Look, and feel the chair that you are sitting in right now. If you are sitting in a modern office chair it probably has adjustable arms, the height of the chair can be adjusted to match your height. Most likely the bottom of the chair has special contours to better match the shape of your butt. This is Human-centered design. The developers of the chair knew that humans would be sitting in the chair and they made special design considerations to make the chair better match their human user.
The team at Bentley University recently sent out a survey to UX professionals to learn more about their experience with UX consultants, and the type of services they need from a UX partner.
They received more than 200 responses from the survey and shared a few interesting findings from their initial data analysis:
One of the easiest ways to improve the usability (and perceived usability) of a web/application is to improve the text that appears on the screen specifically around labels, embedded assistance and error messages.
In many web/applications, there is a false assumption that all of the users are already experts. In many situations, the placement of a simple bit of embedded assistance will help the novice and intermediate users know exactly what to do.
It was a pleasure to work with you, as you and your team made this process a more pleasant experience for our team and the participants.
Karen Perry
I just want to tell you that I value people relations more than money. I remember how you were friendly and helpful not going against policies and contractual obligations at the same time, not using your power to make us feel stupid and small. It was a very rare and big experience for me. Really. I will always remember this.
Alex
The Usability People are all individuals that you can become friends with very easily. They have a lot of different interests and are a pleasure to work with. I was writing a PRD/MRD for a billing solution and worked with The Usability People in defining the user interface. They are receptive to ideas and are able to mold the user interface from an end-user's perspective. I really liked the idea of putting end-user photograph & short biography around the office to help understand the users
