Perceptive Sciences - Clients: Project Briefs

These projects are offered for review as representative examples of the range of projects Perceptive Sciences has conducted for leading technology based companies. This should not be considered to be an exhaustive list of current or previous projects. Details have been omitted to protect the confidentiality of our clients.

Behavioral Market Research & User Research
3Com Market Research	3Com is the leading provider of network-based intrusion prevention systems for corporate enterprises, government agencies, service providers and academic institutions. Perceptive Sciences performed market research for one of their network security appliances by testing representative users on both 3Com's and competitors’ products. Qualitative and quantitative data collected during testing revealed 3Com’s product strengths and weaknesses when compared to other similar network security appliances.
Diebold Market Research Concept Testing	Diebold is a major supplier of devices for the financial services industry. Perceptive Sciences conducted market research on products at the concept stage, measuring perceptions of risk, time requirements, and likelihood of use, followed by usability testing on product prototypes.
Intuit Benchmarking	Intuit makes business and financial management software for small businesses, accounting professionals, and consumers. Headquartered in Mountain View, California. They employ nearly 7,000 people and have annual revenue of more than $1 billion. Intuit engaged Perceptive Sciences to perform benchmark testing on software for small businesses to use as a baseline for future product designs.
Kodak Market Research (case study)	Eastman Kodak Company is the world leader in helping people take, share, print and view images - for memories, information, and entertainment. In 2004, their worldwide sales totaled $13.5 billion. Perceptive Sciences was hired by the company to conduct market research on its consumer film-processing kiosk and picture-making kiosks. Participants were tested in a 2-hour store-based scenario to determine their success and satisfaction with these Kodak products. Among the many findings was that a key technology distinction in the two kiosks made no discernable difference to the users, potentially saving millions of dollars in manufacturing costs.
Paypal Ethnography Market Research	Perceptive Sciences Corporation conducted field research services to understand how small to medium sized businesses use various PayPal merchant services. PayPal was interested in why users do or do not utilize particular merchant services in PayPal’s portfolio. Testing involved uncovering the usage patterns and preferences of PayPal’s target customers. Attribute maps were also created to better understanding what features and functions presented the greatest value to the customer. This helped Paypal prioritize development decisions and differentiate itself from competitors.
Verizon Benchmarking	Verizon Communications requested an independent benchmark study of a software application. Perceptive Sciences tested and measured five cases for this study; these cases represented common problem scenarios for Verizon Online high-speed data subscribers and technical service representatives. Perceptive Sciences used a situated interaction evaluation method that emulates a realistic interaction and promotes natural user behavior. The situated interaction is a modification of a traditional usability test. The critical difference between the two methodologies is that a traditional usability test measures a user’s ability to carry out tasks while a situated interaction measures a user’s willingness to carry out tasks. The findings of this benchmarking study allowed Verizon to re-evaluate and modify it’s product to accommodate their customer’s willingness to work through technological hurdles to use.
The University of Texas at Austin Market Research	The University of Texas - System Administration Office oversees the State of Texas’ flagship university system. The UT-System hired Perceptive Sciences to do a detailed field study of personas of Texas youth so that it could best develop of a web-based system to encourage at-risk middle- and high-school students to improve their standardized test results. This research was used to guide the detailed design, testing and development of the UT web site to meet these youths’ needs.
Client Confidential Benchmarking	A large financial software company engaged the Perceptive Sciences team to perform a competitive benchmark study on their accounting software application. Participants were asked to perform the same tasks on two different software applications to find the strengths and weaknesses of each program. The results of the study showed that the competing product had a significant advantage when performing several core tasks. This information helped our client determine where to focus redesign efforts for future releases.
Client Confidential Market Research	Perceptive Sciences conducted user experience research for a world leading mobile communications company. The Perceptive Sciences team tested mobile phone users of our client and their top competitor to meet the following research objectives: (1) evaluate and benchmark participant perception of the ease of use of client and competitor handset; (2) identify factors that influence user perception of client and competitor handset; (3) develop recommendations for improving the user experience for our client’s handsets.
Client Confidential Market Research	A leading international telecommunications company hired Perceptive Sciences to perform market research comparing their mobile phones with phones of their top 10 competitors. Perceptive Sciences’ research team collected user feedback pertaining to perceived quality, ease of use, and the ergonomic properties of the phones. The research data provided our client with a competitive edge for redesign and marketing strategy.
Bell Canada Usability Testing	Bell Canada, a leading international communications company, contracted with Perceptive Sciences to conduct an independent usability study of deployed products and the accompanying support software. Perceptive Sciences tested and measured subscribers installing a home DSL connection. French and English speaking participants were recruited from the U.S. and abroad. Findings from the study informed redesign changes to make installation and activation tasks easier to perform.

Evaluation
3Com Heuristic Evaluation Usability Testing User Walkthrough	After conducting an initial heuristic evaluation for one of 3Com’s network security appliances, Perceptive Sciences conducted a usability walkthrough with current and potential users of the appliance. During the walkthrough, a Perceptive Sciences facilitator led the participants through a series of common tasks critical to basic use of the device. In addition to the qualitative data from the session, Perceptive Sciences used surveys at different points in the user experience to collect additional quantitative and qualitative data.
3M End User Testing Heuristic Evaluation	Perceptive Sciences provided end user testing and a heuristic evaluation of the company’s Digital WallBoard, a new, high visibility product for the multimedia display market.
Activant Heuristic Evaluation	Perceptive Sciences performed a preliminary heuristic evaluation, which is part of Perceptive Sciences’ discovery process. These early impressions of the User Interface were then supplemented by findings from user research that included site visits to observe people at retail stores, beta customer interviews, and stakeholder interviews.
Bell Canada OR Client Confidential? Usability Testing	Bell Canada, a leading international communications company, contracted with Perceptive Sciences to conduct an independent usability study of deployed products and the accompanying support software. Perceptive Sciences tested and measured subscribers installing a home DSL connection. French and English speaking participants were recruited from the U.S. and abroad. Findings from the study informed redesign changes to make installation and activation tasks easier to perform.
Harcourt Usability Testing End User Testing (case study)	Perceptive Sciences performed an end user test of the Harcourt Stanford Learning First software scanning and open-ended response scoring functionality. The purpose of this test was to evaluate the interface ease of use and user satisfaction.
Neopost Usability Testing User Walkthrough	The NeoPost software development group requested advice on creating a highly usable interface for a new product at an early stage of development. Perceptive Sciences conducted a set of two user walkthroughs, in which 3-5 users were worked through critical and common tasks using a prototype. User expectations regarding features and task flow were collected and used by NeoPost to create a user friendly interface.
Palm Usability Testing End User Testing	Perceptive Sciences conducted end user testing on two user interfaces for Palm Inc. The purpose of the usability test was to determine how well the Mobile Manager application met the target users’ needs and also to serve as a baseline for future studies and releases of their product.
Polycom Usability Testing End User Testing	Polycom is an international firm that designs communication and collaboration systems. Perceptive Sciences was hired by Polycom to conduct end user testing on their next generation videoconferencing system. Perceptive’s usability recommendations resulted in a 50% improvement in user success rate when using the videoconferencing system.
Raytheon Usability Testing User Walkthrough	Raytheon Professional Services designs and executes comprehensive learning solutions that improve the performance of commercial, government and military organizations worldwide. Perceptive Sciences conducted usability walkthroughs to evaluate an online training and certification software system for an auto manufacturer. A total of 20 group sessions were conducted over five U.S. regions. One hundred and fifty (150) dealership employees and twenty-six (26) area managers participated in the sessions. Participants were walked through common tasks using the online training system and guided in discussion of their experiences with the system. Results of the study validated the software design and highlighted areas for improvement.
Waveset Technologies Usability Testing Competitive Benchmarking	Waveset Technologies, Inc., wholly owned by Sun Microsystems, is a leading provider of identity management software, enabling the secure control of business initiatives across enterprise, intranet and extranet environments. Working through third parties and Waveset field data, Perceptive Sciences’ professionals performed multiple competitive usability reviews, assessing the strengths of competitors' user interfaces, contrasted to Waveset’s existing user interface.
Client Confidential Usability Testing	A leading international communications company contracted Perceptive Sciences to conduct an independent usability study of activation and technical support software applications. Perceptive Sciences tested and measured subscribers installing a home DSL connection and carrying out six use cases that represent common problem scenarios for high-speed data subscribers. French and English speaking participants were recruited from the U.S. and abroad. Findings from the study informed redesign changes to make installation and activation tasks easier.

Design
Access Group (case study) Information Architecture Heuristic Evaluation	Access Group, Inc., a non-profit organization, is the nation’s third largest provider of graduate student loans. They requested that Perceptive Sciences assist in a redesign of the both the aesthetic components and information architecture of their Web site, www.accessgroup.org. In an initial heuristic evaluation, usability professionals from Perceptive Sciences first reviewed the site for compliance with usability standards. Next, samples of graduate and professional student participants were asked to perform twelve typical tasks on the Access Group test web site. The results of this testing were used to determine which aspects of the current web site could be improved and to guide redesign when more substantial changes to the site were required. Perceptive Sciences also generate mock-up pages illustrating the recommendations made as a result of our findings. These designs contributed to a new information architecture in support of AG’s WI initiative. Additional testing was performed on subsequent releases of the beta site, further informing the design of this critical communications medium.
Blackbaud Website Redesign End User Testing Market Research	Blackbaud is the leading provider of software and related services designed specifically for nonprofit organizations. Blackbaud hired Perceptive Sciences to redesign its corporate web site. Perceptive Sciences conducted a series of interviews to gather information about the goals, motivations, and needs of users of the site, as well as performed a Heuristic Evaluation to see how well it conformed to industry-accepted and proprietary best practices for web site usability. The insights provided by the Perceptive’s study guided resources to key areas of redesign for the new site.
Harcourt End User Testing	Harcourt Assessment, Inc. develops and distributes tests and related products for professionals in psychology, health, business, general education, and other areas, serving people of all ages and cultures. Harcourt engaged the Perceptive Sciences team to perform end user testing on software used to score standardized tests. Perceptive’s findings were then used as a guide for changes to be implemented in future releases of the software.
IDT Market Research User Testing User Interface Design Visual Design	Integrated Device Technology (IDT) is a leading provider of semiconductor products for high-end audio systems. IDT hired Perceptive Sciences to redesign a proprietary audio software graphic-user interface (GUI). Perceptive Sciences’ research scientists conducted extensive market research along with an iterative design-test-redesign process in order to develop IDT’s new interface. Perceptive Sciences and IDT created a GUI that was easy-to-use by both expert and non-expert users, had a professional look and feel, and portrayed IDT’s high-end image.
NovusEdge User Interface Design Professional Review	NovusEdge, Inc. (formerly Novus Security Systems) is a leader in IP-enabled physical access control and asset protection. Novus hired Perceptive Sciences to perform a rapid professional review of an existing demo application interface for one of the Novus software applications. The Perceptive team developed a new navigation and visual design for the interface in 2 weeks, in time for a major tradeshow and event activities.
Texas Instruments Website Redesign Market Research	Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) is a world leader in calculators used in schools, produced by its Educational & Productivity Solutions division. TI asked Perceptive Sciences to perform an analysis of its education.ti.com web site to ensure that they had a comprehensive understanding of the requirements for a major web site redesign. The results substantiated the instincts of the TI staff and confirmed that different user groups had different motivations and, thus, different content needs. Perceptive Sciences provided templates for how to proceed in redesigning the web site to meet these different needs.
True Automation User Interface Design	Perceptive Sciences conducted field studies of a particular software application for True Automation at several locations throughout Central Texas. The field studies consisted of observation and contextual inquiry methods. Based on information gained through field research, Perceptive Sciences provided a redesigned user interface, and performed usability walkthroughs with existing and potential users to validate the design.
Client Confidential User Interface Design	Perceptive Sciences devised a program of user-centered design services that could be applied to a range of products in a software suite at vastly different stages of development. The program consisted of a regimen of professional consultation and Joint Design Review sessions, in which developers were put in regular contact with representative users. In these sessions, product managers, designers and developers tested their design assumptions in real-world scenarios and tasks. Perceptive Sciences facilitated the sessions in a constructive and objective fashion, which afforded instant feedback and interpretation of user preferences for the client.