User and Task Analysis

Client:  Kelly Services, Inc.

Industry:  Staffing Services

Challenge:  To improve the usability of a critical web-based application that allowed customers to place orders for temporary staff

Blue Sun Works’ Solution:  As part of a larger usability study, Blue Sun Works traveled to Canada to observe and interview customers using an existing web-based application that allowed them to place online orders for temporary staff.  Kelly Services considered this application key to their future competitiveness in the staffing services market.  During the interviews, Blue Sun Works was able to identify areas where customers became confused or frustrated, and make well-informed, objective recommendations for improvement that would better position Kelly Services for the future.

Client:  Compuware Corporation

Industry:  IT Products and Staffing

Challenge:  To improve the usability and information design for the Global Learning group’s intranet site

Blue Sun Works’ Solution: As part of a web site redesign, Blue Sun Works visited Compuware employees in Detroit, Milwaukee, and Columbus to interview users of the Global Learning group’s web site. We identified which areas of the site were most important to users and how they desired to access that information. Using this data as an input, Blue Sun Works redesigned the web site to better reflect users’ needs and preferences.

Client:  JBTC, Inc.

Industry:  Transportation

Challenge:  To develop a web-based truck ordering system that connects JBTC’s customers and the company’s back-office management system

Blue Sun Works’ Solution: As the first phase of a Web Application Development project, Blue Sun Works interviewed JBTC’s manufacturing customers in Warren, Flat Rock, and Monroe, Michigan. Our mission was to understand the current truck ordering process, including what currently works well and what needs improvement. JBTC’s goal is to offer a system that equals or betters the current process, and considers this application as a key, cost-saving part of the company’s ability to grow its business without adding staff. Blue Sun Works identified key elements of the truck ordering process and translated them into the customer interface of the new system, helping to ensure a smooth transition from telephone- to web-based truck ordering.