Autopilot
A prototype for an unmoderated usability testing application.
Problem
Usability testing for Web sites is usually a one-off event. Every now and then, tests are conducted with great fanfare. While this is good, it misses the opportunity to constantly measure the usability of an application. Additionally, this approach makes it difficult to see longitudinal effects–such as how site users learn over time.
At the time, competing products such as Keyhole were grossly expensive and challenging to implement. What I wanted was “Google Analytics for usability tests.” Autopilot was my answer to this business need.
My involvement
- Assessed competitors
- Estimated development effort and conducted an NPV analysis
- Developed a interactive prototype
- Defined the business and technical requirements
- Created the visual mockup of the interface
- Collaborated with a producer and senior management on pricing models
- Performed a cost-benefit analysis
Where is it today?
The company I worked for was willing to bankroll development, simply to have a differentiating service. This was good.
In the early stages, however, two competing services emerged that had attractive price points. After projecting future cash flows, I found that the break even point was too far in the future. I made the somewhat hard decision to stop work. But sunk costs are no reason to continue development.