— The Client

American Public University System

— Services

Usability Testing
Improving real-world user experience through intelligent testing protocols

— The Context

The pace of business is incredibly fast today.

When paired with the evolving needs and expectations of consumers, organizations may not always have the opportunity to fully optimize updates and validate assumptions through pre-launch testing.

— The Challenge

This was the position APUS found itself in…

The organization had undergone a number of rapid web updates and enhancements over the past several years, with a need to launch quickly. They wanted to find a way to measure the impact of these changes and determine how these updates improved the experience for their user base.

— The Solution

We worked with stakeholders to design and perform a series of remote usablity tests…

that would accurately gauge the real-world impact of the website changes. Additionally, our findings would reveal other opportunities to continually enhance user experiences. Through decades of experience, we know client collaboration is key to a project’s success, and worked closely with key stakeholders to develop testing protocol that included purpose (what was being tested and why, etc.) as well as user base demos, tasks and questions.

We set out to answer:

• Is the site / feature functioning as intended?

• Can users quickly, easily and completely accomplish their intended tasks?

• Are users satisfied with their experience?

• What do they think of their experience?

• Is there additional functionality that could enhance user experience?

After recruiting a representative sample of users, administering the remote test series, observing participants in real time, and analyzing the results, we found a number of improvement opportunities. APUS was able to leverage these insights to further refine their online experience, ensuring relevant improvements for their user base.