Monday, July 14, 2008

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

This is a list of frequently asked questions for the usability consultancy, user:number 1.

History

Q - Who are the founders?
A - One founder, Dr Alan James Salmoni

Q - What is the aim?
A - To provide the best quality usability work. We do interface design, interface testing, and product comparisons.

Q - Why are you different?
A - We have highly skilled workers (for example, Dr Salmoni has a PhD in human-computer interaction) and use off-shore testing to reduce costs. We are also business-minded and understand how to integrate with large and smaller companies' practices.

Q - Where are you based?
A - We are a UK registered company that undertakes user testing in the Philippines.

Q - How many staff do you have?
A - Currently 3. A usability analyst, a multi-media designer for reports and video tutorials, and a business process specialist who helps us integrate with large corporations.

Q - How many years analysis experience do your analysts have?
A - Dr Salmoni has coming up 9 years. Other analysts will be added as we progress.

Q - I want a job with you.
A - Thank you! Contact me at alan - at usernumber1.com . We cannot offer regular positions right now but we have plenty of consultant work.

Q - Plans for the future?
A - We're currently producing a series of short video tutorials on usability testing. Each programme will cover a different aspect of testing. We will put these on places like YouTube and Showmedo so anyone can use them. We really believe in making things easier to use and this is part of our contribution to the "cause".

Welcome and initial information

Summary

This blog has been created as an archive of news information for the usability consultancy user:number 1. We do commercial usability consultancy. If you have an interface problem, whether it's design or testing, we can help.

History

user:number 1 is an international usability consultancy that specialises in expert usability work such as usable interface design, user testing, and product comparisons. It was founded in 2008 by Dr Alan James Salmoni who received his PhD in human-computer interaction from the School of Psychology at Cardiff University, UK. Other staff will be mentioned in this blog as they are added.

Though the company has not yet officially launched yet as the full complement of staff and analysts have not yet been reached, the consultancy is working already. Useful news about this work will be announced here.

USP

Why does user:number 1 differ from existing consultancies? We specialise in off-shore user testing. This helps to considerably reduce costs for customers as test subjects in the Philippines are cheaper to recruit and staff salaries are more competitive.

Test subjects in the Philippines are also very good computer users with an excellent working knowledge of the English language. Many of our test subjects come from companies such as Intel, Philips, Nestle and other multinationals. Our customers can be assured that we can match any market they target no matter how expert.

user:number 1 is also commercially focused. Our website features project management facilities that lets our customers and other nominated stakeholders full access to their usability works records. You can view the progress of your work in detail or as a summary and query it with us. This helps us to integrate with your teams.

Articles

This blog will not feature usability articles: for those, see http://usernumber1journal.blogspot.com/. These articles contain information about usability in the commercial world which people interested in usability might find worthwhile.