Open Solutions Unveils New Product Testing Lab

GLASTONBURY, Conn. -- Open Solutions Inc. has opened a new facility the provider of core processing and other software will use to test existing and new products.<p>The Enterprise Usability Lab is located at company headquarters and also can be accessed remotely by the credit union and banks the company calls on for help.</p><p>The new lab replicates the environment in which a consumer would use a particular product and records everything from keystrokes to audio. The results provide a look at how convenient and easy to use a financial service product is to the end user, the company said.</p><p>Open Solutions said the tests can be conducted on existing products and at key points throughout the creation of a new product, including after deployment in different cultural environments.</p><p>"When product design teams are supplied with this type of user research," said Michael Rawlins, director of Human Factors Engineering at Open Solutions, "they can choose the correct screen types, design the correct navigation and user interaction, as well as screen flow." </p><p>The company said it will use the lab to test its core processing platforms as well as its long list of ancillary products, and will often call on customers to join in.</p><p>Carla Baker, application systems analyst at the $910 million Royal Credit Union in Eau Claire, Wis., said, "RCU is engaged in supporting, maintaining and using our Open Solutions products to get the most out of them. When we were given the opportunity to be part of the usability testing process, we jumped at it."</p>