XMS 2.0 From Vividence. (Technology Highlights).

Web sites can be helpful and easy to navigate, or they can be a royal pain. Some look as if the designers were more concerned about presenting "cool" graphic effects than actually making the sites useful. Vividence Corp. was founded on the principle of understanding why things work and don't work on the Web and how to find unique insights into customers so companies are able to predict customers' intent before they come to the site. Vividence's XMS 2.0 consists of three components, hosted software, Research Panels and a Knowledge Library, that clients use to create large-scale customer experience evaluations on any live Web sire and generate dynamic reports combining comprehensive customer experience insights with analytic tools. The software portion consists of two Web-based applications (accessed through a secure client extranet): the TestScripter, an application for building customized evaluations; and CustomerScope, a reporting and analysis tool for generating insights from qualitative and quantitative da ta gathered during an evaluation.

The Vividence Knowledge Library is a repository of methodology guidelines, evaluation templates, industry benchmarks and publications that draw upon Vividence's professional research expertise in such areas as customer acquisition and retention, marketing strategy and product development. The Template Library includes guidelines and examples for using and customizing each question and task. The Vividence Research team develops a comprehensive set of customer experience metrics to provide objective comparison data for understanding evaluation results. The Vividence Research team also produces monthly briefs and quarterly in-depth reports that provide insightful analysis on industry best practices in Web site design and customer experience management.

Central to Vividence XMS are the panels, whose members provide the feedback that is used to evaluate a site. During an evaluation, the Vividence Browser tracks panelists' detailed movements and captures their feedback as they pursue a set of tasks and objectives. The Vividence Research Panel (VRP) is a professionally managed panel of over 150,000 individuals representing a broad spectrum of demographic profiles. The VRP allows clients to construct samples that march their specific criteria. Clients can also create their own Private Panel by recruiting panelists from their own customer or employee lists or through acquisition efforts.

RELATED ARTICLE: Jeremy Glick, a sales executive at Vividence, was one of the heroes aboard United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 who fought with the hijackers and saved countless lives on the ground. A trust fund has been established the names of Jeremy's wife and daughter. Contributions may be made in the form of checks payable to "Jeremy--Glick Memorial Fund." Checks should reference account number 3300314192 and be mailed to the following address:

Silicon Valley Bank

Attention: Farrah Conanan

3003 Tasman Drive, Mailsort HF 280

Santa Clara, California 95054