Open Source Design has gone a long way. In our early days we were mostly asked to design logos, imagery and color palettes for open source projects. We were usually aiming to look under the hood beyond visual design services, something we didn't often get the chance to.[…]
Open Source Design has gone a long way. In our early days we were mostly asked to design logos, imagery and color palettes for open source projects. We were usually aiming to look under the hood beyond visual design services, something we didn't often get the chance to. However it's understandable that a logo was a low-hanging fruit for most open source projects and hence that's also what they asked for.
It should be noted that a logo won't solve your user's problems, but it's enough to start a conversation and explore opportunities underneath the surface of visual design. As part of this conversation we are expanding the services we are offering to include Usability Research and their accompanying studies.
> "*Usability testing is the process of identifying usability problems,
> collecting qualitative and quantitative data to determine the
> participant's satisfaction with a product. Usability evaluation
> focuses on how well users can learn to use a program to achieve their
> goals and on the same time measure the product's capacity in
> accomplishing its intended purpose During a test, participants will
> try to complete typical tasks while observers watch, listen and takes
> notes. Usability Studies also can be conducted remotely and have both
> synchronous and asynchronous testings using different techniques with
> potential users.* "
To cater to those needs, we are excited to welcome Renata in our team! Renata is a Usability Researcher based in Prishtina (Kosova) who has been quite close with our communities, especially Fedora and GNOME. In the past she conducted Usability Testing for GNOME applications as part of her Outreachy internship. If you want to know more about Renata's work, you can [head over to her blog](https://renatagegaj.wordpress.com/2016/05/30/what-is-usability/).
<i>Renata and Redon during OSCAL'18 – By Andis Rado (Creative Commons – Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International)</i>
Although only now officially part of the team, we have worked with Renata on [User Testing for Thunderbird, conducted at OSCAL'18 last month](https://ura.design/2018/05/31/oscal-18-we-were-there). Her next endeavour will be working on a more extensive research for [I2P](https://geti2p.net/en/) focused on Linux and Windows clients. Both Thunderbird and I2P are part of the Open Tech Fund Usability Lab which supported us throughout our work.
Want to work with us? We welcome any request ranging from hobbyist open source developer, to international organizations which have established design processes but want to benefit from an additional perspective.
You can reach us via our [Request Design form](https://ura.design/request) or at [hello@ura.design](mailto:hello@ura.design).
