Our full-fledged Usability Practice offering 360 degree usability solutions is a testimony to ITPC ' foresight - the realization that only specialist skills can bridge the gap between Software development and product success.
Our Usability Engineering Team (UET) comprises of experienced individuals with broad-based expertise straddling various domains (all related to Human Computer Interaction Design - HCID) qualified in: Industrial Design - Product Design or Visual Communication Interaction Design - HCID and Usability Sciences Graphics Design - Commercial Arts or Fine Arts Content Management and Creation - Information Management, English Literature, Computer Science or IT, Engineering and MBA
Team Roles
UET has a total strength of 130 employees. The various roles include:
1. Usability Consultants/Information Architects lend direction to applications, portals, websites, etc. from the usability perspective. They conduct user research using formal usability techniques, define usability requirements and guide solutions. They also define the information design of applications, portals and websites. Adept at wireframing and storyboarding, taxonomy creation and content architecture, they also design interaction based on ergonomic principles and usability best practices.
2. Graphic Designers are custodians of the visual style guide and branding philosophy. They design user interfaces for the web, desktop applications, mobile devices, games, kiosks, web and print based graphic layouts etc.
3. Technical Writers and Instructional Writers create user manuals, create content for the web, edit copy, develop online help and CD based training material and participate in interaction design through instructional text writing and suggesting labeling systems.
4. User Interface Developers are skilled in user interface (UI) technologies like HTML/DHTML, JavaScript, AJAX , XML, Flash Action Scripting, Flex etc. They develop accessibility compliant front-end code based on W3C and ADA standards and best practices.
5. Usability and User Interface Testers conduct accessibility testing, UI bug testing and remote usability testing based on checklists and test scripts.
Centers of Excellence
With growth came the need to recognize and leverage distinct specialties in the broader HCI space. Formed In response, our Centers of Excellence (COEs), led by our senior-most members, maximize our effectiveness in the rapidly maturing Usability Industry by nurturing and sharing knowledge and experience,
Information Architecture (Information Design)
1. Content Architecture, Metadata and Information Design
2. Structural Framework Design
3. Content Migration
4. Information Retrieval - Search and Taxonomy
5. Object Modeling
6. Information Modeling
7. Portal Architecture and Framework Design
Presentation and Interaction Design
1. Ergonomic Interaction Design
2. Object and Action Modeling (Interaction aspect of similar area above)
3. Navigation Design
4. Client-Server - Thick vs. Thin Client Interaction
5. Portal Interaction
6. BI (Reporting) / Dashboards interaction
7. Trends and Directions in UI design (e.g. Technology based UI design Ajax , Flash etc.)
Testing, Research and Online Marketing User Research and Usability Testing: Covers all interactive applications, portals etc.; selecting and using appropriate formal techniques and standard templates for user research, for e.g., Heuristics, Audits, Surveys, Card Sorts, Competitor Reviews, Remote Testing, User Testing, Accessibility Testing and Compliance Online Marketing Web Analytics, Campaign Management (Audience Development programs), Search Optimization, Content Creation, etc. Product Design and Research: Handheld design concepts, product concepts, and best practices for product design, etc.
Visual Design and Front-end Development Online Branding Solutions, Application/ Web Design Style Guides, Kiosks, Games, Product/ Application Simulations, Brochure ware, CD-ROM presentations using Graphics, Flash, Multimedia, Animation, Rich Media - Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe In Design, Macromedia Flash, 3D, etc. UI development/ coding using HTML, DHTML, JavaScript, XML, XSLT, AJAX, Flash Action Scripting; customized UI for Sharepoint, BEA Weblogic and other portal frameworks
Technical Writing
The versatility of the Writing COE is demonstrated by the range of documents created or maintained by them:
Instructional Writing: User Guides, Reference Manuals, Process Handbooks, Help Files and Training Material Collateral Development: Website content/copy, Technical briefs, Presentations, Demos, Brochures, Whitepapers, Newsletters, Management Presentations and Reports Functional and System Documentation: Functional Specification Documents, Reference Guides/Manuals - API documentation, Installation Manuals, Administration Guides and Style Guides Quality Monitoring Support: Quality control is assured through technical editing and strict adherence to CMMI Level 5 processes. In fact, the team prepares process documentation to support the enterprise and participates in audits Tools Used: MS Office, RoboHelp, Adobe utilities, FrameMaker, Paint Shop Pro, SnagIt.
Wining Propositions User Centered Design Approach, integrated with mainstream ITPC SDLC Institutionalized usability techniques, tools and templates Established and proven on-site - offshore processes with flexible engagement models - Guerilla Usability (Corrective Design Approach), streamlined user centered design with/without content architecture and ground up product design Contemporary 360 degree usability solutions with the added benefits of cost efficiency via the Virtual Team Model across domains spanning Banking, Logistics, Insurance, Healthcare, and Publishing in countries like the US, UK, India specialists enable our customers to leverage ITPC ' end-to-end expertise in total solution design Strong technology background and business understanding critical to implementation of proposed usability solutions Competitive pricing Association with renowned educational institutions like Industrial Design Centre - Indian Institute of Technology (IDC at IIT) to get updated about latest research and developments in the domain, and acquire skilled and trained personnel.
