Featured service
UX & Customer Lab Build Service
Why build a customer/UX Lab?
The benefits
Crucial to an effective design process is ensuring regular, rigorous and meaningful testing with end users. You can minimise the barriers and excuses for not conducting testing by having your own customer/UX lab space.
With proper planning, the space can be set up with everything you need to run testing any time on any product or service; allowing stakeholders at all levels to watch the testing taking place (either in person or via secure live streaming). There’s no more powerful way to drive positive design change than by showing stakeholders your customers/users failing to complete tasks in real time. A “usable lab” must be easy to use by all researchers with minimal training.
What kind of research will you be conducting?
And what kind of outputs do you require?
It’s important to consider the most common types of testing you’ll be conducting in the lab and prioritise those when designing the space. All labs can be designed to be flexible and adaptable but if there are common testing types (i.e. mobile phone testing, focus groups or testing with users of assistive technologies) then the lab can be designed to lean towards those types of research.
You also need to think about what kind of outputs you’ll be looking for. Will HD video recordings be enough? Do you need eye tracking heatmaps? Biometric recordings or ultra-high resolution video for facial expression coding? While these things can be added later, you’ll save money by planning for them from the outset.
Design
Things to consider when planning your lab:
At Tab Research we’ll work closely with you to design your space and anticipate everything required for the lab build to go smoothly. We’ll liaise with your IT team, networking team, facilities managers. We’ll provide RAMS documentation, plans and a schedule of work so you know what will be installed, how, where and when…
There are 5 core components to building and running a successful UX/Customer Lab. Tab Research can help with all of these and more:
1. The physical space
2. The audio/visual equipment
3. The IT services powering the lab
4. Participant services & compliance
5. On-going support and upgrades
01
The physical space
Getting the space right, is a crucial first step in designing your lab. There are two rooms to consider: the testing room and the observation room. Here are the main things to consider:
– Room layouts
– Furniture
– Decoration
– Acoustics
– Electrical
– Lighting
– Climate Control
– Curtains, blinds, privacy
– Security
– Accessibility
– Location of lab (ease of access for participants)
– Planning for dual use as meeting room(s)
– Access for bespoke testing requirements (i.e. a car(!), ATM or other large hardware)
– Refreshments for observers
02
The audio/visual equipment
The AV considerations are mainly around having the correct equipment in place to capture high quality recordings of anything and everything you do in the lab. This means camera & microphone placement, future-proofing connections and thinking about the system which will combine all of these feeds into useful and detailed recordings.
– Cameras, microphones, speakers, screens (model & placement)
– Control system
– Wireless headphones for notetakers
– Secure live streaming portal
– Connecting to corporate meeting system
– Video conferencing
– Future-proofing
03
The IT services powering the lab
Depending on the type of testing you’re conducting in the lab, there can be some hidden aspects to consider on the IT side of things. Do you want to replicate the experience of using a home broadband internet connection? Do you plan to use wireless screen mirroring? How do you keep the networked AV equipment secure from the rest of your corporate network? We can help you work through all these considerations as well as the following:
– Recording storage, archiving and backups
– Internet connection / WiFi
– Networking
– Asset management & Storage
– Mobile and tablet device cache
– IT security
– Eye tracking hardware
– Biometric hardware
– Emotional response facial coding equipment
04
Participant services & compliance
You’ve got the space, the furniture, cameras and IT sorted but now comes the really important part… Making sure you can get your users in and out of the lab while providing your best customer-facing experience. Can wheelchair users access the desk in the lab? Can participants get through the security barriers to your lab? Do you have biscuits on hand!? This all needs to be considered along as does the following:
– Participant recruitment
– Consent & NDA management & storage
– Allow for use of participant’s personal devices where possible
– Participant’s journey to lab from reception
– Access to bathrooms
– Hearing Loop (for hearing aid users)
– Branding (or lack thereof)
– Waiting area / hospitality / refreshments
– Accessibility (wheelchair access, assistive technologies in the lab)
– Signage
– MRS Guidelines Compliance
– GDPR Compliance (minimisation, anonymisation, retention policy management)
05
Ongoing support & upgrades
With everything installed and ready to go, what happens next? You’ll need the following:
– Technical training for any on-site support staff
– User Training for the lab manager or research staff
– A user manual and support documentation
– On-going IT/AV support & troubleshooting
– Upgrades / software updates
Our Process
Lab Build – 3 step process
Design
We begin with a thorough consultation to understand your research objectives, types of testing, methodologies and specific requirements, ensuring tailored solutions to suit your budget.
Build
Our team manages the logistics, from recruiting participants to setting up your UX lab, allowing you to focus on your research. We’re sustainability focused and ensure careful disposal of any waste materials.
Support
After the research, we provide comprehensive documentation, training and access to on-going support (and additional training). You won’t be left high and dry, contact us any time for help and support whether technical or operational…
Ready to Elevate Your Research?
Contact TAB Research today to discuss how our services can support your project goals and enhance user experience.