"Human-centered design is characterised by: the active involvement of users and a clear understanding of user and task requirements; an appropriate allocation of function between users and technology; the iteration of design solutions; multi-disciplinary design." - ISO 13407

At Obscure Designs we follow the latest research being conducted in the field of Human Computer Interaction and User Centered Design to learn and deliver to you what the latest and most established techniques have to offer. We at Obscure Designs are able to take your eBusiness related product or service from defining the concepts and user testing to delivering the final product, as a turn-key solution using our large number of consultants and in-house professional talent.

We use a variety of user-centred design techniques including prototyping and field study techniques to evaluate both the usability and usefulness of products in various stages of development.

We will work with you to match your ideas, taking into account the strengths and weaknesses of each kind of media, whether web sites or other interactive media like kiosks and self-run interactive CDs or anything else.

We use established ethnographic research techniques to analyse users wherever they'll be using your products — learning from the users in their own environments. This information is a powerful tool for helping you design products that fit into your users' lives, and will drive the rest of the development process along a user-centred path.

For expert evaluations we select a minimum of three of our consultants tocarry out a review of your product or service, working through it according to key tasks identified by the you. Industry standards and guidelines are used to determine where potential usability issues lie, and we then make recommendations for improvement.

At Obscure Designs we even evaluate your competitors' products or services and do a competitive analysis between your product and theirs' to highlight both products' weaknesses and strengths. Ultimately serving as a aid for your own product or service improvement.

Every $1 invested in user-centered design returns between $2 and $100. (Pressman, 1992. Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach . McGraw-Hill, NY. )