Research & Development Approach

PCI applies a customized research approach based on several knowledge domains including:

•   Artificial Intelligence (Cognitive Science)

•   Human Information Processing (Psychophysics)

•   Consumer Psychology

•   Industrial / Organizational Psychology

•   Psychometrics.

What makes intuitive sense or is simple to grasp to the designers or sponsors of a product may in fact be the opposite once that design reaches the hands of end customers. The more involved an individual, group, or organization is with the actual design of a product or service, the more difficult it is to objectively evaluate that product or service from a customer's perspective. 

 

The risk of "missing the obvious" and/or the constraining of "out of the box" thinking tends to increase as the design and testing processes overlap. This may result in products and services with poor usability that fail to meet intended goals and customer expectations.  

 

Other factors such as organizational culture and politics, and ambiguous metrics and definitions for assessing a product's effectiveness and ease of use, may also contribute to a product that does not reach its full potential when released to the market place .

 

Use of the various knowledge domains above yields a more comprehensive and valid assessment of (a) how actual or potential products and services are used by the end customer, (b) the environmental conditions and context within which those product and services are used, and most importantly, (c) how those products and services can be improved in a measurable way.