Tag Archives: Usability

Using Data to Impact Usability Efforts

ForeSee Usability Audit Review

Usability is an essential piece in the optimization of the customer experience puzzle. The ForeSee Usability Services group defines Usability as: The measure of how well an interface (web, mobile, app, etc.) supports visitors in the successful completion of the online goals with efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency = How quickly can visitors get to the information they want? Effectiveness = How well are visitors able to complete intended tasks? The usability team conducts Usability Audit Reviews (UARs), which are heuristic inspections of websites as well as mobile sites and apps that help identify design problems and provide recommendations to remediate … Continue reading

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Usability Best Practices for e-Gov Mobile Web Experiences, Part 3

EGov Mobile Best Practices 1 Tap-Sized Buttons and Links

A note from the ForeSee Blog: click here to register for our E-Government Transparency and ACSI E-Government Q4 2012 Satisfaction Results webinar on Tuesday, February 19 at 2:00 pm ET. So far I’ve talked in depth about six areas of the mobile experience and best practices on how to execute them from a usability standpoint. In this final post of the series, I’ll take a look at phone-specific interfaces that play an important role in the citizen and consumer e-Gov mobile web experience. Tap-sized Buttons and Links Since visitors are typically navigating mobile sites with their fingers, sites should not … Continue reading

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Usability Best Practices for e-Gov Mobile Web Experiences, Part 1

e-gov mobile app best practices 2

Many federal government agencies do not yet have mobile versions of their websites. Although that might be ok for now, it won’t be for very long. In a series of three posts, I will explore the best practices of providing a great mobile experience for citizens and consumers.  Today’s post covers the early questions you should be considering when thinking about mobile, and what that experience should be. Mobile Site or Not Yet? Not every e-gov visitor may need, want, or expect a mobile experience at this time, but that need is increasing ever more quickly. And sites not offering … Continue reading

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Mobile App Review: Amazon

The ForeSee Usability Team Reviews the Amazon Mobile App

In this final ForeSee usability blog post, we will discuss Amazon’s mobile app. Like eBay’s app, Amazon Mobile carries over many of the features and functionality available on its full desktop site in addition to some clever mobile-only features. For example, customers can search for items not only by scanning a barcode, but also by simply taking a picture of the item with their smartphone’s camera: Like eBay’s app, a major benefit of Amazon’s app is the seamless cross platform integration; existing Amazon customers maintain access to their recommended items, wish lists, and items added to the Cart in other … Continue reading

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Mobile App Review: eBay

The ForeSee Blog eBay Mobile App

According to a June 2012 Nielsen study, as reported by Tech Crunch, the eBay and Amazon smartphone apps have the largest unique audience of all shopping apps—at over 13 million and 12 million, respectively. First, we’ll take a look at eBay Mobile’s features, functionality, and usability, followed by a test drive of the Amazon app next week Available for a wide variety of platforms, including iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phones, and Blackberry, the eBay Mobile app replicates the popular online auction site, allowing customers to search and browse for products, place bids, and purchase items. (Of course, the app also … Continue reading

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Mobile App Review: Shopkick

The ForeSee Blog Reviews Shopkick

This is the fourth in a series of blog posts evaluating the user experience of some of the top 10 shopping apps as rated by this June 2012 Nielsen study . The first post took a look at Out of Milk Shopping List app, the second at the SavingStar Grocery eCoupons app, and the third at the RedLaser shopping app. The last shopping aid app evaluated in this series, Shopkick, turns shopping into a game by offering “kicks,” or points, to customers for common actions they take while shopping—such as walking into a store or visiting a fitting room—and then … Continue reading

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Mobile App Review: RedLaser

Mobile App Review: RedLaser

This is the third in a series of blog posts evaluating the user experience of some of the top 10 shopping apps as rated by this June 2012 Nielsen study . The first post took a look at Out of Milk Shopping List app and the second, the SavingStar Grocery eCoupons app. We still have two more shopping aid apps to evaluate. Today we look at Red Laser. This app is available for iPhone, Android, and Windows Phones. It is primarily a tool that helps customers find the best price for products while shopping. Customers can search for prices using … Continue reading

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Mobile App Review: SavingStar Grocery eCoupons

Saving Star Coupon App

This is the second in a series of blog posts evaluating the user experience of some of the top 10 shopping apps as rated by this June 2012 Nielsen study . The last post evaluated the Out of Milk Shopping List app for Android which allows users to organize products they need to purchase from the grocery store. Still evaluating shopping aids, let’s take a look at the SavingStar Grocery eCoupons app. Available to iPhone and Android users, this app helps customers take advantage of digital coupons at retailers whose loyalty card programs they use. A unique feature of this … Continue reading

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Mobile App Review: Out of Milk

Out of Milk Mobile App Review

Kamaria Campbell, Mark Thompson-Kolar, and KiDahn Jones contributed to this post. Shopping is getting a lot easier these days with the help of some handy mobile apps. As reported by Tech Crunch in August, a June 2012 Nielsen study surveyed U.S. Android and iPhone users  and found that shopping apps are widely used and accessed multiple times per month. The study rated the top 10 shopping apps based on the number of unique users; and to understand the appeal of these apps, we along with fellow Usability Auditor, Kathy Totz, tried a few of them out to evaluate the user … Continue reading

Posted by Kamaria Campbell, KiDahn Jones, Mark Thompson-Kolar | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

What to Consider When Considering Responsive Design

The ForeSee Responsive Design Report

This post coincides with the release of a new ForeSee white paper, “Responsive Design: Optimizing the Customer Web Experience Across Devices.”  Download the free report here. Should I, or shouldn’t I? That’s the big question when it comes to choosing whether to employ a responsive design on your site. The thought of using one set of code to deliver content to all of your users, as well as cutting costs by maintaining only one site is certainly alluring, but is it the right choice for your site? The list of things to consider in making that decision is a long … Continue reading

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