SIGIA-L Mail Archives: SIGIA-L: SIGIA-L SUMMARY: Usability firms
SIGIA-L: SIGIA-L SUMMARY: Usability firms
From: rachel.dubois_at_mail.sprint.com
Date: Fri Aug 24 2001 - 15:39:41 EDT
So many people contacted me for a summary, I'm posting it here. I might
have forgotten one or two, but these are most of them. For those who
asked me about whether it violates listserv etiquette to contact me
directly, I'd have to say yes if you called me. I forgot to take my
phone number off my signature, but I've always thought that if it's
email, and especially a listserv, you email. So please don't call unless
someone says that's ok-- I had about 5 people call and that almost
annoyed me enough not to send the information on to the team. But I know
it's a tough market out there, so I tried to be more understanding.
In return, I hope it's ok to post the groups I got with snippets from
your emails. I tried to remove any personal info or extraneous text. I
genuinely hope that one of these firms gets the job, and I appreciate
the effort that folks made in the process.
-Rachel
SUMMARY:
Rachel, my company contracted with Userworks (www.userworks.com) out of
the
Washington, DC area to do a heuristic evaluation of our web site and to
conduct usability testing for us. They have been easy to work with,
delivered what we asked for on time, and were reasonably priced. The
quality of work has been very good, although I have no other experience
to
compare to since they are the first group I hired. I would definitely
recommend them, although they did not do any re-design work for us, per
se.
If you have more questions, feel free to email me.
Dell Whisonant
Information Architect
Lumenos
--------------
You must have been inundated by now!
Anyway, thought I should tell you about my company. I'm assuming you're
in
the US? Icon Medialab has offices in NYC, St Louis, San Fransisco and
Washington DC.
http://www.iconmedialab.com/default/about_us/index.asp
Cheers, Mel
(Icon Australia)
-------------
Regarding your recent post to the IA listserv, may I be so bold as to
recommend my own company? Austin Usability (which see at
www.austinusability.com) is two years old, and thus fairly established
--
though I have been a usability engineer for over 20 years. My
experience is
with Bell Labs, IBM, Tivoli, and BMC, in addition to my consulting work.
We
at Austin Usability pride ourselves in being pragmatic and
cost-effective.
I co-edited a book with Deborah Mayhew called _Cost-justifying
usability_,
and so am well steeped in tracking the costs AND quantifiable benefits
of
usability engineering, and demonstrating the almost-always robust ROI
for
your usability dollar and hour. We have a full-function usability lab
(are
you in Dallas? This would make it very convenient, if so! Plus we have
an
associate in Dallas.) for end-user testing, but frankly spend much of
our
time employing "discount usability engineering methods," such as
usability
walkthroughs. We are also very experienced at web design, and could
offer
you many happy references to call.
Perhaps that is enough introduction for now. Peruse our web site,
and/or
give me a call, and we can talk more about how we might tailor a bid to
fit
your exact needs.
Warm regards,
Randolph Bias, Ph.D.
Chief Usability Officer
austin usability.
(512) 474-0004
www.austinusability.com
----
Rachel:
Here's a firm that's new, don't know about expense, but I used to work
with
one of the partners. Very smart person... www.strategux.com. Check it
out.
-------------
I am responding to your query earlier this week about usability firms
and the
Sprint.com site rebuild. One of our IA's saw your email and passed it
along to
me for follow up.
Is there an opportunity for us to talk further about the scope of work
and
timing of the project? The reason I ask is that VIA is a firm that fits
your
initial description very closely. We are a strategic communications firm
with an
established team of technologists that spans the Web development process
from
front-end design, usability testing and information architecture to
back-end
application development and implementation.
We approach Web development-of which usability testing is a
cornerstone-as a
series of software development processes, and have a particular focus on
user-centered design and function. VIA is known for implementing
comprehensive
usability testing into our development process and we have an in-house
usability
lab to increase cost efficiency and the quality of testing. Our Web
development
process is rigorous, user-driven and has proven successful for clients
such as
Fairchild Semiconductor, National Semiconductor, MONY Group, Banknorth
Group,
Sundance, The Limited and Victoria's Secret.
Sincerely,
Joel Yuodsnukis
Manager Business Development
VIA Inc
207.761.0288
www.vianow.com
-------------
My firm, lookandfeel new media, is currently providing these services
for
Sprint's Campus Intranet redesign team.
terie clement
information architect/usability specialist
www.lookandfeel.com
816-472-7878 x242
-----------
Have you concluded your search for a usability firm?
Per your plea, Industry6:
.. is established, in that my client-base are two satisfied, large-tier
firms,
.. not overhyped, in that there's just no time to create the hype,
.. not excessively expensive, as I ensure that bill rates are on par
with
the market,
.. pragmatic - well, we're efficiency experts, right?
Industry6 is an as-needed collection of senior-level ex-consultancy
gurus,
all of whom have created some of the leading (and largest!) sites and
information systems on, and supporting, the web. We've been through the
dot.bomb, learned valuable lessons, and are translating that learning
into
benefits for our clients.
FYI, my personal specialty is mobility practice which includes WAP, PALM
and
other PDA and wireless experiences which may be relevant to your search.
Should you want to know more about Industry6 and how we may help solve
your
organization's challenges, please contact me. I'm happy to listen to
your
concerns and propose a few viable solutions.
--
diane wright
chief experience designer and head bottlewasher
newbiz_at_industry6.com
310.927.1289 mobile
AIM: blowfishLA
ICQ: 50193829
--------
At Molecular, formerly TVisions, we have quite a bit of experience with
this
type of work. I would
be very interested in speaking to you about this and to learn more about
your requirements. Would
it be ok for us to speak by phone please?
Thank you,
Amy S. Crawford
(617) 218 - 6669
(617) 598 - 0998 mobile
(617) 218 - 6869 fax
Molecular.
343 Arsenal Street
Watertown, MA 02471
www.Molecular.com
---------------
Our company
meets your criteria (established, affordable, no hype) and we have
worked on
Sprint in the past.
For more information on AGENCY.COM please visit:
www.agency.com
I can be reached at 212-358-5450.
I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you!
Brian Mondry
AGENCY.COM
20 Exchange Place
New York, NY 10005
Phone: 212-358-5450
Fax: 212-358-2604
Mail: bmondry_at_agency.com
--------------
I work as a Usability Specialist for an e-business solutions firm - Idea
Integration. Idea Integration has a user-focused methodology that has
stood
us in good stead whether we are doing Web site design, Web Application
work
or Second or Third (and so on :)) generation site redesign. We are
definitely an established firm - with offices all over the country, and
I
personally don't think we are overhyped or excessively expensive.
We have conducted usability tests and site redesigns for clients like
Compaq, Verizon, UUNet etc.
Regards,
--
Manpreet Kaur, Ph.D.
Idea Integration
Usability Specialist
Phone: 713.353.4587
Fax: 713.626.2792
----------------------------
I've personally been involved in two lab-based usability tests for a
Baby
Bell within the past six months. Several colleagues are currently
finishing
up another user research project for the same company using a different
set
of research tools. I'm glad to say that not only have we done top-notch
work
for this client, but we've been able to refine our approach to shorten
the
total time it takes to conduct the research as well as reduce the
overall
cost.
If you would like more information, let's set up a conference call for
the
near future to discuss your project and what we may be able to do for
you.
We would be glad to discuss in detail our approach and the typical
deliverables.
Cheers,
Anthony
Anthony Hand
User Experience Architect,
Answerthink
24 New England Executive Park
First Floor
Burlington, MA 01803
tel.: 781.229.0850 x4208
cell: 617.480.8293
fax: 781.229.2820
email: ahand_at_answerthink.com
----------------------------------------------
Hi Rachel,
I would like to speak with you further about this project.
My firm, Addis (http://www.addis.com) holds usability at its core.
The firm is positioned as a branding/naming/design/implementation
firm, but if our work wasn't usable we wouldn't achieve our clients'
goals.
As for myself, I have years of experience in IA and producing sites.
My latest work was the IA for Pottery Barn Kids
(http://www.potterybarnkids.com). Professionally, I have issues with
the site, but the client left the project happy -- and that is the
most we can ask for at times.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Mary
----------------------
Founded in 1991, Phase 5 is a leading strategic research and Human
Factors consulting firm serving business and government clients in
Canadian, U.S., and international markets. We are based out of offices
in Ottawa and Toronto, and our consultants travel widely to clients'
sites, and clients' markets, to conduct detailed work on the field.
Phase 5 offers unmatched experience in user modeling, digital product
development, Interface evaluation and usability testing. We have
extensive experience in the telecommunications sector. Our
telecommunications clients (for Web site usability, product development
research and hardware and software usability, as well as e-business
studies) include Stentor, Nokia, Nortel and Mitel Corporation.. Over the
last few months, our other Human Factors clients have included Royal
Bank, Statistics Canada, Globe Interactive, Union Gas, RIA and West
Group.
In addition to our portable Usability Lab (which allows us to conduct
tests in a variety of sites on the field), we have developed our own
Usability Reporting Tool that allows us to communicate usability issues
and problems clearly, qualitatively and actionably to designers.
In addition to our corporate strength in this field, I am personally
involved in Human Factors research, being in the process of completing
my doctoral dissertation on user-disorientation in networked information
spaces. I have taken the liberty of attaching a PDF version of our
Online Consulting Brochure.
We would be very happy to learn of any project in which we may help.
Should you have any further questions about Phase 5 please feel free to
contact me at any time.
________________________________
Arnie Guha
Manager
Phase 5 - From Research to Strategy
T: (416) 599-7555 x223
F: (416) 599-7550
W: www.phase-5.com <http://www.phase-5.com>
-----------------
Hi Rachel, you can check Catalyst Group design at
http://www.catalystgroupdesign.com/ They are based in New York Good luck
------------------------
Please pass on Sapient's name to the team that is gathering names for
this project. In terms of site refreshes, we have done dozens of such
projects for major companies like Sprint and our user experience
capabilities are very deep.
Sapient is a business and technology consultancy that helps our clients
deliver business enabling projects that bring about a high Return on
your Investment (ROI). We employ fixed-time, fixed price project
delivery and have an industry reputation for delivering projects on time
and on budget. Sapient's value proposition is best realized when our
client's business problem is customer or supplier interactive, time
critical, involves business or process change and has an advanced
technology (web, enterprise application or back end) component. We not
only design (technical and user experience) and build solutions for our
clients, we also maintain applications. Add to this our Global
Distributed Delivery capabilities (based out of India) and clients
benefit from a cost savings model as well.
I belong to Sapient's Technology and Communications vertical. Below is a
short document that tells you more about our practice and what our
overall skill sets are for client's like Sprint.
My contact information is:
Daniel Forrester
Manager, Client Relations
Sapient
1 Memorial Drive
Cambridge, Ma 02140
m: 617-529-3879
o: 617-252-6685
--------------
<snip>
For eleven years, we have worked on billion dollar systems as
well al pro bono efforts - all with the same rigor, always at reasonable
cost and with exceptional results.
I stared Electronic Ink in 1990 with the philosophy that software
developers
alone should not create software and technology-based tools and
services. I
also believed that Human Factors professionals alone could not solve the
problems that plagued the user's experience with software products. Over
the
course of our history, Electronic Ink has assembled a talented and
focused
team of Human Factors Analysts, Technologists and Designers. These
professionals have honed a Process that ensures user audiences
participate
in the design of technology solutions and that systems evolve in a
manner
that is not prejudiced toward the user audience or a specific technology
philosophy. Rather, systems developed by Electronic Ink recognize user
needs and business objectives as integral to the technology decisions
that
will improve an existing tool or realize the delivery of an altogether
new
and expanding system. Collaboration amongst discreet disciplines through
an
industry benchmarked Process ensures delivery of solutions that are as
usable as they are technologically innovative and lasting.
In the last three to four years the market has been flooded with bright
new
venture-backed companies that sounded a great deal like Electronic Ink.
Few
of those companies delivered on their promises and few remain. With
nearly
100 employees in our Philadelphia and London offices, our growth has
been
remarkable - and very careful. We remain self-funded, never accepting
outside investment. Our history extends back to the late 80's with the
user
interface design of IBM's OS/2 and Citibank's touch screen user
interface
for their cash (CAT) machines. Our technology experience includes
character-based systems, Windows client-server applications and, of
course,
applications and sites distributed through a Web browser. Although
these
technologies vary tremendously in their screen appearance, our
philosophy
has been constant - to be successful, the product must ultimately be
useful
and usable. Merrill Lynch's Trusted Global Advisor, HSBC and Pearson's
intranets, ADP's brokerage tools, and call center applications for MBNA
Bank, First Data Corp and Ameritech have all benefited from the
collaboration of Electronic Ink's three core disciplines - Human
Factors,
Technology and Design. The NYSE maintains a strong relationship with
Electronic Ink as they define how information will be channeled to their
many audiences.
At the risk of getting caught up in the 'hype' of our industry, I was
pleased to be informed last week that, quite unexpectedly and without
effort
on our part, Jacob Nielsen named our design of Pearson Publishing's
intranet
among the most usable tools of 2001. The best part of this distinction
for
me is knowing that a company can gain recognition simply by working
hard,
delivering quality services and excellent designs - without self
promotion
and hype.
I hope to have the opportunity to speak with you directly about your
plans
for sprint.com. It would be my pleasure to provide you additional
information about Electronic Ink. I wish you success in your search.
Best regards,
Harold Hambrose
President & CEO
ELECTRONIC INK
One South Broad Street
19th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
www.electronicink.com
t 215.922.3800
f 215.922.3880
----------
I work as a Usability Specialist for an e-business solutions firm - Idea
Integration. Idea Integration has a user-focused methodology that has
stood
us in good stead whether we are doing Web site design, Web Application
work
or Second or Third (and so on :)) generation site redesign. We are
definitely an established firm - with offices all over the country, and
I
personally don't think we are overhyped or excessively expensive.
We have conducted usability tests and site redesigns for clients like
Compaq, Verizon, UUNet etc.
So, hopefully you will find this information useful. Please do let me
know
if I can provide you with anything more. Look forward to hearing from
you.
Regards,
--
Manpreet Kaur, Ph.D.
Idea Integration
Usability Specialist
Phone: 713.353.4587
Fax: 713.626.2792
----------------------------
-----------------
[END SUMMARY]
Rachel DuBois
Web Producer
Sprint
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