The rooms
Our space is comprised of 2 purpose built rooms which together make up an ideal viewing facility or usability lab, and a break out area ideal for informal discussions and taking refreshments.
Room one
This room can be flexibly set up, either as a meeting room for 8 people, conference style for 12 people or as a less formal environment for focus groups.
Room two
High Definition AV projection is used to view the action in the testing room. Rather than using a one-way mirror which can be intimidating for the user, we have separated the rooms entirely to ensure excellent sound insulation between the testing room and the observation room.
Advantages of using projection rather than a one-way mirror for usability testing
- Less intimidating for participants
- The observation room can be kept normally lit (one way mirrors require observers to be in the dark)
- No sound pollution from the observation room to the testing room which may disturb users
- Observers are free to walk around, point and discuss the testing in real time
- Physical displacement aids objective analysis
- Feels less voyeuristic for observers
Floor plan
Mobile testing
As a user experience agency we work on digital research and design projects across all digital platforms including handheld devices.
Whilst the technology to observe and capture peoples’ interactions with computers is fairly mature, technology to facilitate testing of hand-held devices is still in it’s infancy and often requires some lateral thinking.
Our aim is to get the most naturalistic experience for users whilst getting the highest quality recording for our clients and so, having been disappointed with the pre-built rigs available, we decided to develop our own mobile device recording kit.
Our mobile testing rig provides High Definition picture-in-picture recording from any standard smartphone. The rig fits a range of the most common smartphones on the market and devices can be switched in and out within a matter of seconds and without interrupting the recording. The rig provides a natural experience for users and crystal clear recording even when the phone is being moved around.
- Picture-in-Picture recording
- Allows simultaneous remote viewing and screen capture
- Fits most handhelds/mobiles from Xperia to iPhone
- Kind to your device (does not scratch!)
- Bendy cam adjusts for different screen sizes
- Lightweight
- Smooth edges and comfortable hold for participant
Overall we believe our solution gives the most naturalistic experience for users, whilst offering the best recording quality for our client projects.
Our mobile/handheld device testing kit is available now for all Fluent clients.