Blink usability specialists and researchers conduct usability tests in a wide variety of domains. Whether you need approval from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), want to ensure General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance, are unsure about how intuitive your product is, or need to improve your conversion rate, a usability test can help you collect qualitative and quantitative data and determine next steps.

Usability Lab Testing

Our state-of-the-art usability labs allow observation of all aspects of the user experience. In the lab, we create a testing platform that helps us identify and analyze user actions. We might watch people use an app in a way that feels natural to them to identify trends in user behavior. We might also ask them to demonstrate use in a specific context or ask them to attempt to complete a specific task.

Some of the tasks that work well in a lab include:

Mobile usability testing and mobile application testing
Onboarding
Ecommerce browsing, searching and checkout
Enterprise tools

The usability testing tools we select will vary widely based on the needs of the client. Each project will have different usability requirements, but lab-based UX research methods are great for tasks like software testing and app testing, where you want in-depth information about real user activity.

Usability testing has the benefit of allowing you to choose participants who are representative of your users and letting you moderate and ask questions as needed. You can follow up with interviews and ask questions on a wide variety of topics, such as the user interface, usability problems, or even visual design.

Our clients can watch from our comfortable observation rooms or remotely using our secure streaming system. All user interactions are recorded for later review and use in communicating study research findings. The results of these user tests can inform significant parts of the product development process.

In addition to letting stakeholders and management teams in on the research, we can conduct remote usability tests to locations outside of the physical lab.

RITE Testing

Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation (RITE) works well in agile development environments that involve short, iterative release cycles. UX teams prototype designs and test them iteratively, refining the user interface and validating design enhancements in subsequent usability tests. UX teams can repeat this cycle as many times as needed, and internal UI design releases can coincide with the beginning of development sprint cycles in which developers code the next release-ready version of the product.

As a UX partner, Blink will help your team create and implement a UI design-and-test plan that plugs right into your agile development processes and milestones. Iterative usability testing also works well in more traditional development environments that follow a robust user-centered design approach. The ultimate outcome is a design that is tested and ready for release.

Field Testing

Interested in testing your product at your location or in the field? We can bring the lab to you or your users. Our portable testing equipment offers all of the benefits of a lab plus the realism of an authentic user environment. The portable lab is outfitted with audio and video recording equipment, as well as advanced usability analysis software. We’ve conducted tests throughout North America, Asia, and Europe.

Field testing gathers results about user behavior in its intended environment. We might observe bank clerks using a banking and financial software product to see how well it works for them, or we could follow a project manager around a construction site as she uses a mobile app to see if it meets user expectations.

Field testing can also be useful when you want a lot of results quickly. For instance, the five-second test gives users five seconds to gather their first impression of a design, whether that's website content, Android apps, or something else. Then, they answer straightforward questions about the experience for the testing company. In the field, you can reach a lot of people quickly with this kind of test.