Akendi Informed Design Centre of Excellence Launch

Aug. 23, 2009 - PRLog -- Akendi, a user experience design, usability research and strategy firm, has opened its doors in Toronto and Ottawa. Akendi is founded by Ian Chalmers, founder of one of Toronto’s premier design agencies, and Tedde van Gelderen, a human factors and usability design expert.

The company combines expertise in all forms of design with user research, field research and usability. They apply this expertise to help organizations achieve differentiation and market success through products and services that deliver positive and intentional user experiences.

Tedde van Gelderen, Akendi President, chief usability architect said: So many products and services lose their intended audience simply because the creators did not involve the audience throughout the innovation process. Akendi provides an antidote to this common weakness by placing the intended audience at the centre of every touch point that the brand, product, or service provides.

Akendi’s Human Experience Design (HXD) process introduces the human as a stakeholder early in the development of new products and service experiences, or in the re-development of existing experiences. With the audience driving the product/service/brand creation process in a managed process, Akendi’s clients are able to make informed decisions about how a product, service, and brand is created and maintained.

Ian Chalmers, Akendi Executive Creative Director, said: We use a wide range of tools and practices to create environments in which we can listen to an audience based on spontaneous, participatory, uncensored feedback within the context of real use. This approach enables us to help our clients turn great business ideas into compelling experiences that inspire audiences to use, reuse, and recommend products, services, and brands.

Akendi services encompass web design, user interface design, corporate identity, usability testing, environmental design, product design, service design, user research and customer research. The company has clients throughout North America. Akendi holds offices at 187 King Street East, Toronto and 379 Danforth Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario.

Inquiries

www.akendi.com

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Informed Design firm specialists in product design, usability consulting, field research, usability testing, communications design, corporate identity, product packaging design and training.