User Centric Consultants Share Secrets to Successful Global User Research

November 10, 2009

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World Usability Day on November 12 allows user experience professionals to highlight the benefits that increased attention to usability brings to aspects of our lives. This year, World Usability Day also brings the launch of the first book focused on international user testing, the Handbook of Global User Research.  This book serves as an important marker in the development of the field of user research and is the first to summarize hard-earned lessons from the growing field of global user research.  Edited by Robert Schumacher, Managing Director of User Centric (http://www.usercentric.com), the Handbook of Global User Research draws on more than 50 contributors from over 20 countries, embracing multiple points of view, languages, cultures and experiences.  The outstanding list of contributors shares proven solutions, anecdotes, case studies, and outcomes from actual practice that illustrate actionable tactics.

In addition to their international colleagues, seven of User Centric’s consultants provided their real-world insight and lessons-learned from successful global user research projects. User Centric contributors included Gavin Lew, Wendy Yee, Aga Bojko, Korey Johnson, Jessica Buttimer, and Jared Jeffers.  “The User Centric team is proud to collaborate on the Handbook; we are able to draw on our substantial breadth and depth in conducting global user research experience.” said Wendy Yee, Director. 

“Many companies and organizations have a strategic and tactical need to ensure success in world markets, increasing their need for global user research.  It is our job to make certain that  user research provides penetrating insights and outstanding research methods regardless of where in the world that research occurs.  This focus on quality and consistency represents the spirit in which global alliances of usability firms are founded, such as the UXalliance (http://www.uxalliance.com), an international network of user research firms,” said Robert Schumacher.

To support the growing interest in global research techniques, along with the book there is an online community for global user research professionals http://www.globaluserresearch.com.

Truly a ‘handbook,’ this book will prove to be a must-have for professionals in many fields who conduct global research.  The Handbook of Global User Research is published by Morgan Kaufmann and is available on Amazon.com or through ElsevierDirect.com.

User Centric is a global user experience research and design firm with a long history of designing and testing highly usable, effective, and efficient technologies.  Our services include user research, usability testing, user interface design, information architecture,  interface evaluations, eye tracking, and online surveys.

About the World Usability Day

World Usability Day is an international event hosted by the Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) which promotes the value of usability engineering, user-centered design, and every user's responsibility to ask for things that work better. The long-term goal is to reach every man and woman and to help them see how important people-centered design is to their everyday life. Each year, the UPA, UPA chapters, and allied organizations host 36 hours of events across the globe, all revolving around a common theme.