Making technology more user-friendly

Sam Ng (left) and Trent Mankilow met at Unisys.

Shouting, swearing and hurling abuse at the computer is as far as most people go in dealing with slow software or a topsy-turvy website.

But for as long as technology creates this type of frustration for its users, Wellington company Optimal Usability is in business.

With a motto of "people before technology", the company believes it is technology that needs to adapt to humans, not the other way around.

Since setting up two years ago, directors Trent Mankilow and Sam Ng have made it their job to "humanise websites", making the interaction more smooth, the navigation more intuitive and the information easier to find.

Websites that have had their touch include Vodafone, Trade Me, the Westpac and BNZ banks, and sites for a number of government departments and universities.

The saying "first impressions count" applies just as much to a website as it does to other areas of life, says Mankilow, and with websites now the shopfront for so many companies, it's vital they are user-friendly.

"We waste so much time fiddling with technology and trying to figure out how things work, from the web to a VCR," he says. "Piece by piece, we're changing that."

Websites make up the bulk of Optimal's work, but automated phone systems and mobile phones are a big growth area.

"It's a field that's wider than we think. Every time we use a fax machine, or pull a door we're meant to push - that's usability."

The industry dates back to World War II, with the US military testing the usability of aircraft fighter cockpits and military objects.

Although the industry is a big employer in the US and Europe, Optimal Usability - with seven full-time staff - is the largest usability company in New Zealand.

Mankilow and Ng met working for computer giant Unisys and shared an interest in making technology more user-friendly.

Usability testing wasn't being offered here outside some university labs and a handful of one-man bands, so they decided to give it a go.

The company is typically hired by large organisations that want to minimise the risk of spending large amounts of cash on a website that may not work.

Half their work is with existing websites, but the ideal scenario is to carry out the testing at the early stages of design.

Much of Optimal's approach comes down to common sense, but aspects of psychology, sociology, computer design and market research come into the mix.

The process involves one-on-one testing - observing the way people use the technology, identifying faults and common annoyances and working out how to eliminate them.

The pair draw on their backgrounds in computer science (Mankilow) and industrial design (Ng). They employ five full-time consultants, split between their Auckland and Wellington offices, and are planning to bring more web designers on staff.

Charging between $5000 and $100,000 per job, the company is this year on track to double its revenue - half of which it earns in Auckland.

Projects for large telecommunications companies in Germany and the United States are under way, and Mankilow expects Optimal's offshore work to grow as New Zealand's ethnic diversity and early adoption of Eftpos and cellphone texting makes it an attractive test bed for technology.

Optimal Usability

* Who: Directors Trent Mankilow and Sam Ng.
* Where: Offices in Auckland and Wellington.
* What: Making websites, software and mobile phone services more user-friendly.
* Why: "We waste so much time fiddling with technology and trying to figure out how things work."