User Research

User research helps you understand the whole user experience and systematically identify:

• who your users are
• what they want to do
• what skills they have
• how, when and where they are likely to use your product.

User research is an essential first step in designing an effective, efficient product or system which satisfies your customers and meets the needs of your organisation.

Benefits of user research

• Set clear user and organisational targets against which you can test and evaluate design options
• Identify major issues early in the design process before modifications become expensive
• Ensure effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction become part of the design brief and user acceptance process.

Our approach to user research

• Based on industry best practice and international usability standards - which we helped develop
• Profiling and textual analysis tools including:
  • empathic research and contextual enquiry techniques
  • participative design
  • ethnographic studies
  • focus groups
  • workshops
  • eye tracking
• Structured checklists to identify key user, task and organisational issues and to summarise these for your design team
• Experienced user research analysts - familiar with a range of products and systems
• Clear and straightforward results presented in an easy to use format
• Practical recommendations - we will continue to work with you to improve your design.

Typical user research projects

• Focus groups with disabled people, carers and youth workers for BBC Ouch! website
• Establishing users' requirements, habits, preferences and ideas for the development of the Cocoon phone for O2 
• International user experience research and participatory design to help Amadeus develop a new graphical interface
• User research with children for a mobile phone company

What do our clients say?

We were impressed with the way in which System Concepts led a group of very diverse individuals, enabling their discussions, appreciating their varied access needs, and guiding them through the complex ideas not only of Ouch's current proposition, but also the ideas we have for future developments. The results of the focus group have been invaluable in influencing the direction of the project."

Vaughan Simons, Assistant Content Producer, BBC Ouch!

For more information on any of our services, please contact us