User Experience Research: ‘Just do it!’-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Andy Priestner

Cambridge University LibraryAndy Priestner Training & Consulting

Travelled 40,000 miles in the past 2 weeks.

And whenever I travel I am plagued by truly awful user experiences of services.

And yet… apart from some terrible emailed surveys I have not once been asked about any of the services I have used.

Represents a massive missed opportunity.

https://flic.kr/p/rkdtcT

My ‘Road to Damascus’ moment…

I had discovered methods that revealed the real experience of my users and wanted to share them with other librarians.

User Experience is everything that happens to your users when they interact with your service in any way (physically or remotely)

It includes everything they see, everything they hear, everything they do, as well as their emotional reactions

Crucially its about examining behaviours as well as needs

It is definitely not just about asking people about their needs…

https://flic.kr/p/fuGmBy

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.”

HENRY FORD

“It's not the consumers’ job to know what they want”

STEVE JOBS

We are very poor at predicting our future behaviour and at knowing what services or products we will end up using

If someone had told me a few years ago that I would send most of my emails via my iPad or iPhone I would not have believed them

Household energy conservation study (Wes Schultz and Robert Cialdini)

Which of the following messages would persuade householders to conserve energy?

1. You will be helping the environment2. You are protecting future generations 3. You will save money4. Your neighbours are already conserving energy

Meter readings were taken after householders received eachmessage

After all the messages had been relayed, householders said the least persuasive was…

4. the fact that their neighbours were already conserving energy

However meter readings showed this message to be the MOST effective in changing behavior

It would appear that it is also not the consumers’ job to reliably know how they behave

And yet, in libraries we are constantly asking our users: “How we can improve the services we offer?” and whether they will use new services…

Are we wasting our time?I would argue that we are.

We are regularly asking our users what they think and what we can do to make our services better – and this tends to ONLY be through surveys and focus groups. How do they react to these questions?

https://flic.kr/p/57H7r4

What we ask

How would you rate the library?

How would you rate library staff?

What library service need to be improved?

Would you use the new ‘X’ service?

Have you got any other comments?

Library survey responses translated…

Score

9

8.5

What they say:

‘It’s good’

‘They’re really nice’

‘More books‘

‘No’

<Blank>

What they may be thinking:

They’re nice I don’t want to upset them

I’m not sure what they do beyond shelving

I can’t think how else to answer that question

I don’t think I’d use that

I don’t really think about the library

https://flic.kr/p/8Frrtm

“Users don’t think about libraries all that much. They use them but they don’t think about them. They have got much more interesting things to think about than how to help us improve our services”Andy Priestner

What are the main problems with surveys?

https://flic.kr/p/brnnFP

• only reaching a percentage of users• largely filled in by pro- or anti-library users

• mainly quant data, comment boxes left empty• self-reporting is unreliable• closed or leading questions

• frustrating to complete• too many of them

• too long

I am not saying abandon surveys – senior management will always

require them and they offer some useful baseline statistics, but they

actually reveal very little about the behaviour or real needs of our users.

https://flic.kr/p/nT2iC4

An embedded User Experience (UX) research programme delivering new library products and services in response to behaviours and needs

‘SPACEFINDER’

UX research and learning:Observation, interviews, and card sorting revealed that library users were not aware of the library spaces available to them and that they had diverse study needs that regularly changed.

What Futurelib did next:Create a web-based product to help Cambridge library users to identify study spaces inside and outside of libraries that match their specific study and facility requirements at any one time.

Reaction: Rave reviews and heavy usage: ‘you might be amused to know that the Students Union are astonished that the University has built something so up-to-date and relevant to student life’ – SU Welfare Rep.

‘PROTOLIB’

UX research and learning:Intensive observation and interviews in four different environments across Cambridge – two in libraries, two outside. Modification of the layout and furniture in the spaces in order to reach an optimal environment for users.

What Futurelib did next:Identified different working patterns in different environments including a gradient of working intensity. Recommended a better balance of different types of study spaces across Cambridge, specifically more low and medium intensity environments.

Reaction: Users happier with the space options; departments purchased furniture we recommended; architects adopted our intensity gradient finding for their redevelopment plans for a large site of University buildings/libraries.

‘SNAPSHOT’

UX research and learning:The creation of a cultural probe for postdocs and PhDs: a pack of materials, including a research diary and a series of tasks: draw a cognitive map; write a love or break-up letter to a library space; take photographs of your study routine and tools. We gathered a huge amount of data on routines and behaviours.

What Futurelib did next:Mapped all of the data in order to discover emerging themes. Identification of the need for a service that details library staff expertise; the need for a service which promotes support and understanding of the University’s statistical packages. Evidence that suggests embedded librarian roles might be very valuable to these users.

Reaction:Green light for a new ‘embedded librarians’ project.

Projects have also generated ‘quick fixes’ e.g. door stopper on the gent’s toilet, cushions for longer stays, blankets for warmth, adding hyperlinks and buttons to websites, signage etc.

https://flic.kr/p/5UfoRG

BUSTING SOME UX MYTHS…

https://flic.kr/p/fTNFJk

Just because some methods are fun and sound a but strange, does not mean they do not have a serious purpose. Library users find them attractive and engaging.

https://flic.kr/p/63YJkd

This is not about a choice between quantitative and qualitative data: it’s about a better balance of both. The value of the latter is often ignored.

I’m often told that these methods are not scalable. We’ve disproved that by producing products and approaches that are used across Cambridge University.

https://flic.kr/p/3kxfp

https://flic.kr/p/nPjyQr

UX research is not only about behaviours, it also involves using better methods than librarians have used before to uncover real needs, chiefly through interview.

https://flic.kr/p/dKRumu

UX research is not always time-consuming. Lean projects and quick wins are entirely possible. Select smaller samples and don’t try to be too completist.

UX is not a fad, nor is it going ‘out of fashion’ any time soon. How can it when it’s about discovering the behaviours and attitudes of our users?

https://flic.kr/p/7FUbtT

“You don’t need to be an expert in something to try it”

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

UX does not require you to be an expert in the field. You may wish to seek advice on method but there is now more than enough out there to get you started.

User Experience research reading list: books by Aaron Schmidt and Amanda Etches; by myself and Matt Borg; and the reports I write on Futurelib Programme projects.

KEY BENEFITS OF CONDUCTING UX RESEARCH…

https://flic.kr/p/fTNFJkhttps://flic.kr/p/dJvgNh

Excellent for personal & professional development and teamwork/collaboration

UX can depict library as leading the way - at the forefront of innovation

https://flic.kr/p/u9DjnK

Better dialogue with students – UX helps to prove that we do understand them

https://flic.kr/p/oUdvHw

Far richer and more meaningful detail about our users and their needs

https://flic.kr/p/cXxRRb

UX approaches uncover complexity – accepts that the world is not black and white

If UX is supported at notoriously conservative Cambridge, it can succeed anywhere!

https://flic.kr/p/pUik5K

UX can make a real impact as it responds to real behaviours and intervenes

https://flic.kr/p/7d68ku

It is pragmatic, evidence-based and the goal is fuller information: therefore reliable

You don’t need expensive equipment. Start watching, start listening, start recording, start learning…

Just do it.

https://flic.kr/p/qxiHBk

User Experience Research: ‘Just do it!’-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Andy Priestner

Cambridge University LibraryAndy Priestner Training & Consulting