Your product will be judged by the quality of its user interface

IdleAire required an interface for their truck stop in-cab service portal designed to support a huge number of functions used by non-technical or illiterate users.

Your product is a black box. The person who uses your product never sees inside it: the source code, the custom PC boards, the sweat of your development staff. Like it or not, your product will be evaluated by the quality of your user interface because it's all they ever see.

The user interface directly affects time to learn, speed of performance, rate of errors, subjective satisfaction, and other qualitative aspects. Put simply, a tool designed to satisfy the needs and goals of your users will make them happy, and this in turn affects sales of your product and benefits your bottom line.

We assist technology companies who wish to develop and bring to market usable, user-friendly products, software, and web applications.

We work as part of your development team

Metamedia works with your technical, marketing staff and end-users to design how new features and functions are presented to the user and how the new product actually works. We do this by identifying the users of your product, discovering their needs, developing and defining the functional requirements in terms of a buildable, reasonable, and workable system, and designing, testing and delivering the user interface. We ensure that your project has a resource for system and interface design specifications and that the needs of your customers don’t fall through the cracks.

Interface design is not window dressing and not fashion. Some developers believe that interface can be designed after the software is completed or based on feedback from a few beta testers. These practices often result in lost effort when the product is not accepted in the marketplace because the interface was derived from the technical underpinnings, the needs of the user were insufficiently addressed, or sample users did not reflect the larger market. Avoid costly mistakes and get us in early to discuss your product.

Struggling with the design of your product?

You may have a handle on the technical challenges of creating your new product, but for most development teams it is difficult to decide exactly how the product is to be used and appears. The user interface is an integral part of product design and development. New or evolving products by their very nature present conceptual and functional design challenges. We help solve these issues before they become development or deployed problems.

Metamedia provides user interface, product design services, and the engineering skills to make your product a reality. If you are developing a new technology (or wish to re-vamp an existing product) and wonder how to make your product usable for your customers, that's where we come in.

Whether your product is to be deployed as software, custom hardware, embedded systems, or on the world wide web, Metamedia can bring extensive experience and design savvy to bear on your most difficult projects. We are unique among others in the industry in that we have experience designing consumer appliances, we understand and build upon your technical underpinnings and concerns of your engineers, and in that we see a product through from initial concept through design and development. Many product designers are merely window dressers; we are holistic product designers who focus on a quality user experience.

A complete or partial solution

Depending on the needs of your project, Metamedia can supply the necessary talent to make it a reality. Whether you need product design, interface design, project management, or the programmers and engineers to build it, we are a one-stop source.

Deciding how to overcome technical challenges and sucessfully implement a product is a rare skill. Our project management experience for Fortune 100 companies ensures that your project follows accepted management practices, which include honest budgets, forecasts, and milestones. Don't buy a "yes man" who will make excuses when you expect to ship; trust your project and budget with a "know man" who will keep you informed and your project on-track.

If you need one programmer or an entire team, our network of affiliate professionals can provide you with the manpower and skills to make your deadlines.

Why us?

Based in Knoxville, TN, clients in the southeast and throughout the United States benefit from Metamedia's real-world experience in user interface design, human factors, usability, and high-quality design at non-metropolitan rates. Get us involved early in the idea phase and, like our other clients, we are confident that you and your users will be pleased at the outcome.