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by Alex White

on Jul 23

How to become a usability evangelist, and why agencies can't afford not to

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Why don’t more digital agencies conduct usability phases?

There’s no point building the latest in socially connected branding mechanisms if they simply don’t work or are too frustrating to use. Too many times I have seen a huge mobile phone or FMCG brand burn thousands on a campaign whose digital component is simply infuriating. Pretty pictures and flashing lights may work for billboards, but interactivity requires a user-centric design process, the outcome being one of form and function.

It's time more people talked seriously about functionality, labelling and usability at project kickoffs. But agencies often overlook this key phase, and the result is an execution that, however pretty, ultimately leaves the consumer pretty flat. So if you're working with a client and you want to put usability at the core of everything you do, follow this simple two-step process, and make sure your client reaps the reward of a user-centric execution:

  1. Understand: why do agencies often overlook the importance of usability
  2. Advocate: make the strongest case you can for putting usability firmly on the agenda

1. Understand: why do agencies often overlook the importance of usability?

  • No time
    Usability evaluations have to be planned and can take up to 2-3 weeks. Clients don’t like this, agencies get briefed too late and it means some down time until the results come back.
  • No Budget
    With average professional reports landing between $10K - $20K, it’s just too hard to convince clients. A reasonably thorough usability evaluation should take around 10% of your project’s budget. This takes away more honey from agency margins, and the client won’t know any better at the end of the day… will they?
  • The Wrong ROI Metrics
    When a client is looking at impressions, unique visitations and page views the fact that people can’t actually complete an entry form without tearing their hair out is irrelevant. The statement “No one’s entering the competition!?” leads to a reactionary “let’s put a larger tile on the home page, and animate it…”
  • Lack of Understanding
    Usability evaluation within Australia is still misunderstood or unknown. Perhaps some clients assume that these items will be addressed accordingly, as we are digital experts. Guess again. “Testing” is usually confined to systematic testing eg. “CAN a user get from A to B” not “HOW hard is it to get from A to B”.
  • Loss of Control
    Agencies just love encircling everything to do with a project. With no inhouse expertise and very little usability freelancing available it’s straight to the too hard basket. Fragmentation and specialisation in this area requires that you either look outside or form an internal division.
  • Pure Fear
    The reality is that usability is really scary. I personally find it fascinating, however it puts agencies to the test and this usually seem to trigger fear more than interest. After all, agencies are expected to have all the ideas, when external people are involved it opens up the possibility that insights can be gained from outside the brains trust.

I could go on, but that would be a little hypocritical - after all, you actually want to know how to make sure that usability gets the attention it deserves. So…

2. Advocate: make the strongest case you can for putting usability firmly on the agenda.

  • Evangelical Observation
    Have the CEO and Creative Director stands behind a 'user'. Now, users are not other staff or clients. Clients know too much about the brand or project, and agency staff are likely to be highly computer literate (you’d hope). So, a virgin user… look around, the delivery guy, accountant, kitchen staff… whoever, as long as their normal job is not in front of a computer eight hours a day. Then allow the client to observe as the real user fiddles and muddles their way through the new functionality. When facilitated properly and the right questions asked, this can be a very positive and insightful session. Once the CEO is converted, their new toy will be user testing and you can push for professional evaluation.
  • Business First
    Allow the client to understand that you are here to provide value and in working with an expert usability partner you are bringing the project closer to guaranteed success. They don’t have to cross their fingers on launch as it’s already been trialled and tested by true audience members, not the developers who built the code or the project manager who wrote the scope.
  • Brand Loyalty
    Allowing people to flow through your site instead of requiring them to jump hurdle leads to a positive experience being imbued onto the brand. Hopefully people don’t even notice how easy it is, they just start and finish the transaction without question. There is such a thing as bad publicity.
  • Word of Mouth
    People will normally fight to complete something they see value in, however “I completed it, but f&ck it was a pain” is a far cry from “yeah, it was easy, you should try it too”. Good experiences promote loyalty, uniquely fantastic experiences promote champions.

I’m sure projects with gargantuan budgets, long timelines and plenty of emphasis on end users are getting some attention in this area. However, these issues attach themselves to all project sizes and it is up to managers to seek appropriate budgets in order increase their success.

I’ll get off my soap box now and leave you with some great reading around the subject (Ed: all the links are to Amazon.com, and no, we don't make any affiliate money from you clicking through. We just thought it'd be handy to know where you could buy these great books!)

Enjoy making a difference to user experience. We've all got plenty of other stuff to do, so make our lives easier and invest in usability.

If you liked this post, check out the Related Articles over in the sidebar. You might also consider reading some of Alex's other posts, or better yet, subscribe to the RSS feed for Alex's blog and make sure you never miss out on his insightful posts again!

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2 Comments

The Marketer
  • Wrote on 24 Jul, at 12:25PM
Great post....

In the agency I work at, we do try to introduce usability in to all our digital campaigns. Normally the client loves the idea, but they and their organisation are not geared up to embrace many of the social technologies strategies that are available.

I think its going take more time and a few more high profile success stories before main stream companies join in.
PatrickKennedy
  • Wrote on 21 Aug, at 01:36PM
Alex, you make some good points here, particularly with regard to "why do agencies often overlook the importance of usability?". Having worked in and with agencies, I would definitely agree that some or all of these reasons are commonly cited when push comes to shove. And I would also agree that advocacy is a great way of trying to improve the situation.

Yet I would probably add to this, giving staff the necessary skills, since not having these can be a root cause of many of the reasons listed above, especially the pure fear. Which is fair enough; youve got suits with marketing degrees, creatives with design/art degrees and techies with engineering/programming degrees. Rarely are they equipped to undertake usability evaluations or to become user advocates.

I should disclose that Im trying to learn more about this topic myself; how digital agencies do usability (or IA or interaction design or whatever name they give it) and why they dont do it more, or at all as the case may be. I've created a survey to gather information:

http://www.gurtle.com/survey/index.php?sid=61824

I'd be interested to hear what your readers have to say about how agencies "do usability".

cheers

Patrick

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