Kuniavsky 2003 - Observe UX (Slide)

Observing the User Experience

Mike Kuniavsky

Presentation: Licia Sbattella

Accessibility - Prof. Licia Sbattella

User Research •  UR is the process of understanding the impact of

design on an audience. •  Surveys, focus groups, and other forms of user research

conducted before the design phase can make the difference …

•  From the users’ perspective, their experience is continuous

•  “What they understand affects not just what they can accomplish, but what attracts them to the product, and what attracts them to a product affects how willing they are to understand it.”

•  UE can extend to nearly everything in someone’s interaction with a product


Example

•  For Web sites (and other information management products) –  there are three general categories of work

when creatig a user experience: •  Information Architecture •  Interaction Design •  Identitiy Design


Information Architecture •  Information needs of Information Architects

•  Demographics – physical and employment characteristics (age, education level, income, job title, …)

•  A Web use profile that summarizes a community’s Web experience (how long someone has been using the Web, how much time he spends using it, and what kinds of things he uses it for.

•  Appropriate terminology •  Mental models (how people actually understand the topic,

what kind of pictures they have built for themselves of how a given task is done or organized, the means or relationships of terms they use (at the supermarket: the user mental model is based on meals…)

•  user profiles, surveys, conceptual inquiry and task analyses, card storing, diaries


Interaction Design

•  In the world of dynamic information, •  there is not a single interface

•  The Interface experience is not just functionality,

•  but readability, navigation, and advertising … •  it encompasses all facets of someone’s interaction.


Interaction Design •  Information Needs of Interaction Designers

•  Task flows: strings of actions that are necessary for something interesting to happen (this includes knowing in what order people look at the elements, what their expectations for the next step are what kind of feedback they need, whether the results are what they had anticipated

•  The predictability and consistency of interfaces is critical (how much is enough? How much is needed?)

•  The relationship between the features on a site and the emphasis of specific interface elements is critical

•  Different audiences – first time users / experienced users – teenagers / 40s /80s

•  Useful Tools

•  Task Analysis (for finding out what interaction sequences should be, the terminology and the emphasis of features)

•  Focus Groups (the easiest way of determining people’s priorities •  Task based usability testing •  Log analysis


Identitiy Design

•  The style, the feeling, the vibe of a Web site is what makes it unique.

•  The identity is a combination of: •  What a site does, how it looks, what associations it evokes,

its editorial voices, what association it evokes, how it emphasizes certain features over others.

•  The editorial voice of the site •  Visual themes (can create an elements of recognition for a

site or for a group of sites •  The features a site emphasizes •  The association with an existing brand


Identity Design

•  Information Needs for Identity Designers •  The competitive strengths (what the product does better than

its competitors) •  The direction of the user’s attention •  Who the current users are •  What kinds of references and associations they prefer and

understand

•  Useful Tools •  Focus groups •  Surveys / Interviews •  Competitive Analysis


Recruiting •  Demographics •  Friends and family •  Expand your Horizon

•  Community email mailing lists and online bulletin boards

•  Your users •  New employees •  Past research participants

•  Prescreening


Recruiting •  Screening

•  Stick to 20 questions (most defined in 10 to 15) •  Make it short •  Be clear and specific •  Never use jargon •  Ask for exact dates, quantities, and times •  Every question should have a purpose •  Order questions from general to specific •  Question should not lead •  Clearly state the format of the research •  Build in flexibility •  Phone or email screening •  Scheduling … •  Pitfalls: the wrong people, no-shows, bias. Anonymity, teenagers’

schedules


Interviewing •  The interview structure

•  Introduction •  Warm-up •  General Issues •  Deep Focus •  Retrospective •  Wrap-up

•  Non-directed interview: •  the process of conducting interviews that do not lead or bias

the answer •  The process of getting at the user’s thoughts, feelings and

experiences without filtering those thoughts through the preconception of the interviewer


Non-directed Interview •  Non-directed interview. Every question should:

•  focus on the experience, not extrapolation •  Focus on immediate experience •  Be non judgmental •  Be focused on single topic •  Be open-ended (avoid binary questions)

•  Running a non-directed interview •  Define terms •  Don’t force opinions •  Restate answers •  Follow-up with examples, but always wait for an undirected answer first •  Use artifacts to keep people focused on the present and to trigger ideas. •  Be aware of your own expectations •  Never say the participant is wrong •  Keep questions simple, both in language and in intent •  Always review your tapes


Common Problems –  Close-ended questions: –  Questions with complex answers –  Words with multiple meaning –  Asking people to predict the future –  Invocation of authority or peer pressure –  Assuming you know the answer –  Assuming that they can answer the question –  People will not always say what they believe –  People will sometimes answer to a different question –  Breaking the rules – … Videotaping interviews …


User Profiles

•  User Profiles: •  Your create one or more fictitious users and try to

model them and their lived •  From general characteristics, you model specific

individuals who would buy and use your stuff •  Your final profile helps you define and compare

your ideal with reality •  Everyone on the team can reference and use them

as sounding boards for development ideas. •  When to do it:

•  always the first step of your research plan


How to do it

•  Two groups: •  The people who know the characteristics of the

users (marketing res., support, sales, business develop.) and

•  The people who need to know those characteristics (engineering, identity des, inter. des, inform archit.)

•  How to do: •  Interview local experts on previous exp •  Talk to users


List of Attributes •  The first step is to make a list of audience attributes

•  Post-it notes to have them write down things they suspect about th audience •  Share them

•  Demographic •  Age •  Gender •  Income and purchasing power •  Location •  Cultural •  Title •  Company size

•  Technological •  Computer •  Monitor •  Net connection •  Experience •  Browser brand and version •  Operating system


List of attributes •  Web use

•  Experience •  Typical tasks

•  Environment •  Use location •  Use Time •  Tool context •  Competition

•  Lifestyle / Psychographic •  Values and attitudes •  Media •  Activities


List of Attributes •  Roles

•  Titles •  Responsibilities •  Training •  Power •  Relationships •  Interactions

•  Goals •  Short Term •  Long Terms •  Motivation •  Outcome •  Pain


List of Attributes

•  Needs •  Functional •  Emotional •  Reasons

•  Desires •  Stated desideres (what do your users say thay want?) •  Unstated desires (What do they really want?)

•  Knowledge •  Domain knowledge •  Product Knowledge •  Competitive Awareness


List of Attributes

•  Usage Trends •  Frequency •  Considerations •  Loyalty

•  Tasks •  Reason •  Duration •  Order •  Criticality •  Method •  Model


Clustering

•  Once you’ve gathered the giant list of attributes, cluster them into profiles

•  Discuss respect to what was expected •  Keep the number of major clusters

between three and eight •  Create people around the clusters •  Prioritize •  Tell stories


Using profiles

•  Document •  The name of the profile •  A demographic description •  The profiled person’s goals •  His needs •  His abilities •  His perspective on the task and the product

•  Share •  Develop with profiles •  Regularly update


Focus Groups

•  Focus Groups •  are structured group interviews that quickly and

inexpensively reveal a target audience’s desires, motivations, values, experiences, and priorities

•  An excellent technique for uncovering what people think about a given topic and, especially, how they think about it

•  A focus group series is a sequence of tightly moderated group discussions among people taken from a thin slice of a product’s target audience.

•  Cfr con contextual inquiry / survey


Focus Groups •  An environment

•  where people feel comfortable revealing their thoughts and feel •  Often coupled with contextual inquiry and tsk analysis a

complete picture of how and why people are behaving right now •  What Focus Groups are not good for

•  To get usability information •  Focus Groups results are impossible to numerically generalize to

a larger population (as surveys) •  In situations where it is important to prove a point or to justify a

position •  Four types of Focus Groups:

•  Exploratory, feature prioritization, competitive analysis, trend explanation


How to conduct a FG •  A schedule •  The target audience •  The scope •  The topics •  Recruiting

•  Participants who are close, but not exactly ideal target audience

•  Never recruit people who know each other •  Avoid people who know about how focus groups work •  Screen out people who have significantly more knowledge

about any of the topics than the other participant


How to conduct a FG

•  FG questions should be: •  Carefully ordered •  Nondirected •  Open-ended •  Focused on specifies •  Personal •  Unambiguous

•  The structure: •  The introduction, the main discussion, and

the wrap-up


How to conduct a FG •  The Moderator

•  Always in control •  Always moving forward •  Nonjudgmental •  Respectful •  Prepared

•  Moderating the discussion •  Spend sometime with the group beforehand •  Stick to the guide, but be opportunistic when necessary •  Engage everyone in the discussion •  Avoid introducing new terminology and concepts •  Restrict your body language •  Clarify comments •  Restate ideas •  Probe for alternative perspectives •  Don’t dominate the discussion •  Provide time to think •  Use humor when appropriate •  Keep the energy level high •  Give people a break


How to conduct a FG

•  Asking questions •  Prioritize issues •  Write down opinions before discussing them •  Use the participant’s exact thoughts and words,

when possible •  Use the participants’ exact thoughts and words

when possible •  Key questions need to be asked verbatim •  Be ready with examples


How to conduct a FG •  Common Problems

•  Group-think •  Faulty assumptions •  Latecomers •  Reticent Groups •  Quiet participants •  Overly talkative participant •  Group dominance •  Unqualified participants •  Tangents •  Hostility •  Offensive Ideas •  Highly emotional topics


FG observer instructions •  Listen •  Don’t jump to conclusions •  FG are not statistically representative •  FG participants are expert •  FG are not a magic bullet •  Feel free to pass questions to the moderator •  People are contradictory •  Don’t write people off •  Save some pizza for the moderator…

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Kuniavsky 2003 - Observe UX (Slide)