Essays

A Recipe for Effective User Interviews

By Jen Amsterlaw, User Experience Consultant

The ingredients are simple: two people, a quiet place to sit and talk, and a video camera to record the session. Still, getting the most out of an interview requires careful planning and a thoughtful technique. Here I share some insights that guide my own approach to interviewing.

Eye tracking usability studies: what are users really looking at?

By John Dirks, Director of Usability Engineering

To determine what usability study participants look at and take in while viewing online media, we used to watch their mouse cursors, interactions with links and controls, and body language. We also listened carefully to their think-aloud narratives and comments. These traditional testing techniques, however, could never tell us definitively what users notice and what they don’t. Eye tracking usability studies open up a new frontier.

Staff Picks: Usability Highlights from 2007

By John Dirks, Jen Amsterlaw and Sim Mendick, Director of Usability Engineering

Last year was a busy one for the Blink usability testing staff. It's once again time to reflect and report some of our favorite themes based on studies we completed in 2007.

All Essays

Clients

Our clients range from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Some of our clients include:

• Allen Brain Atlas
• Amazon.com
• Apple Computer
• Applied Technical Systems
• Attenex Corporation
• Children's Hospital
• City of Seattle
• Copper Development Association
• Corbis
• Drugstore.com
• Eventbrite
• F5 Networks
• Flexcar
• Flow International
• Fluke Networks
• Free & Clear
• Group Health
• Holland America Line
• Imagitas
• Infospace
• Jobster
• Knowledge Advisors
• LexisNexis
• Microsoft
• Mixpo
• Premera Blue Cross
• Providence
• Pure Networks
• Qpass
• Real Networks
• Regence
• Saflink
• Seattle University
• Sharebuilder
• Sotto Wireless
• Starbucks Coffee
• Tamarac
• Tenzing
• Vulcan
• Webjunction
• Wetpaint
• Wizards of the Coast
• Xoom

Technologies

We are experienced in a wide variety of technologies:

• Web sites
• Web-based applications
• Desktop applications
• Mobile devices
• Consumer electronics

Case Studies

Real Networks

We crafted a more intuitive web site navigation for Real Networks, a global leader in Internet media delivery.

Premera Blue Cross

We designed a training-free e-business application for Premera Blue Cross, a health care insurer with over 1.2 million members.

Applied Technical Systems

We developed new data visualization techniques for Applied Technical Systems (ATS), an information management and knowledge discovery company.