Quickly Test Usability With Mock-ups

A long-time client called the other day with a problem: their web application has some important functionality that their users were just not noticing and therefore not using. They wanted to re-design the UI for this "problem area" and wanted us to implement it. We chatted for a while and we were able to convince them that there are a few ways to "skin that cat" in terms of solving the usability issue. We recommended that rather than make a hasty decision, it is better to first have a couple of variations mocked up by a designer, and then usability test [...]