A good way to create a good customer experience is through the discipline of usability testing.
Usability can be described as "the measure of quality when interacting with something". This could include anything from websites to ATM's, retail branches to mobile phones. It means that people who wish to interact with a company or organisation can do so quickly and easily; it must be an engaging yet simply and enjoyable experience.
A popular method of usability is user testing, which is essentially the process of learning about average customers by watching them interact with the product/service. This involves watching a number of willing users in one-on-one sessions as they perform set tasks. The facilitator will then watch what they do and listen to the participant as they think out loud and try to find behavioural patterns across all or some participants.
User testing is not to be confused with a focus group. A focus group is about learning what people think by listening to what they say, user testing focus' on how people actually use and interact with a product. Traditionally, market research is good for understanding how people think, but in order to create a good customer experience, we need more than that; we need to know how they will react when placed in a real-life situation. This is the part where the advantages user testing really shines.
There is a strong attraction to think that there is some "magic formula" to creating a good consumer experience, but this is not the case. Many industries can fall into this trap. In 2003 the LA Times reported that a British academic had determined the requirements of creating a hit movie. Apparently, a box office smash must include: 30 percent action, 17 percent comedy, 13 percent good versus evil, 12 percent sex/romance, 10 percent special effects, 10 percent plot and eight percent music.
As easily as one can be persuaded by such a simple formula, this doesn't work in real life. The world is a tangled mess and full of real people who want to get things done and out of the way in the shortest possible time. In order to meet these needs, we must use a mix of research methods to understand their needs and because simply understanding needs are not enough, we need to understand their behaviours as well.
Researching usability helps to ensure that customer interactions are efficient, satisfying and useful; you simply cannot have a world class customer experience without it. - 16069
Usability can be described as "the measure of quality when interacting with something". This could include anything from websites to ATM's, retail branches to mobile phones. It means that people who wish to interact with a company or organisation can do so quickly and easily; it must be an engaging yet simply and enjoyable experience.
A popular method of usability is user testing, which is essentially the process of learning about average customers by watching them interact with the product/service. This involves watching a number of willing users in one-on-one sessions as they perform set tasks. The facilitator will then watch what they do and listen to the participant as they think out loud and try to find behavioural patterns across all or some participants.
User testing is not to be confused with a focus group. A focus group is about learning what people think by listening to what they say, user testing focus' on how people actually use and interact with a product. Traditionally, market research is good for understanding how people think, but in order to create a good customer experience, we need more than that; we need to know how they will react when placed in a real-life situation. This is the part where the advantages user testing really shines.
There is a strong attraction to think that there is some "magic formula" to creating a good consumer experience, but this is not the case. Many industries can fall into this trap. In 2003 the LA Times reported that a British academic had determined the requirements of creating a hit movie. Apparently, a box office smash must include: 30 percent action, 17 percent comedy, 13 percent good versus evil, 12 percent sex/romance, 10 percent special effects, 10 percent plot and eight percent music.
As easily as one can be persuaded by such a simple formula, this doesn't work in real life. The world is a tangled mess and full of real people who want to get things done and out of the way in the shortest possible time. In order to meet these needs, we must use a mix of research methods to understand their needs and because simply understanding needs are not enough, we need to understand their behaviours as well.
Researching usability helps to ensure that customer interactions are efficient, satisfying and useful; you simply cannot have a world class customer experience without it. - 16069
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