More Than Usability - Speaker Deck

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More Than Usability Introduction to User Research

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RAZAN SADEQ User Researcher @razsadeq

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IN THIS TALK The Reasons The Basics The Methods

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Reasons The

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WHY RESEARCH You are not your users

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You are not your users

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2.77B internet users 510M active websites IT’S A MATTER OF SURVIVAL

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Does it give me value? Is it easy to use? Is it pleasant to use? USER VALUE

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Basics The

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DIMENSION ONE Attitudinal Behavioral vs.

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What people do. Helps you understand how people behave or interact around your product or in general What people say. Helps you understand or measure people's stated beliefs, preferences, attitudes, and perceptions Attitudinal Behavioral DIMENSION ONE

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DIMENSION TWO Natural use Scripted use No use vs. vs.

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CHOOSE THE RIGHT CONTEXT Understand behavior or attitudes as close to reality as possible Natural use Focus the insights on very specific scenarios or test cases Scripted use Examine issues that are broader than usage and usability No use

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DIMENSION THREE Quantitative Qualitative vs.

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Expectations Reactions Confusion Comprehension Behavior Page views Bounce rate Time on Site Yes/No True/False Quantitative Qualitative BEWARE OF DATA TYPES

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Qualitative insights tell you how they do it & why they do it Numbers tell you what people do & when they do it Quantitative Qualitative BEWARE OF DATA TYPES

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Title Background Goals Research questions Methodology Participants Schedule Interview Script PLAN YOUR UX RESEARCH

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Assume a beginner’s mindset Be Proactive Be Curious Question Everything Don’t judge Communicate your research GET A RESEARCHER’S MINDSET

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Methods The

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Field Studies

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Going where your users are to understand first-hand how they actually do things. FIELD STUDIES Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it

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FIELD STUDIES Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it Used in the discovery phase Learning and not testing Guide future product development. Identify opportunities for enhancing an existing product.

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FIELD STUDIES Choose the field and participants Prepare questions and things to note Observe what people do Take lots of notes and photos and video Translate the research results into affinity diagrams

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FIELD STUDIES • Observe real behavior • See people in context • Immensely rich source of data • Great source of stories and “feel” Pros

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FIELD STUDIES • Requires detailed planning • Analysis is time-consuming • Unstructured - you may not see what you want to see Cons

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Diary Studies

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A form of longitudinal research where, typically, users self-report their activities at regular intervals to create a log of their activities, thoughts, and frustrations. DIARY STUDIES Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it

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Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it Use to answers research questions that involve habits, prolonged processes, or perception change over time (likelihood to use, learnability, etc) are prime candidates for diary studies. DIARY STUDIES

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Recruit the participants Be clear about the expectations and instructions Give them tasks and questions to answer Send reminders Analyze and summarize DIARY STUDIES

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DIARY STUDIES • Highlights variations over time • Rich insight into natural use cases • Shows what motivates users to initiate certain actions • Can show how users become habituated to a product Pros

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DIARY STUDIES • Requires sustained commitment from user • Relies on user to report behaviour accurately • Time-consuming Cons

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Surveys

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Typically a set of questions used to assess a participant’s preferences, attitudes, characteristics and opinions on a given topic. SURVEYS Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it

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Learning about people’s general preferences Gathering feedback on a live product or during a pilot. Quantifying results from qualitative research activities such as contextual inquiry or interviews. SURVEYS Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it

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Prepare a survey & a screener Send out to users Sit back, relax, and see the data roll in. Visualize and communicate SURVEYS

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SURVEYS • Can reach statistical significance • Not restricted to people you can find • Great if combined with qualitative methods Pros

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SURVEYS • Insight can be shallow • Only get answers to the questions you ask • Answers may not reflect real behaviour and attitudes Cons

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Participatory Studies

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Actively involving stakeholders (incl. end users) in the design process through co- creation to help ensure that the product designed meets their needs and is usable. PARTICIPATORY STUDIES Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it

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Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it Used to understand new and complex systems and prompt discussion Effective for generative research purposes, or during the early stages of design PARTICIPATORY STUDIES

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Collaborative card sorting Collage making Story-boarding Context-mapping Paper prototyping PARTICIPATORY STUDIES

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PARTICIPATORY STUDIES • Help uncover the tacit and latent knowledge and needs of users • Help identify opportunities for delight and the identification of potential pain points Pros

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PARTICIPATORY STUDIES • Relatively unstructured • Can be counter-productive if taken too literally • Can be time-consuming Cons

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Desirability Studies

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A mix of quantitative and qualitative methods that allow you to assess users’ attitudes toward the functional and/or visual appeal of the website. DESIRABILITY STUDIES Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it

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Test the first impression of a design. Understand what emotions are triggered Measure visual design directions against specific adjectives DESIRABILITY STUDIES Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it

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Get users feedback on the different design options. Ask them to choose what adjectives they associate with each design, and ask them why. For a quantitative result, attach the design options in a survey to be sent out to a large number of people DESIRABILITY STUDIES

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DESIRABILITY STUDIES Present results in Venn diagram or if using paired opposites you can present it in a meter

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• Settles arguments about visual design • Great if combined with qual methods and A/B testing Pros DESIRABILITY STUDIES

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• It can be counter productive if used alone • Based on reported opinion • Answers may not reflect real behaviors and attitudes Cons DESIRABILITY STUDIES

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Usability Studies

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A technique used for evaluating a product by testing it with representative users. Tests the interactions, more than impressions. USABILITY STUDIES Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it

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You have an interactive site or mock up to test. You want to measure the efficiency, accuracy, emotional response and recall. You have flaws in your website but not sure where to start. The numbers are telling you something is wrong. USABILITY STUDIES Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it

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Based on specific scenarios, prepare a set of tasks Introduce the tester to the process Ask them to think aloud Start Recording Ask them whys, but avoid bias Review the videos with your team USABILITY STUDIES

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• Reliably highlights major usability problems before launch • Combine with interview for “why” insights Pros USABILITY STUDIES

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• Limited to testing working products • Can’t capture changes in behavior over time • Test behavior can be unrepresentative Cons USABILITY STUDIES

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A/B Testing

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Unleashing two different versions of a design on the world and see which performs the best. A/B TESTING Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it

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When two options are developed, both with obvious benefits, but with different focuses, but you are not sure which will be more effective. A/B TESTING Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it

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• Develop two options, or add a feature • Give it to the techies • Let it run for a sufficient time, depending on how many people visit your site daily • Roll out the better version A/B TESTING

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• Reliable source of data • Effective in gauging user response to small tweaks, like fonts or copy • Very fast in giving results Pros A/B TESTING

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• Does not explain why people react to it a certain way • Relies heavily on the test setup • The test rounds must be planned carefully if a goal is to measure interaction effects between isolated elements Cons A/B TESTING

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Researching Without Users

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Decision Makers are unconvinced Difficult access to users Lack of budget Lack of time Corporate policies Bureaucracy RESEARCHING WITHOUT USERS

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• Play Detective : Get the most out of your team. Talk to the sales people and customer support. • Buy existing research : nngroup, delloit, Baymard institute, DHL, Papers, Publications. • Web Diving : find forums where your users exist, social media, visit competitors. • Follow the trend on market-leading sites are doing. RESEARCHING WITHOUT USERS

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Every design decision that we make is a hypothesis; a proposal about how we can change people's behavior.

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Be agile design in a modular manner & pray things will go your way.

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Thank you @razsadeq

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• Nielsen Norman Group: When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods • xdstrategy.com: Desirability Studies: Measuring Aesthetic Response to Visual Designs REFERENCES