building a product that may prove less than optimal to users' needs and therefore require further refinement. There are two common approaches to prototyping:

Paper Prototyping allows users to interact with paper-based representations of the proposed product keeping the cost of the user testing to a minimum. This approach tests the validity of a concept by testing the fundamental design elements prior to the aid of interactive cues.

Using the paper prototype method we can gather feedback from which we can easily (and cost-effectively) add more cycles of testing, more subjects or more prototypes as required.

Electronic Prototyping involves an electronic model of the proposed design being built for users to interact with. Although less cost and time efficient than paper-based techniques, this model closely represents the proposed interface allowing us to observe users' reactions to the solution at high fidelity. As with the paper prototype approach, this method provides feedback about the interaction between the user and the interface allowing us to add more cycles of testing, more subjects, or more prototypes as required.

At Stamford Interactive we have demonstrated expertise in translating the findings from research activities in to a fully-realised interface design.

During the Visual Design phase of a project we bring together the outcomes of previous research and design components providing our clients with up to three separate design concepts that combine branding, visual style, and functionality.

Far from limiting our focus to attractiveness, our visual design forms an integral component of the usability framework of our designs, helping achieve both business and user objectives.

The Visual Design process results in a visual style/concept, which represents a detailed visual approach for your product. In line with our philosophy of facilitating ongoing usability, a Visual Style Guide can also be provided, capturing the specific design elements and approaches that were accepted in user testing. We can also supply a CSS to ensure that elements of the design retain their integrity as they are brought across to your website.

By using Stamford's usability standards and guidelines together with best practice heuristics from formal usability process, we can rapidly assess the usability of a product.

Where time is short and you need an immediate opinion to validate the usability of your product and advice on how to make improvements, our expert review service is an ideal starting point. On average, an expert review can generate more than 50 ways of improving your product.

Heuristic Evaluation

Our team of experts is experienced in evaluating products against a defined a set of user-centred design criteria, or heuristics and presenting findings in clear recommendations.

10 common usability heuristics or usability criteria:

1. Visibility of system status
2. Match between system & the real world
3. User control & freedom
4. Consistency and standards
5. Error prevention
6. Recognition rather than recall
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use
8. Aesthetic and minimalist Design
9. Error recovery
10. Help and documentation.

Formal Usability Inspections

In a formal usability inspection we perform both individual and group inspections, using elements of both heuristic evaluation and a simplified form of cognitive walkthroughs to assess your product.

User testing involves carrying out specific assessment tasks with carefully recruited, representative users in order to evaluate the effectiveness of a design or product.

Tasks may include:

• Usability Walkthroughs
• Prototyping and Testing
• Tracked Testing.

User experience evaluation is a process used to assess a sequence of screen presentations against user goals and business and functional requirements. A number of aspects are taken into consideration, such as user interactions, system responses and environmental factors.

At Stamford Interactive we understand the importance of ensuring websites and intranets are accessible to all users. Providing accessible web-based communication and information is not only best practice but it also makes good business sense.

Using a combination of automated validation and manual review, our Accessibility Audit will identify general barriers to accessibility which exist on your website or intranet and provide an evaluation of compliance against W3C Guidelines.

We will provide you with an Accessibility Audit report advising where your site requires further changes to comply with either A, AA or AAA levels of the W3CGuidelines.

A content audit can take place while you're redeveloping your website and before you transition content to a new site.

An audit catalogues content, making it easier to identify outdated or irrelevant pages. A content assessment can then take place to further identify incorrect, inconsistent or badly written content thereby preventing "dirty" content from being transitioned to your new website.

We can also write and/or edit content for your new or redeveloped website. Another service we provide is "writing for the web" training and facilitation to ensure skills transfer and the professional development of your people.

Web Brand Management involves understanding and translating your brand in the online world. This involves a holistic appreciation of not only the visual and content aspect of your website but also the interactive level and how this all impacts on user perception and overall brand.

Providing an online presence exposes the brand to a new range of perceptions and expectations around usability, accessibility and content values. User experiences online have an impact on sales, credibility and brand perception potentially impacting on adjacent communication channels such as email or your call centre.

At Stamford we ensure that the solutions we recommend both inform and are informed by the overall brand profile, producing an online asset, rather than a digital liability.

Managing the user experience means being aware of the entire user-experience lifecycle from first contact, through engagement and transactional outcome.

At Stamford we can identify your users and find out their end-to-end needs and wants. We analyse and prioritise their requirements from a holistic, practical point of view.

Our services cover the totality of the user experience, including user support (such as product documentation and call centre support), fulfilment, billing and branding. By understanding the user experience cycle we can then evaluate all the channels through which you and your products interact with your customers.

By "road testing" your product concepts early, we can help you assess viability and avoid the increased cost of errors later in the design process.

In the early stages of development, we examine the viability of your product or idea through workshops, expert evaluation and user consultation. We work with you to assess use propositions from three perspectives - usability, usefulness and engagement.

Among the key drivers behind usability is that ignoring it will cost you more in the long run.

A common formula applied in the industry is the $1:$10:$100 rule. Therefore, once a product is in development, finding a solution to a problem will cost 10 times more as fixing that problem in the design stage. Once the product has been released, it will cost 100 times more to fix the problem than if a solution had been applied in design.

We avoid unnecessary cost by assisting you early in the product lifecycle to determine ROI metrics and cost-justifying usability.

We will train your content team in effective web writing techniques.

We will outline IA techniques such as open and closed card sorting and more recent technologies such as Card Sword.

We will provide a general introduction to the principles of usability. This course is suitable for a general audience.

We will cover evaluation techniques such as heuristic evaluation and usability testing.

We will cover techniques such as paper prototyping, collaborative design and usability walkthroughs.

We will provide an explanation of techniques such as focus groups, site visits, user workshops and stakeholder interviews.