User Engagement for Software Teams

Sponsored by

David Scronce ▪ Student Service Systems

April 6, 2010

Presenters

Allison BloodworthBernie GeuyDaphne OgleDavid ScronceRachel HollowgrassTony Christopher

User Engagement for Berkeley’s Software Teams

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

Why engage users?

To best meet user needs

We are not them, and they are not us.

To achieve user buy-in

To minimize time and cost of incorporating previously unrecognized features

To ensure that a project is both useful and usable

A story...

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

It is the task of the parent,

user experience designer or

government to engage their

users and convey the benefits

of these activities.

Are users always right?

Users ask WIIFM? What’s in it for me?

For many of us:

Babies don’t like to wear shoes.

Patients don’t enjoy visiting the dentist.

Citizens don’t want to pay taxes.

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

Once upon a time in 2002

Game NeverendingThis online, multi-player game was launched in 2002:

Based on instant messaging and object manipulation

No way to win or measure success

Community and communication between players was encouraged

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Neverending, http://www.gnespy.com/museum/

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

Game Neverending

Virtual objects to be manipulated and chatted about included:

Sheets of paper

Bowls of gruel

Slime balls


User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

Game Neverending

A team member had an idea.

What if users could add their own files as objects? Users could share and chat about:

Word docs

Photographs

The team implemented this feature.


DOC

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

Game Neverending

Users really liked the photo-sharing feature. They responded so strongly that the team decided to make that feature more prominent. Eventually, the interface was radically changed and all other aspects of Game Neverending were removed. The site was renamed and went on to become a very popular online tool named ...

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Neverending, http://www.gnespy.com/museum/, Yahoo and Creative Commons.

Yay team!You listened!

You are heroes!

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

Game Neverending


... Flickr!

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

How can software teams engage users?

Survey

Focus Group

Interview

Card Sort

ParticipatoryDesign Data

Analysis

Examples of ActivitiesUsabilityStudy(FKA “User Test”)

Contextual Inquiry

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010


Light EngagementDaphne Ogle

Usability Study (FKA “User Test”)

“Psst! Want a Peet’s gift card?Come test our software for 5 minutes.”

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010


Significant EngagementBernie Geuy, student portal project

A series of design workshops resulted in the creation of a task force:

Cal Student Online Experience (COSE)

The users are on the team!

Participatory Design

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010


Significant EngagementBernie Geuy, Student portal project

Sketches from students

Participatory Design

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

How can Berkeley teams find users?

The GoTo Network

The GoTo Network is here for you! Use the Network to contact users and receive input on your project.

1 Coordinator: Tony Christopher

Administers list of GoTo People

Keeps us all connected and working effectively

Software Project Teams

GoTo People

End Users and SMEs

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

How can Berkeley teams find users?

The GoTo Network

What the GoTo People expect from software teams:

Clear, reasonable requests

Updates or a method to stay informed about software projects

This allows them to remain effective and “in the know.”

Software Project Teams

GoTo People

End Users and SMEs

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

A clear, reasonable request for GoTo People

A Clear, Reasonable Request:

Topic

Types of users

Commitment

Time frame

Incentives

Status tool

Way to contact you or your team

GoTo People,

The Cal Grad Mobile Team is interested in graduate students’ use of mobile devices. Could you please put us in touch with any interested grad students? Participation will involve one hour of time during the week of May 24 to 28, 2010. The only incentive that we can offer is a more targeted mobile experience in the future.

Here’s the page on which you can track our project’s status:

www.berkeley.edu/cgmt/status.html

Thank you.

—Cal Grad Mobile Team <[email protected]>

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

Address for GoTo Network

[email protected]

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

How many users are enough?

Rules of Thumb

Broad activities such as surveys, data analysis, etc

Focused, extended work such as participatory design

In-depth qualitative work such as contextual inquiry or usability testing

Source: Jakob Nielsen, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/quantitative_testing.html

1 10 100 1000

Number of Participants

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

Everyone on a team — architects,

coders, graphic designers, project

managers, etc. — can benefit from

contact with users. If one person on

a team does most of the work with

users, have them pair up with other

team members so that everyone

gets a little exposure.

Who can work with users?

Much of user engagement is simple. Anyone on a team can participate if they have skills like these:

Active listening

Empathy: Understanding people’s motivations

Big picture

Attention to detail

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

YES!Contact the campus UCD group:

[email protected]

Allison Bloodworth

Is there any help available?

The campus User-Centered Design group meets monthly.

Here are some ways the group can assist your project:

Suggestions for user engagement activities

Feedback on usability

Advice on tough design problems

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

If you have a question about the “human subjects” aspect of an activity, visit the CPHS website at

http://cphs.berkeley.edu/

Are participants “human subjects”?

UC Berkeley’s Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects is comprised of two Institutional Review Boards (IRB). The primary mission of the IRB is to ensure the protection of the rights and welfare of all human participants in research conducted by university faculty, staff and students.

Source: http://cphs.berkeley.edu/

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

Questions

What was meaningful to you today?

How could we make this group more valuable to you?

What are our next steps?

User Engagement

for Berkeley’s

Software Teams

April 6, 2010

Contact Information and Resources

PeopleAllison Bloodworth, [email protected]

Bernie Geuy, [email protected]

Daphne Ogle, [email protected]

David Scronce, Student Service [email protected]

Rachel Hollowgrass, [email protected]

Tony Christopher, Student Service [email protected]

OrganizationsAssistive Technology Teaching and Learning Center (ATTLC)http://attlc.berkeley.edu/about.html

Campus User-Centered Design [email protected]

Committee for the Protection of Human Subjectshttp://cphs.berkeley.edu/

Fluid Project resourceshttp://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Design+Handbook

GoTo [email protected]

Further ReadingAdaptive Pathhttp://www.adaptivepath.com/

Alan Cooperhttp://www.cooper.com/

Boxes and Arrowshttp://www.boxesandarrows.com

Don't Make Me Think by Steve KrugISBN 0321344758

Interaction Design Associationhttp://www.ixda.org/

Jakob Nielsenhttp://www.useit.com