Are Usability and Company Profits Linked?

Yesterday, Anselm Academic, the college division of Saint Mary’s Press, conducted a usability test. In preparing for the test, the team had to do a lot of prep work.  They conducted site visits, observed college classrooms, talked to instructors and students, conducted a task analysis, created a test plan and script, and next they will be analyzing their tests and making a final report of their learnings.

Preparing for and conducting a usability test is hard work.  And it is time consuming work. It is work that can lead one to wonder, “How is usability linked to sales? Will this affect the bottom line?  Does usability work help to generate revenue?  Is it tied to increases in sales? If so, how?”  

Earlier on in this blog’s life, I shared the video on the ROI of usability. 

I’d like to share another video with you now from a company using Morae, the same software we use for usability testing here at Saint Mary’s Press.  The title of the video is The Guthrie Group Helps Improve Process and Profits With Morae.

To give you a little background:  “Morae is a leading usability software that removes the guesswork from your decisions and helps you make products people love. [It allows you to] record user interactions, efficiently analyze results, and instantly share your findings with anyone, anywhere.” –Techsmith (creators of Morae)

To date, Saint Mary’s Press has focused its efforts of usability and therefore its use of Morae within the realm of product development, i.e. on measuring and then improving the unique interactions inherent in a customer’s use of a particular product.  

The video I'm going to share with you highlights how a company uses usability testing and Morae for a purpose distinct from ours, and that is to improve the transactional process. Despite the distinct use of Morae, the principle and the link between usability and sales is clear.

Listen to what Zach Guthrie, president of The Guthrie Group, has to say about improving process and profits with Morae: http://www.techsmith.com/morae-casestudy-tgg.html