blog
Lessons in Usability and User Research
October 23rd, 2007 by Jeff HerronBeaconfire welcomes INFORMS and the American Federation of Teachers as two of our newest clients both of whom were looking for Beaconfire to gather user input to guide improvements to their respective sites.
We began work with INFORMS in the past week to prepare for interviews with their members as they begin the process of improving their Website. User research is an important step in any project and for INFORMS offers an opportunity to explore user needs, validate findings from market research and begin to prioritize areas for improvement. As the association for Operations Research professionals, INFORMS knows the value of research and is wisely leveraging it to guide their Website improvements.
Just last week, we learned we had been selected by AFT to conduct a usability audit of their intranet/extranet tool for local union leaders, not surprisingly called LeaderNet. This project will include user interviews which provide a change for key stakeholders to share perspective, feedback and desired changes. We will combine this input with our Expert Review of the site to identify specific areas for improvement and recommendations. The idea is to identify fixes that AFT can implement quickly as well as make a case for longer term changes. Once those changes have been further flushed out, we’ve recommended user testing to validate and refine.
We’re excited to get started with both clients.
