Labs & equipment

We have offices in Oxford, London and Edinburgh - we maintain 6 studios for usability testing or other customer research activities - including focus groups, card sorts and paper-prototyping.

Our offices are equipped with eyetrackers, advanced digital recording equipment and have comfortable viewing suites for client representatives. Alternatively we can broadcast testing sessions live over the Internet.

All our equipment is fully portable, so we can test outside of our labs too.

Eyetracking equipment

We were the first UK usability consultancy to buy eyetracking equipment and have unrivalled experience with the equipment ,methodologies and analyses that go with it.

Due to our experience we were selected to be the sole UK supplier of the leading eyetracking equipment on the market (Tobii systems). We provide sales, demos, training and support for this equipment.

We own and use 6 Tobii eyetrackers for web, software and print testing as well as for large format testing provided by projectors, TVs or real life situations.

Our Edinburgh lab

Our brand new state-of-the-art testing and viewing facility is now up and running within our Edinburgh office.

The facility has been designed to provide our clients and their customers with a flexible, comfortable and totally unique environment for understanding their customer's behaviour.

This new facility gives us nationwide coverage for our own clients.

The studios are also available for rent [email Amanda Scott for details and availability].

Main Studio

The main studio is a large flexible space that can be used for focus groups, paper prototyping, consumer user testing, tremor groups, meetings and exhibitions.

main studio c set out informally with sofas and bean bags

We change the layout and furniture to ensure that participants feel at ease in the space and relax quickly. For example, for consumer usability testing, and testing of interactive TV and games we create the appropriate home environment.

This studio can seat 12 informally in comfortable sofas and chairs, and 25 in cinema style, there is also a separate annex room that is used for break-out sessions, innovation or discussion. This room also serves as a boardroom or private meeting facility.

The studio is fully equipped with all the technology required to facilitate discussion and testing:

Digital projector
Remote control pan-tilt-zoom cameras
32" LCD screen
PC/laptop and LCD monitors (for respondent and moderator)
Wireless internet access
CD-ROM, DVD, VHS or laptop playback
DVD/MP3 recording

The Observation Room

The Observation room has a totally separate entrance. It has a totally separate entrance and thick walls - this means that clients can freely discuss (or shout at!) the testing sessions without being heard, and can come and go as they please without disturbing the participants.

Activity is observed via three 32" LCD screens with remote control access to the cameras.

It comfortably seats 8, has a fully stocked refreshment fridge and a delicious take-out menu. All sessions are recorded to DVD for you to take at the end of the sessions.

One to One Studio

The frost studio recreates an office testing environment. Fully equipped with desk, PC, webcam, internet access, eye tracking and remote viewing. It is the perfect environment to see how people/staff/IFAs/doctors behave with a new system, or web site.

The studio is attached to a separate viewing area with 32" LCD screen for picture-in-picture viewing, live eyetracking and participant audio. The area can comfortably accommodate 4 observers.