Strategy and experimentation based on user research is what drives user-centric design. Explore the chemistry between your software and its users.

Design validation and usability testing involves a cross-discipline effort between designers and researchers. As designers, we have a great ability to harness our empathy and to feel what others are feeling. Isolating ourselves from the users eliminates the effectiveness of this knowledge.

Between research and design, there are models, requirements and frameworks that must evolve based on the systematically translated knowledge gathered during user research. Utilizing design principles and high level interaction frameworks is a process of defining the behavior based on user archetypes that represent distinct groupings of behaviors, attitudes, goals, and motivations observed and identified during the research phase.

Users' goals are often quite different from what we might guess them to be. Identifying them and the motivations of the user is an integral Defyned discipline.

Depending on the business goals of each endeavor, our team is adaptable. Given sufficient time, we prefer more formal usability tesing. The goals, methods and approach for a usability test dramatically changes from project to project, however our overall understanding of personas, common behavior and the overall understanding of what makes an application work well is a craft we have an eye for.

At a glance, the following test plan may be an essential part of your next developments diet:

• Test Objectives
• User Experience Methodology
• Overview of Scenarios
• Testing Facilitation and Schedule
• User Profiles
• Screener
• Pre-Test Questions
• User Group Feedback Sessions