The argument for not conducting user research as part of the software or Web development cycle traditionally has been “it's too expensive.” Software and equipment oriented to the usability profession traditionally have been impractical for many software development groups to acquire and maintain. But some new usability tools are challenging the concepts of what should be standard in a product development tool kit in any software development group.

I’ve recently tested two new products that aim to help companies paint a better picture of their users — one is geared toward qualitative user feedback, and one is for quantitative data collection. While targeted at the usability professional, both products can easily be utilized by product development teams within an organization who want to set up user feedback channels as part of the design/development process.

Capture the User Experience

One-on-one user research has long been a specialized affair, usually requiring a facility that resembles a video post-production lab. To fully capture the gist of a user session, picture-in-picture video recording equipment is optimal (or can be simulated through post-production later, which is time-consuming and expensive).

Getting observers to the facility is also a challenge — especially senior executives and decision-makers. Too many usability tests are poorly attended because of problems getting team members (and managers) to the facility.

There are three related components of the usability test process where new software tools can have an impact: 1) the recording process, 2) the observation process and 3) management of the data.

The usability testing process has evolved slowly, as companies have offered various solutions for usability research that address one or the other of these components. Compact, mobile “picture-in-picture” equipment has allowed the research to move from the lab to a company (or customer’s) own location, and has been an affordable solution for occasional use and rentals. And Web-based conferencing, for remote observation of research, has enabled more team members and decision makers to directly observe user testing.

Now TechSmith (Okemos, Mich.), makers of the popular SnagIt utility, have introduced Morae, an all-in-one usability product that promises to simplify the entire sequence of capturing, observing and analyzing qualitative user research. A Windows computer with a USB camera device (even a simple WebCam will do) forms the core “usability lab” setup.

TechSmith’s Rich Recording Technology (RRT) is at the core of the Morae product, which is made up of a several related modules, including Morae Recorder, Morae Remote Viewer and Morae Manager. Recorder lets you capture video of the respondent user, video from the computer application he is using and session audio.Remote Viewer lets users in different locations (on a LAN or WAN) observe the session in real time.

A wealth of data on the user session can be captured, including what the user clicked on and what pages/windows he opened or viewed. Analysis of exactly what happened during the user session is thus highly visual and more comprehensible using Morae Manager than any other solution I’ve seen.

Both Remote Viewer and Manager let you “flag” key moments in a session, thus quickly marking the points for later analysis, and speeding the creation of highlight video files (created as AVI format, but also exportable to other video formats).

Morae is a fully featured desktop application that requires minimal investment in new equipment. Its key benefits are a range of capture and file management capabilities, packaged in an intuitive interface. The ability to examine and mark user actions as well as reactions, make this a real time-saver for user research and analysis.

You might want to use Morae to:

• Gain insight into navigational issues on your site or product
• Conduct quick, informal user testing during product development
• Set up an inexpensive in-house Usability Lab

Morae starts at $999 for one license of each component.

Find Out Why Users are Leaving

This is the $64,000 question. And sometimes qualitative usability testing just won’t get you there. Clickstream analysis tools can help you track what users are doing, and where they’re going on your site. But the big question that frequently remains to be answered when diagnosing a site’s issues is — why are users leaving your site during important flows?

Understanding the “why” is the only way to really know how to make changes. And well-informed design changes can translate directly to more online registrants, more potential leads, or improved sales — in short, to your bottom line.

To help you monitor and improve your Web site or Web-based application, ASP Alertus in (Seattle) provides user-friendly products that act as exit surveys: Alertus SiteSurvey and Alertus FormSurvey. SiteSurvey collects information on the site visitors’ reactions to content, appeal, and usability, such as you may want to collect on users coming to and then leaving your Home Page.

FormSurvey is a customized survey designed to help diagnose problems in sequential flows, such as registration or checkout. User Insight, an Atlanta-based usability group, recently employed Alertus’ FormSurvey as part of their consulting for a financial services client, in the diagnosis of site registration problems.

Initially, only 42% of users on the client site were completing registration. Decision-makers at the client organization wanted to see quantitative customer data to support major design changes to the flow. Three related but slightly different FormSurveys were created to pop up when users left each of three critical pages in the registration flow. Over a 30-day period, the forms had an excellent response rate — nearly 14% of the 64,000 users who abandoned the registration process during the test completed a form, yielding more than 8,000 responses for analysis.

One surprising finding came from answers to an open-ended question UserInsight included — which revealed that a technical problem on some browsers was preventing many users from completing the registration process — accounting for approximately 10% of the “lost users.” Without the survey, this problem may not have been properly identified. Another (less-surprising) finding was that users were reluctant to answer some of the more personal (required) data fields. This degree of specificity was invaluable for fine-tuning the flow. Changes implemented after the survey increased the completion rates on registration to 70% — a significant improvement over the earlier design.

The key benefits of FormSurvey are its ability to collect user input at the point of a user action or reaction to a flow. The surveys also can be customizable, including open-ended questions, which gives you considerable latitude in collecting user reactions.

You can use FormSurvey to:

• Find out why users are abandoning key flows
• Uncover technical problems or issues

Setup fees for custom FormSurvey templates range from $1,500 to 1,800 per month. Monthly hosting of a FormSurvey ranges from $300 to 500 per month, depending on the number of forms and questions collected. The related product, SiteSurvey is priced between $10to 150 per month for different levels of functionality.

The strategic significance of products such as Alertus’ survey products and TechSmith’s Morae is that they effectively lower the bar to gathering user feedback — whether qualitative (TechSmith) or quantitative (Alertus). Although user-centered design is always an effective methodology to employ in software design, tools like these help make it affordable and well within reach for product design and development teams — so no more excuses, folks.

Meryl Enerson is president and founder of Enervision Media, specialists in usability research and redesign. Her clients have included Fidelity Investments, United, AT&T, UPS, and numerous eCommerce and software development groups. She can be reached at: meryl@enervisionmedia.com.