UCDA Activities: Consulting Business

The UCDA is developing a consulting business based on the results of UCD research. We are setting up management systems and designing communication tools, beginning with consulting to help improve businesses’ and organizations’ communications. Also, we are actively engaged in joint development efforts through cooperation with business and academia.

Evaluation

We evaluate and analyze whether the information businesses and organizations (senders) transmit reaches consumers (receivers) in an “easy to look at, easy to understand, and viral” manner. In our approach to user analysis, we evaluate users both by observing their actions and through psychological analysis. In our analysis of communication tools, such as forms and other printed materials, we evaluate and analyze all types of communications actually being used.
Subjects of our analysis are wide-ranging, including forms (notification and application forms, pamphlets, securities, etc.), public relations tools (company information, investor relations, corporate social responsibility), electronic forms, and customer service.

Main Activities

– User analysis

• Action analysis:
  Observe and analyze user actions on forms; evaluate web application assistance for color-blind users; develop sales strategy proposals from field research; and observe and analyze the actions of visitors.
• Psychological analysis:
  Analyze contracting users’ value structure; conduct user tests of the actual feeling of using the application form; analyze users’ satisfaction with the service; psychologically study and analyze contracting users; and set up a survey that is easy to fill out.
• Other analysis:
  Analyze free-form customer input (text mining), analyze customer satisfaction via the web or a mailed survey; and research and analyze the percentage of customers recommending the product or service.
  – Evaluate communication media, such as forms
• Forms:
  Evaluate notifications’ usability; analyze offer pamphlets using eye tracking; evaluate and analyze offer pamphlets’ color schemes; analyze direct mail’s impact on users via eye tracking; evaluate data printing visibility; evaluate securities design; evaluate and analyze application form design; and evaluate and analyze demand for payment form design.
• Electronic forms:
  Evaluate electronic forms’ usability; evaluate visibility of electronic terms and conditions; and improve eye tracking analysis of electronic forms.

Improvement

We improve communications based on the results of our analysis from evaluation activities. Our services cover a wide area, from design improvements for space, web sites, or printed materials to improvements to facilitate human services. We will aim to improve consistently high product quality while uncompromisingly evaluating improvement by measuring the resulting products’ effectiveness.

Main Activities

– Design Improvement

• Printed materials and the Web:
  documents to confirm the details of the contract; pamphlets to attract applicants; survey forms; applications for contract; securities; payment request forms; and statements of important matters.
  Public relations magazines; investor relations; corporate social responsibility tools; trade balance reports; usage details; and sales tools.
• Space:
  Commercial facilities; shops; showrooms; and exhibition halls
• Human services:
  Sales associates’ face-to-face service; educational programs; and sales assistance programs.

– Effectiveness Measurement

• Performance test:
  level of customer understanding at the time they fill out an application form for a new or renewed contract.