More Than Usability

In web-based companies, User Research is often misunderstood for a usability test performed after developing the product, but it actually begins the moment we learn about a project, whether we acknowledge it or not.

In this presentation, you will find a set of investigative techniques to add context and insight to your design and development process. Those techniques can be incorporated before, during, or after the design solution is established. The insights gained from research help us focus on the target audience needs and combat the natural tendency to design for ourselves, or our stakeholders.

Applying research methods continually in your design and development process helps you meet your users great expectations, by providing them with a compelling user experience that is useful, usable, and desirable.

The methods discussed in this presentation should help you:

- Know if your product or service is needed in the market
- Find the flaws in your product
- increase the efficiency and effectiveness
- Learn how to do a regular check up.

Transcript

1. More Than Usability Introduction to User Research
2. RAZAN SADEQ User Researcher @razsadeq
3. IN THIS TALK The Reasons The Basics The Methods
4. Reasons The
5. WHY RESEARCH You are not your users
6. You are not your users
7. 2.77B internet users 510M active websites IT’S A MATTER OF SURVIVAL
8. Does it give me value? Is it easy to use? Is it pleasant to use? USER VALUE
9. Basics The
10. DIMENSION ONE Attitudinal Behavioral vs.
11. 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
12. DIMENSION TWO Natural use Scripted use No use vs. vs.
13. 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
14. DIMENSION THREE Quantitative Qualitative vs.
15. Expectations Reactions Confusion Comprehension Behavior Page views Bounce rate Time on Site Yes/No True/False Quantitative Qualitative BEWARE OF DATA TYPES
16. 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
17. Title Background Goals Research questions Methodology Participants Schedule Interview Script PLAN YOUR UX RESEARCH
18. Assume a beginner’s mindset Be Proactive Be Curious Question Everything Don’t judge Communicate your research GET A RESEARCHER’S MINDSET
19. Methods The
20. Field Studies
21. Going where your users are to understand first-hand how they actually do things. FIELD STUDIES Think it Build it Ship it Tweak it
22. 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.
23. 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
24. FIELD STUDIES • Observe real behavior • See people in context • Immensely rich source of data • Great source of stories and “feel” Pros
25. FIELD STUDIES • Requires detailed planning • Analysis is time-consuming • Unstructured - you may not see what you want to see Cons
26. Diary Studies
27. 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
28. 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
29. Recruit the participants Be clear about the expectations and instructions Give them tasks and questions to answer Send reminders Analyze and summarize DIARY STUDIES
30. 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
31. DIARY STUDIES • Requires sustained commitment from user • Relies on user to report behaviour accurately • Time-consuming Cons
32. Surveys
33. 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
34. 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
35. Prepare a survey & a screener Send out to users Sit back, relax, and see the data roll in. Visualize and communicate SURVEYS
36. SURVEYS • Can reach statistical significance • Not restricted to people you can find • Great if combined with qualitative methods Pros
37. SURVEYS • Insight can be shallow • Only get answers to the questions you ask • Answers may not reflect real behaviour and attitudes Cons
38. Participatory Studies
39. 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
40. 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
41. Collaborative card sorting Collage making Story-boarding Context-mapping Paper prototyping PARTICIPATORY STUDIES
42. 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
43. PARTICIPATORY STUDIES • Relatively unstructured • Can be counter-productive if taken too literally • Can be time-consuming Cons
44. Desirability Studies
45. 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
46. 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
47. 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
48. DESIRABILITY STUDIES Present results in Venn diagram or if using paired opposites you can present it in a meter
49. • Settles arguments about visual design • Great if combined with qual methods and A/B testing Pros DESIRABILITY STUDIES
50. • It can be counter productive if used alone • Based on reported opinion • Answers may not reflect real behaviors and attitudes Cons DESIRABILITY STUDIES
51. Usability Studies
52. 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
53. 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
54. 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
55. • Reliably highlights major usability problems before launch • Combine with interview for “why” insights Pros USABILITY STUDIES
56. • Limited to testing working products • Can’t capture changes in behavior over time • Test behavior can be unrepresentative Cons USABILITY STUDIES
57. A/B Testing
58. 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
59. 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
60. • 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
61. • 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
62. • 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
63. Researching Without Users
64. Decision Makers are unconvinced Difficult access to users Lack of budget Lack of time Corporate policies Bureaucracy RESEARCHING WITHOUT USERS
65. • 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
66. Every design decision that we make is a hypothesis; a proposal about how we can change people's behavior.
67. Be agile design in a modular manner & pray things will go your way.
68. Thank you @razsadeq
69. • Nielsen Norman Group: When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods • xdstrategy.com: Desirability Studies: Measuring Aesthetic Response to Visual Designs REFERENCES