Sometimes it is easier to create a trend than to try predicting one. In their early days, today’s giants like Google, Facebook or Second life were no more than an idea nesting in someone’s head waiting for the proper moment to hatch. They were just like any other startup group operating in an almost complete economical uncertainty dreaming to reach the ‘exit’.
Were they operating according to an elaborated consumer trend analysis chart? We can only guess. One thing’s for sure, they and others alike have determined the very trend we are facing today.

So, can consumer trend analysis be an effective tool in determining any practical guidelines for creating the next trend?

Basically, in analyzing consumer trends, we examine every possible aspect of user interaction with the contemporary technological environment. Generally, through each study, we address a specific trend issue according to a series of research queries for example:

• Was the application/service originally targeted to a specific well defined users group?

• To what extent does the trend being influenced and manipulated by users?

• What sort of marketing approach was adopted to promote application/service inculcation?

• What need does this product/service satisfy?

• Does this application/service present a new concept or is it an improvement of an existing one?
In order to significantly benefit from this research, we guide our customers with detailed practical recommendations accompanied with illustrative instructions for the necessary steps needed to be implemented according to research findings and conclusions.

Pick a particular service application or field of interest. Now prepare a list of up to ten highly acclaimed top rated vendors supplying this commodity. Design a research array of criterions to be comparably examined over the chosen list, such as:

• Content arrangement and screen layout

• Methods used to convey general idea

• User encouragement

• Logical flow

• Common usage scenarios compatibility

• Personalization and customization approaches

• Graphical design suitability

• Overall approach, messages and branding

There you have a comprehensive detailed comparative analysis, designed to give you an overview of the current standard prevailing among best practice competitors. By obtaining this vertex point of view one can get a clear guide as for taking the right decisions regarding your organizational competitive strategy, whether you wish to ‘just’ realign or to become a leading factor in your unique professional sector.

The human- machine interaction is known to generate many behavioral phenomena that are relatively new to the scientific community. In all categories, emotional and cognitive, we can identify a whole range of typical reactions driven from our basic instincts such as fear, curiosity, anger, addiction and excitement. We regard these scientific studies to be the fundamental guidelines accompanying our professional work therefore we devote the up most efforts to our in-house R&D team. The following subjects demonstrate some of our latest user behavior studies:

Motivations for web surfing:
• Mapping and analyzing the whole range of popular web entities
• Motivations for voluntary contribution and sharing of content in Wiki based communities
• Overcoming the emotional barriers involving e-commerce activity

How does the visual elements affect user behavior:
• Hot spots – where is the eye drawn to on the screen
• Accessibility – improving the service for the physically disabled
• What does this color mean to you? How to achieve the right combination between commercial goals and         an alarming or bewildering screen view

The cognitive factors:
• How to… - all about an effective ‘help’ section
• From an associative, passive surfing style to a fully active devoted user
• Acquired ADD – how to prevent the temporary Attention Deficit Disorder commonly diagnosed among web users