Compaq Speechbot

SpeechBot site after redesign

Compaq engaged Hiser for usability testing of an electronic prototype of SpeechBot, a radio search engine using speech recognition software to create a searchable "transcript" of a program.

Testing leads to practical recommendations

We conducted an initial round of testing with experienced Internet and multimedia users. The results of the tests were summarised for Compaq, with cost-effective and practical recommendations to improve the usability of the site (mostly related to specifying a search).

Some months later we conducted a second round of testing to validate the changes made after the first round, and to test new features added to support further functionality.

Result: it's a hit!

All participants in the tests liked the site and were positive about its usefulness – in the second round some participants were especially keen and requested the site address so they could keep using it.