U C D Methodology

UCD Methodology

What is UCD?

Types of User ResearchTypes of User Research

User Centred Design

User centred Design is a method for designing ‘Ease of Use’ into the

“User Centered Design (UCD) is a user interface design process that focuses on Usability Goals, User Characteristics,

User centred Design is a method for designing Ease of Use into the total user experience with products.

p yEnvironment, Tasks and Workflow in the design of an interface.The UCD process is an iterative process, where design and evaluation steps are built in from the first stage of projects, through implementation ”through implementation.

- Shawn Lawton Henry (Author – Accessibility in UCD Process)

User Centred Design Process

1. Set Business Goals

UCD Steps

Determining the target markets, intended users and primary competition is central to all design and user participation.

2. Understand users

UCD Steps

A commitment to understand and involve the intended user is essential to the design process. If you want to understand your product, you must first understand the user.understand the user.

UCD Steps

3. Design the total user experience

Everything a customer sees, hears and touches is designed to satisfy user’s needs.

4. Evaluate Designs

UCD Steps

User feedback is gathered early and often, using prototypes of widely ranging fidelity, and this feedback drives product design and development

UCD Steps

5. Manage by continual user observation

Throughout the life of the product, continue to monitor and listen to your users and let their feedback inform your responses to market changes

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User Centred Design Process

• Before starting the new design, test the old design to identify the good parts that you should keep and the bad parts that give users trouble.

• Unless you're working on an intranet, test your competitors' designs to get cheap data on a range of alternative interfaces that have similar features tocheap data on a range of alternative interfaces that have similar features to your own.

• Conduct a field study to see how users behave in their natural habitat.

• Make paper prototypes of one or more new design ideas and test them. The less time you invest in these design ideas the better, because you'll need to change them all based on the test results. g

• Refine the design ideas that test best through multiple iterations, gradually moving from low-fidelity prototyping to high-fidelity representations that run on the computer Test each iterationthe computer. Test each iteration.

• Inspect the design relative to established usability guidelines, whether from your own earlier studies or published research.

• Once you decide on and implement the final design, test it again. Subtle usability problems always creep in during implementation.

Usability and UCD

• Usability is not UCD

• Usability is a result, a goal

• UCD is a methodology

• Usability is an outcome of UCD practices

User Research – Ethnographic Study

Ethnography (ethnos = people and graphein = writing)Ethnography (ethnos = people and graphein = writing)

Ethnography is the genre of writing that presents varying degrees of qualitative and quantitative descriptions of human social phenomena, based on fieldwork

How to go about it

• Examine users (consumers professionals etc) in their own environment• Examine users (consumers, professionals etc) in their own environment.

• What are they doing (Usage)

•What does it mean

• Infer (Interpret / synthesize)

• Find the connections

Don’t simply collect data but process it to find insights• Don’t simply collect data but process it to find insights.

• Apply to business or design problems

• Use products, services, packaging, design to tell the right story to users.

Examining users


Observation

• Watching what people are doing, how they do it.

Design of localized ATM for low income urban consumers

Studying Business opportunity for small business affordable device

Design of a multimedia application

Examining users


Interviewing

• Interacting directly with some people who can shed light on our problem (customers, users, former users, future users, lead users etc)

• Asking questions, doing exercises, showing artifacts

• Listening to what they say, how they say it, what they don’t say.

• Paying attention to where what they say and

Student Interviews were done at their homes

Paying attention to where what they say and what they do does not align.

Teacher Interview

Inferring data


• Conduct affinity and trend analysis.

• Understand the pressure points and choke points of the environment.

Affinity Wall

Insights were color coded which helped in further

General InsightYellow

Pink Breakdown

g panalysis

Pink

Orange

Breakdown

Design Idea

Fluorescent Yellow Interpretation



Apply to Business or Design Problems

• Understand how the problems and their solutions apply to the Design problem.

School Bag is usually heavy

The time table changes often, students have to carry most of the books


Apply to Business or Design Problems

• Understand how the problems and their solutions apply to the Design problem.

Text books are not colorful and children don’t find them interesting

User Research – Interviews

Interviews

Conducting a one to one conversation with the user which may or may not be in the natural environment.

Advantages:

• Helps in direct conversation with the user.

• It helps in gathering information about what users think about an existing product and what is their feedback on certain features.

Some things to keep in Mind

• Do not make the interview duration more than 90 minutes. You may lose user’s attention.user s attention.

• Use various interviewing techniques to get maximum data out of users.

• Listen to the user and do not express your own opinion.

• Take notes during the session. However, remember that all that the users says is not what he does. Use your own judgment when analyzing results.

User Research – Focus Groups

Focus Groups A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their attitude towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group membersgroup setting where participants are free to talk with other group members.

Some things to keep in Mind

S th t th t th th t f th l t• Screen the users to ensure that they are the part of the relevant user group.

• Keep 6 – 10 members in a group for an effective discussion.

• Structure the discussion loosely beforehand. Ensure that the moderator allows free flow of discussion.

Disadvantages of Focus Group

• The moderator has less control over a group than a one to one interview and thus time can be lost on irrelevant issuesand thus time can be lost on irrelevant issues.

• There is a chance of discussion being led by few articulate users and everyone agreeing to him without voicing their opinions.

User Research – Survey

Statistical surveys are used to collect quantitative information about it i l tiitems in a population

Methods of conducting surveys

• Telephone

• Mail

• Online surveys

• Personal in home survey• Personal in home survey

• Personal Mall intercept Survey

Tools for Online Surveys

User Research – Online Survey

go2poll.compolldaddy.com web-online-surveys.com

zoomerang.com surveymonkey.com

User Research – Web Analytics

Web Analytics measures and reports the actual usage data of a Web site.

Gathers information• Who is coming to your Web site• Who is coming to your Web site

• What information they're requesting

• Where they navigate

Advantages• Reflects actual Web site usage of all users over long periods of timeReflects actual Web site usage of all users over long periods of time

• Most valuable if used continuously

• Helps identify opportunities for improvement

User Research – Usability Testing

• The process of having potential users experience your site, software, or product

• Performance-based evaluation

• An ongoing process—not a one-shot evaluation

• Simply gathering opinions on an object or document is market research ratherSimply gathering opinions on an object or document is market research rather than usability testing. Usability testing usually involves a controlled experiment to determine how well people can use the product


• Checking to see if the design works

• Diagnosing problems

• Comparing alternatives

• Verifying that design goals are metVerifying that design goals are met


Methods• Setting up a usability test involves carefully creating a scenario, or realistic

situation, wherein the person performs a list of tasks using the product being tested while observers watch and take notes.

• Techniques popularly used to gather data during a usability test include think aloud protocol and eye tracking

• The best results come from testing no more than 5 users and running as many ll t t ff dsmall tests as you can afford

Hallway Testing

Hallway testing (or hallway usability testing) is a specific methodology of software usability testing. Rather than using an in-house, trained group of testers, just five to six random people, indicative of a cross-section of end users, are brought in to test th ft (b it li ti b it t ) th f th t h i f tthe software (be it an application, web site, etc.); the name of the technique refers to the fact that the testers should be random people who pass by in the hallway.


Direct Benefits• Gets feedback directly from users—not intermediaries

• Provides data for design decisions not opinions• Provides data for design decisions—not opinions

• Saves development time by avoiding rework late in the development process

• Creates a positive return on investment (ROI)

Ancillary Benefits• Builds a work team that values the user-centered process• Builds a work team that values the user-centered process

• Helps with “change management” when introducing new systems

Thank You

Technology

U C D Methodology