Ezra Schwartz, User Interface Consulting: User Research, Persona Development, Prototyping, Usability Testing

Services

Conduct

Consulting From strategy to deployment & selective activities such as user research, heuristic review, usability testing and second opinions.			Value Proposition Web 2.0 websites and Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) are becoming the norm, and organizations upgrade their existing offerings just to remain competitive. Customer and user expectations for ease of use and robustness of features, content and performance are now key drivers for justifying budget expansion on user interface projects. I have the expertise and experience to help your organization avoid the pitfalls in the production of enterprise grade RIA and Web 2.0 websites and tackle the challenges to avoid budget overruns and delayed launch. Expertise and experience matter and I understand how important it is to mentor and provide deep knowledge transfer to team members. When my engagement is over, your in-house team will be able to take over and insure the long-term success of the project.
UI Strategy, Roadmapping & Project Planning	Help management and other stakeholders develop a cohesive strategy, comprehensive roadmap and pragmatic project plan.
User/Customer Research	Perform user, application and competitive research & analysis. Plan and facilitate local and international insight/focus groups and user interviews.
Usability Evaluations	Heuristic reviews and usability tests. Develop screeners & protocols. Plan, conduct and manage usability studies to guide the development of new or revised user interfaces. Reduce development costs by validating proposed concept with stakeholders and real users BEFORE coding begins. Usability report deliverables are guided by ANSI NCITS 354-2001 CIF - Common Industry Standard for Usability Test Reports.
Information Architecture	Develop taxonomy, navigation systems, search, content personalization and customization, social networking.
Role, Task and Workflow Analysis	Expert in the development of user interface architecture for applications that require information and system security, access control and authentication: Workflow management, electronic commerce, copyright and intellectual property protection.
Functional Requirements	Develop a comprehensive set of business and functional requirements to guide the UI development.
Concept Development	Use rapid prototyping techniques to generate clickable high-fidelity simulations that communicate to stakeholders and users the proposed concept. Manage rapid review, iteration, user/stakeholder validation cycles to meet deadline with confidence.
Web Analytics	Problem-solve broken transactional flows: Lead the development of new or improved user experience concepts guided by in-depth study of web analytics data: Identify leaks in existing B2B and B2C processes - improve conversion and retention rates. Plan and execute A/A and Multivariate user interface testing to optimize site performance. Work with your SEO experts to optimize the UI as it being developed, and help you avoid costly post-launch fixes.
UI Specifications	Provide detailed specs to the development team. Collaborate with BA's and other stakeholders to ensure alignment of specifications with functional requirements and overall roadmap.
ADA Section 508	Compliance Reviews: WAI and Section 508 for desktop and Web applications. Familiarity with international and national accessibility standards. I work with your development team to bring applications to compliance, including NFB certification.
UI Logistics	Develop strategies and workflow that support production, version control and localization of interface assets of large scale applications. Standardize naming conventions, authority files and specifications.