The Usability Company and Usability Sciences Corporation (USC) announced in March the UK launch of WebIQ, the only online, client-side technology that can be easily and cost-effectively deployed to gather intelligence on ALL the key qualitative metrics of web site effectiveness. This announcement follows the release by the two companies about their recently agreed transatlantic partnership.

"WebIQ is a remarkable piece of technology that meets an emerging need within the online world," said Catriona Campbell, founder and CEO of The Usability Company. "WebIQ has already been successfully deployed on two of the world's top ten brands, and six of the top one hundred. It has been deployed on multiple sites for Procter & Gamble, the world's second largest brand portfolio."

"As the demographics of the web move closer to that of the general population" said USC president Jeff Schueler, "web sites must move closer to conventional marketing models. Initial web marketing focused on driving traffic. That evolved into analysing traffic patterns as a way to improve the site. Site "analytics" spawned the need for user experience testing, generally with a recruited panel. In today's environment, panel-based feedback is not enough. Sites need insight from and about their actual visitors."

"That's where WebIQ comes in," said Campbell. "It creates a direct, real-time feedback channel to the actual visitor. It's not about site data any more. It's about customer intelligence. Site managers need to know exactly who visits their site, why they came, and how successful they were. Recruited panels can't provide that kind of feedback. Web analytics packages don't engage the visitor in a dialogue. WebIQ does."

WebIQ collects feedback in small, discreet samples from visitors who volunteer to participate. Opt-in rates average eight percent. The highest rate has been a staggering 12%. "It's a reflection of brand strength and the visitor's affinity for the site," explained Schueler. "The stronger the relationship between the brand and the visitor, the higher the participation level."

The software, which is downloaded and runs from participants' computers, asks specific conditional and contextual questions depending on, for example, the respondent's demographic information, what they identify as their intentions at the site, and their various navigation choices.

WebIQ's entry-level online product, the e-Mission Scorecard, is data-rich and inexpensive for companies to use, Schueler said. A typical e-Mission project can be up on the site within 48 hours and completed for less than $10,000. USC advises that sites collect the sample over a one-week period so that daily usage patterns do not skew the results. "What really endears WebIQ to our clients," said Schueler, "is that, unlike most survey technologies, we inflict no pain on their IT departments. We give them two lines of JavaScript to insert into the home page and that's it. We handle everything else."

The information drawn from the surveys is invaluable to market researchers and company executives, said Schueler. A recent Forrester Research report backs up those convictions.

"Executives need insight into what drives - or hinders - the business success of their (Web) sites. Instead, they settle for traffic reports and then struggle to make them fit their needs," the report stated. "Metrics alone can't answer the right questions … Forrester believes that firms must shift from reactively analysing traffic to proactively monitoring scenario completion - the rate at which users are able to accomplish their key goals."

Dick Buck, president of US market research firm BusinessInsights, has implemented WebIQ for a number of his customers.

"It's marvellous because you're dealing with real visitors to the Web site, (and while) they're performing actual activities, you're questioning them … you're doing it on the click," Buck said. "That's far superior to taking a survey at the end of a Web site (session) … you get insights that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise. It's more valid than people trying to rely on their memory."

BusinessInsights uses WebIQ on a project basis - when a client has specific needs and issues - and on an ongoing basis for tracking and monitoring what's happening on the site, Buck said. "I've seen nothing else that does what (WebIQ) does."

"WebIQ is a perfect addition to our service portfolio. Our strategy is to encompass any aspect of website operation that has an impact on the visitor experience and therefore limits businesses' ability to achieve their goals. We are confident that WebIQ will be enormously successful in the UK market and are delighted to be the exclusive UK agent for Usability Sciences Corporation" said Paul Blunden, Sales & Marketing Director, The Usability Company.

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