Below are some of the main services that we offer. If you are interested in a service that is not on this list, please contact us to see how we might be able to help you. Expert Analysis/Heuristic EvaluationIf time or budgetary constraints are an issue, expert analysis and/or heuristic evaluation might be right for you. These techniques require less investment of time and money, but can still present useful and applicable results. In expert analysis, a field expert from 8-bit Bear will evaluate your product and point out major design pitfalls that might impede customer use. With heuristic evaluation, "rules of thumb" are compared to your product to ensure compatibility with the mental model of your customers. Although these techniques can provide good data, they do not fully replace actual user testing. 8-bit Bear suggests that, when time and funds are available, real user testing with your target customer group should be conducted to ensure the best results. Click here to return to the list of services. User Interface Design and EvaluationA good UI is seamless and intuitive, with an organization that matches the customer's mental model. It is inviting and attractive, not only aesthetically, but also functionally. It is arguably a product or Website's most important interaction tool, driving use, acceptance and enjoyment. If our eyes are the windows to our souls, then a UI is the doorway to a product or sites quality and functionality. Designed poorly, it will be rejected by customers. Designed well and with the customer in mind, it will reflect the quality of the information contained within. At 8-bit Bear, we strive to help make your user interface beautiful to the customer, not only in looks, but also in function. Click here to return to the list of services. Diagramming and Wireframes (Visio, PDF)Sometimes it is not enough to receive a report with suggestions about how to modify a product to make it more useable. In these cases, diagrams and wireframes (mock-ups) are extremely beneficial. The consultants at 8-bit Bear are experienced with using multiple programs to provide your company with detailed, information rich diagrams and wireframes that inform about proper design. Click here to return to the list of services. Style Guides and Best PracticesConsistency is an important aspect of design, whether it is for something new or an updated version of something already established. Consider the case of Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007. A complete redesign of the interface caused many people to question the intelligence of the Microsoft designers. However, this presents a conundrum. How can there be innovation when there is also the expectation that products and UI will conform to industry standard? The answer.... a combination of user testing and best practices/style guide documentation. At 8-bit Bear, we can help you test new ideas and innovations for customer approval while also documenting acceptable design solutions for future reference. You will always have on hand a document that provides design instruction about what works... and what doesn't! Click here to return to the list of services. Video Game Usability TestingVideo game usability testing has multiple applications. On one hand, it can be used to look at the interface and controls in a manner similar to usability for applications like Microsoft Word. On the other, video game usability testing can be conducted to evaluate the playability and enjoyment game players experience when interacting with the game. This second application is important, because the application of usability techniques and testing must account for the inherent differences in use between games and applications. At 8-bit Bear, we recognize these differences and adapt our testing regiment accordingly. For more information on the differences in usability testing for applications and games, see our white paper on Video Game Usability Testing. (PDF) Click here to return to the list of services. Report Writing (Formal and Informal)Reports can be written in multiple formats depending on the target audience. Formal reports are usually large and very detailed, describing every aspect of the testing and data analysis. These types of reports are great reference tools for designers as they continually adapt and evolve their product. Conversely, executive summary reports are shorter and more direct. These "to the point" style reports are great for presenting the gist of the research and findings to upper management and others lightly involved in the project. 8-bit Bear can provide either (or both) style of reports depending on your budget and your needs. Click here to return to the list of services. Usability AnalysisUsability analysis, applicable at any stage in development, is important for identifying unrecognized or unanticipated design issues. Early on in development, usability analysis can help to save large amounts of time and money by identifying issues that, if implemented at this early stage, would doom the product before it was ever constructed. Later in development, usability testing can be used to fine-tune the product or site, making sure the user experience is top notch! After all, it doesn't matter if it is a piece of software or hardware, a Website or a physical product, if it is not useable, it is not complete. 8-bit Bear incorporates many diverse usability analysis techniques in our user testing, applicable at all stages of the development process. Contact us to find out which methods are right for your company and budget! Click here to return to the list of services. Ethnographic TestingThe manner in which your customers use a Website or product at home or work can potentially be different than how they use it in the laboratory. To get at these differences, ethnographic testing examines customers in their natural environment. Although time consuming, this type of testing provides data and feedback that you just can't get in a laboratory setting. It is especially beneficial for testing special populations that cannot travel easily, such as the elderly or those with special needs. Click here to return to the list of services. Out-of-Box ExperienceDo you know your full customer experience? Unless you have conducted Out-of-Box (OOB) Experience testing, your picture of the purchase and use process might be incomplete. For example, how does your packaging affect product recognition? Is the layout of components inside the product packaging attractive? Does it reflect the high quality of your product? If you do not know the answers to these questions, we can help. The consultants at 8-bit Bear are experienced in OOB evaluations. We evaluate each step of the unboxing and setup process, up to the first 40 hours of use. This provides a clear and detailed picture of what your customer experiences when they receive and first use your product. If you have not conducted this type of evaluation, we highly suggest that you consider it! Click here to return to the list of services. Competitive AnalysisCompetitive analysis is a useful tool to help determine how your product or site compares to that of a competitor. Using this technique, data from real customers are used to make comparisons about interface and functionality between the two products. This will help to highlight design aspects such as what your competitor is doing wrong, what your company is doing right and what improvements can be made to push you ahead of the competition. Best of all, competitive analysis can be built into other user-centered techniques to provide more value and reduced costs. Click here to return to the list of services. Survey Design and ValidationWe have all filled in a questionnaire or survey only to find that the questions were confusing, ambiguous and just plain unintelligible. This is because good surveys are notoriously difficult to design. In fact, it is extremely easy to mistakenly design surveys with leading, ambiguous or unrelated questions. The consultants at 8-bit Bear have formal education and real-world experience with survey design, creation and validation. If you need survey data from your customers or potential customers, let us help to ensure that you are getting the information you need! Click here to return to the list of services. Section 508 Testing (Hardware/Software)If you contract with the government, you are required to conform to Section 508 Accessibility standards. These standards help to ensure that end users with visual, audio or motor disabilities can successfully use your product. 8-bit Bear has experience with compliance testing for Section 508, and can help to make sure that your product meets these compliance standards. To find out more about Section 508 Accessibility and government requirements, please visit the Section 508 Accessibility site. Click here to return to the list of services. Website Usability TestingWebsites are becoming more and more instrumental in driving a company's business. Large B&M retailers like Sears, JC Penney and Target have all seen increased online sales in recent years due to partnerships and a focus on user-centered site design. For example, JC Penney has conducted extensive user-centered testing on their Website to determine the most useable and efficient menu layout and terminology. If your Website helps to drive your business or you would like to add an online component to your company, 8-bit Bear can help to ensure that your customer's needs and expectations are met and that they can easily and efficiently locate the information they seek. Contact us for more information or to get a quote for user-centered research. Click here to return to the list of services. Web Application Usability TestingAdvancements in Web technologies have allowed for some amazing Web based applications to be developed. From games to shopping, Web apps provide customers with an opportunity to interact with your Web site and garner insights and information that they otherwise would not have. However, just like any other application or user interface, if it is not useable it might be abandoned for the more user friendly Web applications of competitors. 8-bit Bear can conduct real user testing on your Web application and apply design techniques that maximize usability and user enjoyment. Click here to return to the list of services. Card SortingCard sorting is a powerful technique that can be used throughout the design process. In this technique, potential or current customers use labeled cards to help physically visualize their mental organization of a menu or Website. This is an extremely useful tool when specific types of information needs to be found or tasks need to be completed in a timely and consistent manner. 8-bit Bear offers both offline (local) and online (remote) card sorting to ensure that your product matches the customer's mental model. Click here to return to the list of services. Eye TrackingEye tracking is a great tool to use if you want a visual representation of how a user views your product or Website. This can be extremely useful if your product or Website has linear tasks, or if you are concerned that users are not accessing parts of your product or Website that you deem important. Click here for an example of the type of feedback that can be garnered from using eye tracking technology. Click here to return to the list of services. Focus Group TestingFocus group testing can be a useful technique for gathering large amounts of information from potential or current customer groups. When brainstorming about products or evaluating between two different designs, focus groups can provide a large amount of data from multiple participants. However, if they are used incorrectly, focus groups can end up costing a company money while not providing any useful data. At 8-bit Bear, we are trained and experienced in the running of focus groups. The consultants at 8-bit Bear understand that focus group actions like groupthink and conformity can affect the integrity of the data, and we strive to limit the intrusion of these issues. If you would like to take advantage of this service, it is important that you contact us and we determine if your product is at the right stage for utilizing a focus group. Click here to return to the list of services. General Human-Computer Interaction WorkThe consultants at 8-bit Bear have received formal training in multiple areas of Human-Computer Interaction. If you have other computer related work that is not specifically mentioned on this page, please contact us with a detailed description of the type of work you are looking for. We will promptly respond with information as to how we can be of assistance. If for some reason we cannot help, we can point you to a partner company that can. Click here to return to the list of services.
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