Widening Usability’s Reach
Extending Usability Methods to
Marketing and Design
Ashley Annis, Ph.D.
Director of User Experience
Bridgeline Software

Usability Methods
That Answer
Marketing Questions

What does usability research do?
Measure performance
Content Ease of Use
Features
Wayfinding
Assess preference

Usability Research
How’s it done?

Where would you click first?

How?

What does market research do?
Integrity
Pride
Confidence Brand
Passion
Loyalty

How likely are you to buy?

Market Research
How’s it done?

A Case Study:
Usability Methods
That Answer
Marketing Questions

Traditional Usability
Deliverables Activities
•Usability Test Plan •Measure Performance
•Scenarios •Assess Preference
•Report

But...
They wanted
marketing questions answered.

Market research
Trust Credible
Brand
Objective

So how’d we do it?

Session Plan

Screener

In-Person
Sessions

2 Designs

Questionnaire
Web based tools
Sticky
Clicky

When you use the web to
research home financing,
what matters to you most?
Look and feel
Easy to use
A brand name I recognize and like
Credibility
Trust
Other

How likely are you to tell a
friend about a home financing
website that you liked?

How likely are you to use this
site to research home financing
loans like mortgages, home
equity loans, etc

How motivated are you to
explore other pages on this site

Session Results
Brand mattered

I trust Acme. It’s not a
Mickey Mouse operation.

It’s important that it’s
Acme - my information
is secure with Acme.

Seeing Acme there makes
me feel more comfortable.
They’re a reputable
company.

“I like the
“brought to you
by Acme” - it's
more credible
right off the
bat.”
Where would you read first?

Session Results
Brand mattered, but…
Users responded more to
content and features
than brand

\"Rates. The
bottom line
is the money!
Rates are very
important!”
Where would you click first?

Project Outcome
A Happy Client
An Acme-branded site
Content users wanted

Lessons Learned

Widening Usability’s Reach
Extending Usability Methods to
Marketing and Design
Ashley Annis, Ph.D.
Director of User Experience
Bridgeline Software