Keynote Systems has announced iPad and Android smartphone support for its WebEffective SaaS-based customer experience management platform for conducting large-scale, task-based user experience research. The solution already supports the iPhone.

WebEffective combines market research, usability labs and web analytics, providing usable data from virtually any website, and supports large user samples, providing valuable insight about customers online behaviour. The WebEffective iPad platform is now engineered to provide a task-based study experience that the company says is intuitive and familiar to an iPad user.

Users are free to scroll and rotate, and interact just as they would with any other Tablet application, without losing the familiar Keynote task bar reminding them of the current task they are attempting to complete. Prior to this enhancement, study respondents were asked to switch between browser screens, leading to unacceptable levels of study abandonment.

“We found quite a few of our customers had tested and optimised their websites for desktop and smartphone users, but then realised they had a blind spot when it came to the iPad,” says Vik Chaudhary, VP of product management and corporate development at Keynote Systems.  “As the need for awareness on three screens (desktop, mobile, Tablet) has grown, so has interest in closing that gap, performing usability studies on the market-share leading iPad. Providing specific support for the Safari browser on the iPad helps lead to more completed studies. While optimising for the iPad, weve also taken this opportunity to ensure the very best experience on Android phones as well.”

The Pew Research Center recently reported that 19 per cent of US adults own a Tablet computer, and that between 65 and 75 per cent of those Tablets are iPads. With the rapid consumer adoption of Tablets, says Keynote, it is critical for online businesses to strengthen their tablet strategies and improve the usability of their websites on the mobile devices.