The Goal-Directed Desing method used by Cybercom has proven an excellent tool especially in planning user interfaces and their usability, tell Marika Koho and Markku Kiuru from Kauppalehti.
Do you know about Hellevi Vilén? Probably not, but for the developers of the electronic services of Kauppalehti, Hellevi has almost become a colleague.
Hellevi and other funny characters are not real people. They are prototypes of online service users created on the basis of Cybercom Plenware’s archetype research.
You too will get to know Hellevi indirectly when you use the Kauppalehti online service, as Hellevi and other “protos” help match the service to your needs, regardless of whether you are looking for information, news or investment tips.
Kauppalehti and Cybercom have long been in close cooperation in developing electronic services. The roots of the partnership go years back, when the base for Alma Media’s electronic services was being laid. Today, Kauppalehti.fi is one of Finland’s most popular internet pages and a leading web service in finances.
– People today are interested in not just company finances, but also their own. The internet supplements the service provided by the printed newspaper, sales manager for Kauppalehti’s marketing information services Markku Kiuru and project manager Marika Koho say.
Cybercom’s experts are a part of the Kauppalehti development team and the cooperation is ongoing. Cybercom is also responsible for the technical development work for the Balance Consulting financial analysis service, which is a part of Kauppalehti.
Only the relevant is included
The design implemented by Cybercom is based on the Goal-Directed Design method. The central advantage is to make every part of the user interface always serve some concrete user situation. This way the implementation resources of the system can be directed to functionalities that the users will truly benefit from.
– During research we interview users and create archetypes on the basis of the interviews. We’ve given them a name, a face and a profession. Certain models of behavior and ways of doing things are repeated even when people are in different professions.
Archetype research has been used to develop Kauppalehti’s electronic services for a long time. The latest cooperation project has been the development of the Kauppalehti ePortti.
– The remodeled ePortti serves users from both the private and the public sector in different areas.
With the help of the archetypes we’ve been able to plan the service so that it serves everyone. We read the research very carefully and think about how Hellevi might act in a certain situation.
The research lays the foundation for popularity When Kauppalehti.fi was remodeled a couple of years ago on the basis of the archetype research, the news service became a versatile financial portal.
”I feel that the information gained from the research has infl uenced
the growth of our popularity, as we’ve been able to match usability with real needs”,
says Marika Koho company services, Kauppalehti.
– We need to serve those interested in the stock market and investing, those following the financial news, the authorities, and others. The webpage was divided so that investing, news, free time and the ePortti, which answered the need for information search, were all given their own section.
The visitor numbers of the Kauppalehti service has risen by hundreds of thousands after the remodeling done on the basis of the research.
– I feel that the information gained from the research has influenced the growth of our popularity, as we’ve been able to match usability with real needs. New users have come along and because of this a new round of research will soon be necessary. We might even find new archetypes, says Marika Koho. Hellevi Vilén and others may soon have new company.
Kauppalehti Oy – Number one in financial information
Kauppalehti Oy is a versatile provider of business information operating a multitude of business newspapers and magazines as well as rapidly growing online services, including Finland’s largest business newspaper Kauppalehti and Finland’s most popular online business service Kauppalehti.fi , the Business magazine Kauppalehti Optio, Business sector supplement Kauppalehti Vip, Business information portal ePortti, Company analysis unit Balance Consulting and the biggest market place for business space in Finland, Kauppalehti Toimitilat.
From CYBERCOMnews 2/2009, a customer and stakeholder magazine of Cybercom Plenware Oy