Brian Essex, Ph.D.
As a user researcher here at Blink UX, I’ve spent some time assessing and testing websites for the game industry. Game websites have a variety of audiences with unique goals, but the most notable ones are these:
Mark Gsellman
We take pride in helping our clients design and build exceptional user experiences. So it comes as no surprise that we would want to do the same thing with our usability labs – ensure the user experience for our clients is seamless, innovative, and effective by keeping “technology” out of their way.
Blink Staff
We were thrilled when the Sounders approached Blink to help them design their new MatchPass loyalty program in late 2012. There were three major components to the project: 1. Conduct primary end-user research to learn what fans wanted in a Sounders loyalty program and 2. Design an intuitive and engaging website and 3. Conduct usability testing for the MatchPass website prototype.
Tom Satwicz, Ph.D.
Blink has worked with a variety of healthcare providers over the last several years to understand the users of their websites. The results of this work have been research-based recommendations and design solutions that address many common challenges. Today, we are publishing a whitepaper that summarizes the challenges providers face online, and how a research-based approach to user experience can help meet the needs of their patients and employees.
Tom Satwicz, Ph.D.
A list of usability findings can be difficult to parse: they are long, highlight negative aspects of your design, and no matter how diligently your team works, they never seem to disappear completely. Despite these facts, there is hope.
Kelly Franznick
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you did a usability test of fruit? We did. Blink created this fun look at something near and dear to our hearts – usability testing. We hope you enjoy it!
John Dirks
I was asked recently what steps we take to make participants feel more comfortable with in-home interviews or observations. This article contains some practical tips about ways to build trust and rapport prior to and while interacting with participants in their homes. Why bother? Because raising comfort levels leads to better research observations, which is why we go out to people’s houses, condos, or apartments in the first place!
Heidi Adkisson
Stakeholder interviews, user research, user testing—all are integral to our approach on a Blink design engagement—and all require superior note-taking skills. Enter the Livescribe Smartpen. I’ve found the Smartpen to be an invaluable tool for note taking of all kinds, but particularly for note taking during research.
Blink Staff
Amit Saxena
Understanding user expectations has enabled us to make detailed recommendations and help clients deliver great user experiences. From our research, here are two examples showing how expectations influence the user experience.
Nika Smith
When Blink conducts usability evaluations, we seek to do more than simply identify the pain points of a web site or application. Our goal is to uncover users’ honest impressions and the impact of these impressions on the overall user experience.
Damon van Vessem
Blink once evaluated an in-flight email application for a client. It had already been in use as a beta and the client was aware of a few wrinkles in the UI. So it came as a shock when not a single participant in the study could figure out how to open an email in the application. All the while, a feedback option had been available.
Behnosh Najafi
Understanding and attending to the user experience, in addition to the end product, across platforms as a guiding focus for design, can encourage greater customer satisfaction and minimize user confusion.