Internet Services Provider

Business:

OPTIMIZE PRODUCT DESIGN. Create a laboratory for consumer usability studies to enhance the design of new and existing websites, games and software offerings.

Design:

An observation room, an experimenter room, and a participant room comprise the usability lab. The spaces are separated by one-way mirrors. Up to eight members of a project team can observe the experimenters as well as activity in the participant room beyond. A smaller team of human-computer interaction experts conduct studies from the experimenter room, with direct observation of participants through their oneway mirror. A consumer taking part in a study is typically alone in the participant room, seated at a computer workstation.

Technology:

Studded with wall- and ceiling-mounted cameras, the participant room transmits close-up images of a consumer and his/her computer use to high-resolution monitors in the observer and experimenter rooms. Eye-tracking cameras and software in the computer workstation plot and capture a participant’s gaze path across a webpage, use of links, and completion of task scenarios. Participants also use a ‘think aloud’ protocol, a running commentary that is recorded by the experimenters. The cumulative data helps project teams make critical design changes to boost consumer satisfaction and usability.

Featured Project:

Internet Services Provider Usability Labs

A/V Consultant and Integrator:

Cibola Systems