InfoCentre

The use of personas as a method for communicating user requirements in collaborative design environments is well established. However, very little research has been conducted to quantify the benefits of using this technique. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using personas. A design experiment was conducted with students over a 6 week timeframe. The results showed that, through using personas, designs with superior usability characteristics were produced. They also indicate that using personas provides a significant advantage during the research and conceptualisation stages of the design process (supporting previously unfounded claims).

Usability is central to the successful completion of online forms. Whether applying for insurance, completing tax returns or simply making an online purchase, a poorly designed or confusing form can lead to users abandoning the process. The following are some tips when designing online forms:

At Frontend we get to work with a lot of cutting-edge technology, recently we got to work on some stuff, so new in fact, that its actually just a great idea bundled into a set of specifications. As its in a formative stage, there are no commercial products to provide an interaction template or paradigm. It's called Remote User Interface (RUI) and it could, if widely adopted, change the way that we interact with consumer electronics by blurring the boundary between computing, audiovisual and mobile technologies. Your next remote control could be your phone.

User centred design can be a useful and speedy way of increasing efficiency and hence reducing costs. More often that not, design is seen as a way of increasing sales, attracting eyeballs or retaining customers. However at Frontend we've noticed that some of our most successful projects concentrate on cost-reduction and business efficiency. Here's a few ways we've used user centred design to help our clients save money:

The out of box experience (OOBE) describes the users first interaction with a product or service.  In the technology sector this first experience invariably involves plugging stuff in, installing some software and crossing your fingers in the hope that the product will work. The problem is that, in far too many cases, it doesn’t.