Web design companies Marianas Associates Contents Our understanding

Web design companies

Marianas. Associates Contents – – – – – Our understanding of your requirements Our approach What we found What your competitors are doing Partial list of candidate companies Deeper analysis of one company Your options How we can help from here Appendices © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates Our understanding of your requirements – Web design and/or usability company (we did not go looking for teams within larger IT companies as part of this exercise, but did find some!) – Up to ten people – £ 5 m or less in value – Preferably London or Reading © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates Our approach – Found out who did the design work for your competitors – Looked for award winning firms that have designed enterprise-strength web sites (as opposed to just portals) – Talked to usability experts we know (including Robert). See the Appendices for one view of your web site – Spent the majority of our time developing a ‘long’ list and the remainder doing a ‘deep dive’ on one of the listed companies – We will not have uncovered all of the firms you should consider as part of this exercise; nor will we have uncovered all of the relevant data about the selected firms © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates What we found – Some very good companies! – Some companies are usability experts only. Ironically, some of their own websites leave a lot to be desired! – Some companies carry out HCI design work and through informal or formal methods, ‘ensure’ the design is usable – Some companies have two distinct practices – Some larger IT companies (e. g. Serco) have specialised subsidiaries – Teams range in size from 4 to 35 people © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates What your competitors are doing BETFAIR - COMPETITOR LANDSCAPE COMPETITOR DESIGN COMPANY / COMMENTS Online Bookmaker 888. com 32 Red. com Bet 365 Stan James Victor Chandler Sportingbet Littlewoods Bet Direct Blue Square Coral Eurobet Sky. Bet Tote Bet. Xpress/ Tote. Sport Ladbrokes © Marianas. Associates Have used Foviance. IT Development department spread across a number of different locations. Graham Campbell - Systems Director. Also with experience at Ladbrokes. Mainly a small team of in-house designers; not much development going on. Have used firms in the past but its been a long time. All done in -house. Estimated team size - 20 people (designers & developers). Very guarded. Design all done in-house. Simon King - Design Team Leader. Currently team of 4 designers, 1 developer. Technology Partner - Simsoft. All work is done in house for Poker. Casino is partly in-house design (Simon designs all the static); Simsoft that develops all the dynamic. Design & Build done internally. Previously worked with Foviance. Recent design & build partner - Orbis Technology (NDS Group) Andy Harris - Head of Product Development at Victor Chandler. 15 in house designers - Head of Design is John Mc. Cluton. For development they use a hybrid of a couple of inhouse people, plus contractors for special projects. Use Tuna (www. tunaweb. com). Paul Burton-Shaw - one of the IT Managers. Irene Saltas - IT designer. Design & Build done internally. Peter Pederson, CTO, leads a team of about 12 -15 designers & developers. Foviance & Chartwell Technology (2002). All now done internally. They have a team of 25 designers & developers. Design & Build done internally Zendor did design, however, they no longer offer that capability. Tote hired one of their former guys - Simon (who knows some of the old Zendor design people) Tote are mostly developers. Head of Web development team of 4 is Graham Turner. Foviance did usability design. Powered by Orbis.

Marianas. Associates What your competitors are doing cont. BETFAIR - COMPETITOR LANDSCAPE COMPETITOR DESIGN COMPANY / COMMENTS Online Bookmaker cont’ One. Stop. Racing. com Paddy Power Trade. Bet. X & Trade. Sports (part of Trading Exchange Network Group) Total. Bet, Gold. Bet, Betting. Zone, Sportal, Sporting. Life, UKBetting (all part of UK Betting Plc) Vernons Pools William Hill Bet Fred Netb 2 b 2 plc the business aggregator focusing on the digital communications sector, acquired Fernhart New Media Limited and launched a new internet based racing information and gambling portal One. Stop. Racing. com. Fernhart is a consultancy that designs, builds and maintains web sites and interactive television (“Di. TV”) services for businesses. Head if IT team of 12 developers & designers - Peter O'Donovan. They do all design & build in house and then partner with Orbis to power it. IT Director - Mark Hogan. All done in house. Have a team of about a dozen designers & developers. IT Director - Tim Wall. Did it all in-house. Have a team of 30 -40 designers and developers. Used Deckchair Design. IT Manager - Andy Mc. Coll leading a team of about 5 in house designers. Now Design & Build done internally. Previously worked with the 'Usability Company', now Foviance. Have a couple of designers in house (esp. for Casino & Poker) that design the web sites according to what Finsoft (who power it) need. Spread Betting Sporting Index/Bethilo (Sky Interactive) Fernhart New Media designed, built and integrated the Sporting Index spread betting service launched on the Sky Platform. Operations manager at Sporting Index, Ronnie Whelan Betting Exchanges Bet. Daq Racing © Marianas. Associates Design & Build done internally

Marianas. Associates Partial list of candidate companies – in alpha order 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Amberlight Bunnyfoot Cxpartners Designed for all Fhios Flow interactive Foolproof business services Foviance Nomensa Optimum web Serco Usability by design © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates 1 - Amberlight Partners Ltd URL www. amber-light. co. uk UK Head Office Address 58 Bloomsbury Street, London WC 1 B 3 QT Other Office Locations n/a Contact Telephone 0207 307 7770 Brief Company History Founded in April 2000 by a combination of ex-web design agency employees and UCL HCI academics. Have increased profit and revenue by more than 80% every year since launch. Company Proposition Bespoke services - Engagements are based on a consultative approach, do not sell off-the-shelf usability products. Pragmatic - Completely focused on business goals & actionable design recommendations. Insightful - Expert consultants really get to grips with complex problems, & believe there is no substitute for real user research. Vision – Going forward the focus will be on cross-platform/device design, new HCI approaches and international research. Number of UK Employees 15 Estimated Turnover 2005 £ 1. 3 m Professional Background of Company Founder(s) Ex-web design agency strategist, UCL HCI academic, two web agency directors. USPs Reputation with their clients and competitors. UK Client List MSN, AOL, Samsung, BBC Worldwide, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, O 2, Orange, COI © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates 2 - Bunnyfoot Ltd URL www. bunnyfoot. com UK Head Office Address Harwell Innovation Centre, 173 Curie Ave, Harwell, Oxfordshire, OX 11 0 QG Other Office Locations n/a Contact Telephone + 44 1235 838514 Brief Company History Founded 1999. First usability and accessibility company in UK. First company to own and operate eye tracking equipment. Company Proposition • Driving desired behaviour. • Delivering the best usability and accessibility services to clients. • Moving the usability profession toward a more quantitative approach through incorporating eye tracking as standard in the user centred design process. Number of UK Employees 11 full time, no contractors Estimated Turnover 2005 FY 2005 – 2006 £ 1, 200, 000 Professional Background of Company Founder(s) Dr Jon Dodd: Doctorate in Visual and Computational Neuroscience from Oxford University. Psychology Graduate St Andrews University. 2 Years at IBM Robert Stevens: Business Studies Graduate Hull Business School. Being doing. com work since ‘ 97 USPs • Highly tailored services and insights that can be actioned. Offer a retainer based Rent-a-Guru service. More a boutique. Clients get a consistent personalised professional expert service, not a range of faceless juniors. • Not being based in London means reduced overheads. The benefits are passed to clients. • Offer eye tracking expertise as standard, with the leading accessibility knowledge and experience, and experience of working intimately in partnership with large and small corporates, government clients, and design agencies. UK Client List Microsoft, RAF Careers, egg. com, e. Bay, Pay. Pal, P&G, Alamo, emap. com, BBC, Orange, Yell. com, MSN, Natural History Museum, Sainsbury’s, NHS + others (some via design agency partners such as AKQA, LIDA, Bostock and Pollitt, Graphico, POKE and s 8080) © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates 3 - Cxpartners ltd URL www. cxpartners. co. uk UK Head Office Address University Gate East, Park Row, Bristol BS 1 5 UB Other Office Locations London Contact Telephone 0117 987 8001 Brief Company History Founded in 2004 by Giles Colborne and Richard Caddick who wanted an agency that married excellence in user centred design with a strong understanding of aesthetic design. Company Proposition • Creates outstanding user experiences that combine clarity and creativity with insight into users’ needs • Rich web interfaces – the next generation of immersive web interfaces (including AJAX and XAML). • The psychology of design – applying findings from psychology to make interfaces more compelling. • Mobile devices – especially networked consumer devices & phones. Number of UK Employees 8 Estimated Turnover 2005 Estimated £ 350, 000 Professional Background of Company Founder(s) Giles Colborne. President of UK Usability Professionals’ Association since 2002 Richard Caddick. Previously: Associate Director of Customer Experience, Euro RSCG Circle, Director, Hub 45, Founding Director, South West Interactive Media. USPs Seasoned management team with a broad business background. Innovators with a creative approach. UK Client List MSN, AOL, Samsung, BBC Worldwide, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, O 2, Orange, COI © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates 4 - Designed for all Ltd URL www. designedforall. com UK Head Office Address Prince Consort House, 109 -111 Farringdon Road, London, EC 1 R 3 BW Other Office Locations n/a Contact Telephone +44(0)790 515 2893 (Mobile) – Fraser Hamilton (Director) Brief Company History Formed by usability and accessibility specialists with a strong track record in academic research; the team conducted the largest ever accessibility study for the Disability Rights Commission. Company Proposition ·Customer experience research, user interface design, usability evaluations and large-scale field studies. ·Accessibility is a particular area of expertise. Accessibility over all technologies (from the Web to ‘smart homes’). ·Strong links with academia and solid research background , so reliable analysis on all projects. ·User experience in its widest sense: identifying customer needs, designing interfaces to maximise usability, evaluations and field studies. ·Generating propriety design knowledge from basic and applied research. Number of UK Employees 4 Estimated Turnover 2005 £ 120 K Professional Background of Company Founder(s) Fraser Hamilton - Founder & director with 10+ years experience of working in the usability field. Helen Petrie - Director of Research at Designed for All & Professor of Human Computer Interaction at the University of York. Has over 10 years of experience in designing and evaluating interactive systems. . USPs Strong research background. State-of-the-art methodology & analysis. Involved in a number of European research projects. This ensures that clients get access to high-quality knowledge and the latest policy and legislation. . UK Client List NESTA, Islington Council, Disability Rights Commission. Most revenue, however, comes from confidential FTSE 100 clients e. g. Motorola, Boots, Legal & General, Alliance & Leicester, The British Council & Tate © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates 5 - Fhios Ltd URL www. fhios. com UK Head Office Address The Media Centre, 3 -8 Carburton Street, London W 1 W 5 AJ Other Office Locations Paris (France), San Paulo (Brazil) and Singapore (Asia Pacific Alliance) Contact Telephone 0207 886 8256 Brief Company History Founded in 2002 by Dr Philip Rhodes and James Webster, fhios specialises in providing research into the customer experience in both digital and non-digital channels, and across all customer touch points. Company Proposition • International Customer Experience Research and Design Consultancy. Help global 1, 000 customers gain insight in both digital and non-digital channels and along all customer touch points through. • See accelerated growth in Information Architecture and user-centric design as clients involve us earlier in the project lifecycle. • Seeing increased demand in traditional marketing and non-digital segments. Usability will remain a core business. Number of UK Employees 20 Estimated Turnover 2005 £ 1. 5 million Professional Background of Company Founder(s) James Webster, Managing Director. Jim, a founding Director of fhios, has over 20 years of management experience in IT and technical operations, user research, and application development. Dr. Philip Rhodes, Ph. D. FRSA. Has extensive research and teaching experience in hypermedia design for the web and human computer interaction. USPs Commercial focus, research capabilities with a global reach, in-house testing facilities for usability sessions and focus groups. Have an extensive recruitment database and spend considerable effort in the recruitment phases of projects. UK Client list AXA, Orange, BT, O 2, HBOS, Stena Line, The British Red Cross and the Central Office of Information (COI) Digital Media. © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates 6 – Flow Interactive URL http: //www. flow-interactive. com UK Head Office Address 31 Corsica Street, London, N 5 1 JT Other Office Locations Worldwide partner network Contact Telephone +44 (0)207 288 0884 Brief Company History Flow has been established since 1997. From an initial focus on user research and testing, they have grown to become a market leader in the principles and practice of user centred design (UCD). They offer a full spectrum of UCD services; contextual research, scenarios and personas, experience modelling, concept design, information architecture, inclusive interaction design, prototype generation, iterative usability testing and accessibility evaluation. At the highest level, they consult on product strategy & innovation & have worked for over 100 private and public sector organisations, both in the UK and internationally. Company Proposition • Flow Interactive offers a range of consultancy services to research, design and evaluate interactive products. • Core expertise is their ability to determine, analyse and incorporate the real needs, wants and behaviours of users into design. Typically this means the design of interactive products and services. However, they are increasingly being asked to apply the same approach to the design of customer, product and channel strategies. They expect this demand to grow in 2006. Number of UK Employees 32 Estimated Turnover 2005 £ 2. 65 million Professional Background of Company Founder(s) Meriel Lenfestey MA(RCA) MMRS FRSA: Founder & CEO - Meriel founded Flow in 1997 after working as an interaction designer & development producer with Microsoft and the BBC. USPs True consultative approach & focus on people, not technology; Management team steeped in experience; Design projects are backed by deep focus on the user experience. Evangelists for user centred design. UK Client List BBC, Standard Life, Yell Group, BUPA, Central Office of Information (Directgov, QCA, Electoral Commission, UK Passports Online, DWP), Department for Education & Skills (Df. ES), Royal Mail, Major UK Telecoms provider, Global Mobile network provider, OAG, The Design Council, Asian Consumer Electronics supplier Churchill Insurance. © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates 7 – Foolproof Business Services Ltd URL www. foolproof. co. uk UK Head Office Address Seebohm House, Queen Street, Norwich, Norfolk, NR 2 4 SQ Other Office Locations London office and research lab from March 2006 Contact Telephone 01603 766800 Brief Company History Launched in 2002 Company Proposition • A user experience consultancy. • Offer a full set of user research services as well as consultancy to help plan and execute online strategy. • Talent is for finding a commercially successful compromise between the needs of the online customer and the needs of clients’ business. • User research & User centred design ·Strategic consulting in online sales and marketing Number of UK Employees 15 Estimated Turnover 2005 £ 2. 1 million Professional Background of Company Founder(s) Peter Ballard- Managing Partner: his previous role was as the Marketing Director of Virgin Money. Tom Wood- Managing Partner: Tom was previously Head of Advertising at Virgin Money. He pioneered usability research at Virgin Money and has been planning, moderating and analysing qualitative research throughout his career. USPs They are proud of the quality of their research: from no-frills usability evaluation through to studies of the persuasiveness and emotional impact of digital environments. However, the focus is on actionable insights to the client’s business situation. Recommendations made to deliver dramatic improvements in sales. UK Client List Alliance & Leicester, Intelligent Finance, Barclays, Norwich Union, BT, NTL, Center Parcs, P&O Ferries, Coutts, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Direct Line, Shell, Fujifilm, Sky, Groupama, Virgin, Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBo. S), HSBC © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates 8 – Foviance Ltd URL www. foviance. com UK Head Office Address The Lightwell, 12 -16 Laystall Street, London, EC 1 R 4 PF Other Office Locations London office and research lab from March 2006. Global reach Contact Telephone 020 7843 6700 Brief Company History Founded in February 2001 to provide business-oriented usability services & bring the discipline to a wider audience. Originally externally funded, the company underwent a management buy-out to become fully independent in 2004. Web. Abacus was founded in July 2000 to do the same for web analytics, based upon its market-leading Web. Abacus technology. The company secured over £ 1. 5 m of investment from a consortium of investors in 2003. Recognising the power of combining web analytics with usability services, the two organisations entered into a strategic partnership in April 2004. In April 2005, this partnership was formalised by the merger of the two companies, to form Foviance. Company Proposition Foviance combines the strength of The Usability Company's usability expertise with the power of Web. Abacus's web analytics technology to provide a complete service to help organisations measure, understand enhance the quality of the online systems they provide for their users. Number of UK Employees 35 Estimated Turnover 2005 £ 2. 8 million Professional Background of Company Founder(s) Paul Blunden, CEO: Paul originally joined The Usability Company as Sales and Marketing Director when the company was founded. Catriona Campbell, Director: Founder of The Usability Company. Also a founding board member of the UK Usability Professionals Association, a former executive committee member of the British Computer Society’s Human Computer Interaction Group & board member of the European Usability Forum. Marty Carroll, Experience Management Director: Part of founding team & author of a number of papers on Usability. He is the founder of the UK Chapter of the Usability Professionals Association and has degrees in psychology & human factors. Ian Thomas, Marketing & Development Director: Founder - helping to spin it out from its parent company in 2001. USPs A truly consultative approach with an end-to end capability. What is delivered to clients is measurable. What they recommend to clients from a design perspective they also have the responsibility to build. Foviance have an annual retention of 85% of clients. UK Client List Alliance & Leicester, AOL, ASDA, Barclaycard, BSky. B, BT, Camelot, Channel 4, Charcol Online, CIPD, Coral Euro Bet, Cumbria CC, Direct Line, DTI, DWP, EDS, EMAP, First Direct, Ladbrokes, Microsoft, Morley Fund Management, Nike, Nokia, O 2, Proctor & Gamble, Reuters. Royal Mail, Sa. BRE, Sony, The Gaming Club, Three, Victor Chandler, VOA, Vodafone, Volvo, William Hill Ltd © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates 9 – Nomensa Ltd URL www. nomensa. com UK Head Office Address King William House, 13 Queen Square, Bristol, BS 1 4 NT Other Office Locations 1 Northumberland Avenue, Trafalgar Square, London, WC 2 N 5 BW Contact Telephone 0207 872 5715 (London) 0117 929 7333 (Bristol) Brief Company History Nomensa is an Internet based research and web design company that specialises in usability and accessibility. It combines psychology, creative and technology expertise to produce award-winning websites, ecommerce sites and services on behalf of both private and public sector clients. The focus of the company also incorporates a wider scope of research covering business analysis and how technology can best meet the needs of business functions. The company has recently launched a technology division with the release of a Content Management System (CMS) product that is fully accessible both at the front and back-end. The company was founded in May 2001 by Simon Norris, MD, who had the vision that the Internet could be more inclusive and the industry a more accountable profession. The name ‘Nomensa’ is derived from fact that technology should not be an IQ test. Company Proposition Nomensa are experts at improving the ‘user experience’ and developing engaging strategies to help clients reap considerable commercial benefits. Their approach is based upon proprietary ‘Human Centred Design’ methodology, developed through the successful management of numerous extensive commercial research projects – they call it ‘humanising technology’. The Nomensa methodology can be applied to any aspect of the web or software development lifecycle. Activity can be categorised into areas of research, design & development services and in-house training on any aspect of usability and accessibility methodology. Number of UK Employees 26 Estimated Turnover 2005 Confidential Professional Background of Company Founder(s) Managing Director – Psychology and HCI background with 11 years experience working on corporate websites. Commercial Director – Design and Marketing background with 7 years experience working on corporate websites. User Experience Director - Psychology and HCI background with 5 years’ experience working on corporate websites USPs Proprietary ‘human centred research’ methodology which is applied with great success to both research and design projects. Expertise of the founding team, from both a research and a design and development perspective. Nomensa’s expertise lies in the translation of findings, insights and its subsequent practical and deliverable design and build recommendations. UK Client List British Gas, BAE Systems, Centrica, lastminute. com, AA, Morley Fund Management, Thrifty car rental, job channel TV © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates 10 – Optimum Web Ltd URL www. optimum-web. co. uk UK Head Office Address Unit 6 Blue Lion Place, London, SE 1 4 PU Other Office Locations 1 Northumberland Avenue, Trafalgar Square, London, WC 2 N 5 BW Contact Telephone 020 7234 0953 Brief Company History Established in 2000 as a pioneer of usability and accessibility testing for companies investing in the internet, since when the company has built up an enviable reputation for delivering measurable results for blue-chip clients. Company Proposition Specialist usability and accessibility testing for the internet and digital interfaces based on the science of humancomputer interaction (HCI). They help create websites that: Hold a visitor’s attention for longer, Encourage repeat visits, Are easier to use, Meet commercial objectives, Deliver greater user satisfaction. They do this by understanding user needs and translating this into user-centred design. . For 2006 they will be extending our accessibility testing service that allows sites to be tested by users with a wide range of disabilities. Number of UK Employees 26 Estimated Turnover 2005 Confidential – Estim Turnover: £ 2. 2 M Professional Background of Company Founder(s) Led by Keith Simpson – Head of Marketing: A marketing communications professional, consultant in reputation management who recognised the convergence of communication issues in the new media environment John Dumas – Operations Director with 10 years’ experience in usability and web development, both in the UK and US. Elisa del Galdo – Consulting Director - Previously with Cambridge Technology Partners, Canon Research, and Digital Equipment Company covering all aspects of user experience. USPs All work is rooted in the science of human-computer interaction and all usability consultants are trained in HCI. Consultants have extensive private & public sector experience which allows us to put clients’ work into a real world context. All projects are led and implemented by people with at least 10 years experience. UK Client List The Abbey, Nationwide Building Society, HSBC, Citibank, Department of Trade and Industry, Intercontinental Hotels, Land Rover, Amway, Diageo, Berry Bros. & Rudd, Moorfields Hospital, WHSmith, Microsoft, QXL. © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates 11 – Serco Ltd URL www. serco. com/usability UK Head Office Address 22 Hand Court, London, WC 1 V 6 JF Other Office Locations AUSTRALIA: Sydney and Melbourne, The Hiser Group, 47 Albion Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010 Contact Telephone (0)20 7421 6499 Brief Company History The usability group emerged from the MMI (Man-Machine Interaction) group in the early 1970’s. Involved in the foundation of the British HCI Group, The usability group was officially renamed to Serco Usability Services. In 1999 Serco acquired Australia’s market leading usability and design company, The Hiser Group. In 2000 the UK group moved into new offices in Holborn, which included two state-of-the-art usability labs designed and specified by usability consultants. Updated regularly with new technology, they are still the best usability labs in London. Company Proposition Serco Usability Services has a 30 -year history, it is the most experienced company in the UK usability industry and one of the most experienced in international usability. They provide consulting, support and training services throughout the product life cycle to both commercial and government clients, and across web, i. TV and mobile applications. They will continue to grow across established market sectors including telecoms, broadcast & government. Emerging technologies of particular interest to them is the convergence of mobile & TV applications. Number of UK Employees Serco have over 40, 000 employees and employs more than 30 usability and human factors experts. Estimated Turnover 2005 Accounts form part of Serco Group’s turnover. . Estim turnover for usability group - £ 2. 6 M Professional Background of some of the Company Founder(s) Owen Daly-Jones, Director. Owen has over 10 years experience in the application of human factors to interactive systems development. Simon Herd, Managing Consultant. Simon previously worked at Nat. West Bank and as a Senior HCI Expert at ntl and holds an MSc in Information Technology and Human Sciences. Andrew Swartz, Managing Consultant. Before coming to Serco, Andrew spent 8 yrs working at Apple Computer in instructional design and usability issues. Andrew studied Psychology at Yale University where he graduated summa cum laude (highest honours) as a Scholar of the House. USPs Unrivalled track record, international reach that allows them to carry out large scale international projects. 70% of work is from repeat clients. Diverse team which keep close to the cutting edge of best practice offering constant innovation. UK Client List AKQA, Arts Council of England, Barclays, BBC, BT, Carlton Television, Ericsson, France Telecom, Hewlett Packard, Kingfisher, Lexis. Nexis, Lloyds TSB, Microsoft, Nature Publishing, Nat. West, Nokia, ntl, Reuters, Sky, Sony, Telewest, Unisys, Trinity Mirror, Elsevier, O 2, Orange, Virgin, Samsung © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates 12 – Usability by Design URL www. usabilitybydesign. com UK Head Office Address 5 th Floor, 5 St Helen’s Place, Bishopsgate, London, EC 3 A 6 AU Other Office Locations Level 39, Citigroup Centre, 2 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia. Contact Telephone 020 7036 0302 Brief Company History Founded by Gary Bunker in 1997 which makes it now one of the longest running and most experienced usability consultancies in the UK. Graham Uff joined the company as director in 1998, helping to develop the company into its current form. Since it was founded, they have worked with more than 150 organisations around the UK, the US, Europe and Australia, running over 500 usability projects of all types. The company development philosophy is to continually get better without necessarily bigger. Employ highly experienced qualified consultants to provide a focussed, quality service. In 2003 opened an office in Sydney, Australia. Company Proposition Make it easy for your customers to use your service or product. They do this by comprehensive research into customers’ needs, wants, preferences, abilities and attitudes. Work hard to ensure that our service is thorough, relevant, timely and cost-effective. Three areas of focus over the next year: Interaction Design / Information Architecture, Usability Testing, Usability Evaluations. Number of UK Employees 8 Estimated Turnover 2005 £ 500, 000 Professional Background of some of the Company Founder(s) Graham Uff, Director - Graham entered the systems analysis and design arena in 1989. Gary Bunker, Director – Gary worked for 17 years in the design of performance support systems, across the UK, US, & Australia. In 2003 Gary moved to Sydney to open offices there & spends his time working on UK & Australian projects. USPs A flexible and adaptable culture to clients’ needs. Custom testing software and methodologies. They are a medium –sized company with highly trained and experienced consultants so clients get complete focus. UK Client List Asserta. Home, Arthur Andersen, Avis Europe, BCA Interactive, BSi Group (British Standards), Butterworth Tolley, Carphone Warehouse, Caterer. com, CMG Group, Computer Weekly, DG&G Travel Information, Egg Online Banking, Estates Gazette interactive, Hewlett Packard, Home Office, Home. Choice, HSBC Bank, J. D. Wetherspoons, John Lewis, New Scientist, NHS, Nokia, Ocado, O 2, Pfizer, Powergen, Property. Finder. co. uk, © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates Deeper analysis of selected company – We have chosen to do a deep dive on Amberlight because: – – – Impressive client list, with similar characteristics to Betfair Highly recommended (by clients & competitors) Right sort of size (in terms of people & revenue) Right culture: top quality, agility, team spirit, passion London based In-house expertise and interest in gaming site design – That said, there are one or two others worth profiling © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates Areas of focus & changes over this year: • Cross-platform/device design and research, Developing new and innovative HCI approaches. • International research. • Continued shift in focus from accessibility to usability • Shift to a higher % of projects involving implementation rather than advisory Consultants – 13 Day rates (range): £ 650 (partner/retainer rate) - £ 1, 000 Estimated turnover 2006: £ 2 m (50% increase over 2005) Top five services (by revenue): 1. User-centred design (35%) 2. Requirements research (30%) 3. Usability Testing (30%) 4. Training (5%) Top five platforms (by revenue): 1. Internet (50%) 2. Mobile devices (25%) 3. Gaming (10%) 4. Software (10%) 5. Touch-screen (5%) Number of years in business: 6 Types of usability services offered: Audit/evaluation, user-testing, focus groups, field research, training, consulting, competitor analysis, information architecture, web analytics, persuasion architecture, prototyping, design, copywriting Types of platforms: Internet, intranet, interactive TV & voice, mobile devices, kiosks, consoles, gaming, desktop apps. Brief description of company culture: Versatile, small company culture. Passionate about UCD, Amberlight believe their consultants are the most enthusiastic in the industry. The office atmosphere is informal and relaxed, with high individual accountability for project delivery. © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates Senior Management Team Gerred Blyth - Practice Director, MSc HCI, BA Psychology As Director of Practice, Gerred is responsible for Amberlight's research and design methods. Gerred's background is in software development, graphic design and technical writing. As a council member of the Usability Professionals Association and member of the BCS-HCI communications group, Gerred is seeking to increase understanding of the discipline in industry. (email: gerred@amber-light. co. uk) Pippa Gawley - Managing Director, MEng Hons Pippa is responsible for managing the operations of Amberlight and providing leadership. She develops and implements structure and processes & also manages client and supplier relationships and oversees project work. Prior to joining Amberlight, Pippa held a variety of product development, analysis and management roles in the Internet and financial services sectors. (email: pippa@amber-light. co. uk) Filip Healy - Head of Consulting, MSc HCI, BA Psychology Filip is a highly experienced UCD consultant, having overseen projects across the globe for a variety of large clients. Filip oversees all of Amberlight’s project work. Filip's current research interests include online gaming, fan sites, mobile usability and cognitive user modeling. (email: filip@amber-light. co. uk) © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates Case Study: BBC Worldwide The brief Radio. Times. com is a complex website that hosts a large amount of database driven functionality within its electronic programme guide (EPG). Also, the site needs to communicate strong brand values and editorial quality to ensure that users return over time. Amberlight were asked to assist in the site redesign & proposed a full user-centred design process to maximise usability of the EPG and create a great user experience. This project was to be completed with BBC Worldwide developers & creative designers at Poke London. Approach The initial research employed real users. Amberlight built an understanding of how and why people use EPGs and what Radio. Times. com is currently offering and lacking. They also built an understanding of the barriers to optimal usability in terms of task completion on the site. Having produced wireframe solutions that they were confident met BBC’s business goals through increased usability, a creative and branding brief was put together for Poke to work from. The final designs from Poke were taken back into formal one-on-one usability testing. Using a working medium-fidelity prototype from Poke’s design concepts, Amberlight identified barriers to task completion and places where design assumptions were in conflict with users’ reactions. They worked in collaboration to reiterate the solution before it was finally built and deployed. The outcome The final solution exhibited increased usability in terms of task completion times and accuracy. User satisfaction scores also increased. 42% increase in monthly visits over 6 months pre/post redesign. Quotes on the outcomes Peter Beech of POKE London: “Amberlight’s HCI input was invaluable to the design process - providing Poke with a clear prioritisation of user issues and potential solutions. For a site as information rich and structurally complex as the Radio Times site Amberlight's work was critical to the success of the project. It shows that usability and creativity are complimentary, not contradictory. ” Duncan Swain, New Media Editor at BBC Worldwide: “Amberlight couldn't have done a better job for Radio Times, and I can't recommend them highly enough. Everyone I've worked with there has impressed me with their depth of knowledge not only in their own area of expertise, but also of the sites they are working on - I'm sure they knew more about Radio Times than I did within about two weeks of working with us. " # © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates Your options – Acquire a design team from one of your competitors (e. g. Tote) – Acquire a small design/usability company. But before going further down this path you need to consider whether the acquired people would be happy to focus on just Betfair. The smaller the team, the more likely that this avenue would be successful – Acquire a design team from an IT company that serves your market, such as Orbis (that support Victor Chandler, Ladbrokes & Paddy Power) © Marianas. Associates

Marianas. Associates How we can help from here – First question is: Have we made a strong impression on you? – If not, why not? – If so, we would propose the following next steps: – Complete this exercise: – – – Complete list of candidate companies Find teams as well Profile key candidates in some depth Assess inclination to sell Make a recommendation Carry our due diligence on preferred company/team – Carry out the other projects we have discussed with you © Marianas. Associates

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Marianas. Associates An expert’s comments on your web site (unexpurgated!) © Marianas. Associates