My Services
Participatory Design Workshops
In-Person and Remote Usability Tests
Contextual Interviews
I interview people where they would use a product or service - in their homes, in their workplaces, when they're on the go - to learn about the many factors - physical, social, cultural - that can influence people's needs, goals, and behaviors. The rich data provided by these interviews can contribute greatly to the success of designs.
Remote Ethnography
In remote ethnography, I use the power of digital networks and mobile devices to learn about people and context without being physically present. These studies can combine real-time interviews with activities, such as taking photos and collecting artifacts, that participants do on their own.
Journal/Diary Studies
In journal studies, participants make brief notes about problems and frustrations they have when using a currently available project or service, and I interview them later to get the details. Journal studies can be particularly valuable for feature-rich products and services where not all problems may appear during usability tests. They can also reveal real-world usages that may not have been expected.
Participatory Design Workshops
Participatory design workshops, including workshops using The Bridge methodology, make users part of the design team and take advantage of their knowledge and expertise. They can be particularly valuable for designing products and services that are major parts of people's work lives.
In-Person and Remote Usability Tests
Moderated usability tests provide detailed data about prototypes and working products. You get the benefit of my experience as a moderator and my ability to probe for additional information and insights. For remote tests of computer- and mobile device-based products, I use an online conferencing service, and distributed teams can watch the live sessions and ask participants questions.
Technical Writing
In addition to UX research, I do technical writing for select clients. Please see my Writing page for details.