Why you need to make sure that your digital agency has a strong Usability group?

I am a big proponent of using digital agency. Why? They bring many benefits to the table –thought leadership in digital marketing; wealth of knowledge and past experiences from a wide variety of industry verticals; quick ramp up capabilities in resources; etc.

So, have I said anything up to now that many companies have not already thought about? No. So why right the post? The reason I am writing this post is because when companies are shopping for a digital agency, they make sure that there is compatibility in all areas expect one – Usability. And this is one of the key areas any company needs to think about. If an agency is able to create a good user experience, then all the work will be for not. So in the agency selection process, my recommendation is that you understand the following-

Does the agency have comprehensive usability strategy? This strategy should include not only designing the site or pages, BUT also actionable recommendations in the areas such as (Yes I believe that the following are part of online usability strategy):

1. Content strategy
2. Call to action strategy
3. Information Architecture strategy
4. Visitor feedback survey strategy
5. Nomenclature strategy
6. Post launch testing strategy

Is usability group used strategically by the company? The agency should be using its usability resources in the planning stages of campaign and their usability team should bring the following to the planning table:

1. Learning from previous campaigns of what has worked and what has not worked for a similar campaign for similar verticals
2. Industry research, benchmarks and best practices applicable to planned campaign.

Will the Agency have enough usability resources assigned to the account? You should find out from the digital agency if they have appropriate level of usability analysts in house. Again, quick and effective optimization of the site is key to online presence. If the agency has very limited usability resources, the question is, will your program get the appropriate level of attention at the right time from the usability resource?

Sample of usability work? Ask the Agency to provide sample of usability work similar to what you are thinking of running.