How do you create a Great User Experience — one that will differentiate you from all your competitors?
Start by understanding your primary target audience. What are their unmet needs? What features will engage them and keep them coming back for more?
Working with your team, we can help you validate your roadmap and prioritize your most desirable features. We use a series of tried-and-true techniques to quickly turn ideas into prototypes, then into wireframes that your agile team can rally around and ship in your next release.
Our skills were honed working in-house at companies such as TiVo and Netflix, and we know it takes an iterative approach and teamwork in order to ship easy-to-use products that create customer loyalty.
Portfolio
As opposed to consultants who work in a vacuum, we integrate with your team. We excel at dealing with real-world trade-offs that are a part of every project.
Wine.com
#1 Rated online wine merchant, with a million-bottle wine shop.
Wine.com successfully built the brick and mortar infrastructure associated with national wine distribution -- a formidable undertaking that provides a significant barrier to entry.
When it came time to redesign their antiquated website and chart a mobile strategy, Wine.com asked us to become their UX team. We have redesigned the mobile and website checkout process and conducted user research to validate roadmap features.
Next up is a refresh of their MDot site and designing their first mobile app.
Ecofactor
Cloud-based Home thermostat that connects utilities with their customers and provides incentives to reduce energy consumption.
Because utility customers include many senior citizens, EcoFactor needed a very simple, easy-to-use interface.
Lacking an in-house UX team, EcoFactor asked us to provide ongoing services on a project basis. So far we've designed and shipped features such the Thermostat Scheduler, charts and graphics that show Energy Savings, and a Tips & Tricks UI. We also conducted field studies with Nevada Energy, one of Ecofactor’s utility partners.
TiVo
Digital Video Recorder (DVR)
The seed for Good Design Werks was planted at TiVo, where Donna and David worked together as members of the User Experience Team from 1999-2005.
David was the UX Architect, overseeing the work of the entire TiVo User Experience Group. Donna was the lead UX designer for 2 major product releases and wrote the TiVo User Experience Guidelines.
Lyve
Wireless, cross-platform collection of digital photos to LyveHome, a digital picture frame with 2TB of storage.
When the Lyve UX team needed help, former colleagues from TiVo, ZING, and Fanhattan asked us to jump in and design and create engineering specifications for the LyveHome v1.0 UI.
Post-1.0, we continued to work with the team on a variety of projects, including Out-of-Box usability testing to identify improvements to the setup process and Quick Start Guide. Most recently we conducted a "30-3-30" (first 30 mins-3 days-30 days) Roadmap Research project and Card Sorting exercise with 16 subjects to gauge satisfaction over time and appeal of prospective features.
MobileIron
Mobility management and protection for corporate organizations.
When former TiVo VP of Engineering Ken Kershner joined MobileIron, he asked us and several other TiVo alumni to kickstart his team, help redesign the product offering, and elevate the importance of User Experience within the company.
We designed the phone and tablet versions of a consumer facing document repository and proprietary app store, and the management dashboard for corporate IT. Additionally we helped recruit and mentor a permanent UX team.
Netflix
Version 1.0 of the Roku box.
After leaving TiVo, Donna designed the first version of Netflix’s streaming player. Netflix spun the product off to Roku for distribution and ongoing development.
Services
Could any of the following help you get your next project off the ground?
(You might also want to check out our top 10 list of Best Practices)
Customer Insights
What will cause customers to LOVE your product and make them feel they can’t live without it?
To uncover what users really want, we conduct interviews in the environment a product or service will be used. We dig below the surface using exercises like “Show and Tell” and “What if it were Magic.”
Product Assessment
Do you think your product’s user experience could be improved, but you’re not sure where to start?
An assessment evaluates how well your product serves the target audience. The end result is a succinct list of the strengths and weaknesses that will help you focus resources strategically in areas that matter most to your customers.
Interaction Design
How simple can we make it for the end user? What flow will result in the easiest-to-use product?
Simplicity comes from the right high-level vision and a deep commitment to sweat the details. Our many years of in-house experience have taught us how to deliver award-winning products from start to finish.
Rapid Protyping
How many taps does it take to accomplish a task? What will the resulting experience actually feel like?
Today there are fantastic tools to create prototypes that accurately simulate the user experience. Before a line of code is written, prototypes allow everyone on the team to understand what will be built.
Usability Testing
Is your product easy to use? Are customers engaged and delighted by the user experience you’ve created?
Test early. Test often. It’s cost effective to verify whether you’re on the right track and help to identify the most compelling features. Don’t wait — start gathering feedback using early prototypes.
Right-Sized Documentation
In an Agile environment, what are best practices for documenting the UI?
Our documentation is designed to be sliced into stories and also communicate a comprehensive view of the finished product.
About Us
Good Design Werks is small by design, so when you hire us, you get the Principals focused on your project.
