General Assembly Online Class: High-quality, impactful, fast lean UX research for engineers

Many software engineers and product developers want to be able to learn from their customers about their wants, needs, and abilities. It’s understood that products should solve real problems for people while providing them with an excellent user experience, yet when it comes to conducting user experience research to actively gather insights from users themselves, doubts begin to emerge. Countless software engineering practitioners perceive UX research as wasteful and slow and either do it as an afterthought or skip it completely, instead deciding to trust their own intuitions. Using three short case studies, this livestream will demonstrate how UX research can be done quickly, effectively, and most importantly, by the software engineers themselves.

Transcript

1. HIGH-QUALITY, IMPACTFUL, FAST LEAN UX RESEARCH FOR ENGINEERS TOMER SHARON, Sr. UX RESEARCHER, @tsharon
2. WHAT IS UX?
3. HOW PEOPLE FEEL WHEN THEY USE SOMETHING.
4. AND WHAT’S UX RESEARCH?
5. PROVIDING INSIGHTS INTO PRODUCT USERS, THEIR PERSPECTIVES, AND THEIR ABILITIES TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE AT THE RIGHT TIME.
6. 3 QUESTIONS UX RESEARCH CAN ANSWER
7. WHAT DO PEOPLE NEED?
8. WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT?
9. CAN PEOPLE USE IT?
10. WHAT’S HIGH- QUALITY, FAST, & IMPACTFUL LEAN UX RESEARCH?
11. HIGH-QUALITY IMPACTFUL FAST IGNORED SLOW CRAPPY
12. KEY
13. FIRST RULE OF UX RESEARCH
14. DON’T LISTEN TO USERS
15. OBSERVE BEHAVIOR
16. I DON’T LISTEN TO USERS BECAUSE OF THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ATTITUDE & BEHAVIOR
17. STRONG RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR
18. STUDENTS WERE ASKED ABOUT THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARD CHEATING. A FEW WEEKS LATER, THEY WERE ASKED TO GRADE THEIR OWN TESTS. THERE WAS CLOSE TO ZERO CORRELATION BETWEEN ATTITUDE TOWARD CHEATING AND ACTUAL CHEATING. [COREY, 1937]
20. MANY STUDIES FOUND NO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR
21. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGISTS STARTED ASKING WHAT AFFECTS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTITUDE & BEHAVIOR?
22. 6 FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR
24. ATTITUDE-BEHAVIOR RELATIONSHIP LEVEL OF MEASURMENT
25. A GENERAL ATTITUDE CAN’T HELP IN PREDICTING SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS
26. GENERAL ATTITUDE TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A ‘SOCIAL ANIMAL’?
27. SPECIFIC BEHAVIOR NUMBER OF FRIENDS, LIKES, COMMENTS, AND SHARES ON FACEBOOK
28. A SPECIFIC & UNIQUE ATTITUDE MIGHT PREDICT A SPECIFIC & UNIQUE BEHAVIOR
29. GENERAL & SPECIFIC ATTITUDES OF MARRIED WOMEN TOWARD USING THE PILL [DAVIDSON & JACCARD, 1979]
30. ATTITUDE USING BIRTH CONTROL THE PILL AS A BIRTH CONTROL USING THE PILL AS A BIRTH CONTROL USING THE PILL AS A BIRTH CONTROL IN THE NEXT 2 YEARS CORRELATION 0.08 0.32 0.53 0.57
32. ATTITUDE-BEHAVIOR RELATIONSHIP TIME BETWEEN MEASURMENTS
33. PRINCIPLE POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN ATTITUDE & BEHAVIOR INCREASES IF MEASUREMENT TIME- DIFFERENCE IS SHORT
34. REASON BECAUSE PEOPLE’S ATTITUDES ARE NOT STABLE AND CHANGE OVER TIME
35. HOW MANY TIMES DID A USER DRAW A SCREEN THEY WANT, ONLY TO REJECT IT 3 MONTHS LATER? [AFTER YOU COMPLETED CODING THE DAMN THING]
37. ATTITUDE-BEHAVIOR RELATIONSHIP WAY OF ACQUIRING ATTITUDE
38. JOEY, 10-YEARS-OLD, WANTS A VIDEO GAME HE PLAYED AT A FRIEND’S HOUSE; HIS FRIEND MARK HEARD ABOUT THIS GAME FROM JOEY; THEIR FRIEND ANDY SAW A COMMERCIAL FOR THAT GAME. WHO IS MORE LIKELY TO NAG THEIR PARENTS TO BUY THE GAME?
39. PRINCIPLE PAST EXPERIENCE CLARIFIES ATTITUDE AND INCREASES ITS POSITIVE CORRELATION WITH BEHAVIOR
40. APPLICATION 1 TO UX IN USABILITY TESTING, ASK ABOUT OPINIONS ONLY AFTER USERS ACTUALLY EXPERIENCE THE PRODUCT
41. APPLICATION 2 TO UX ASK ABOUT PAST EXPERIENCES RATHER THAN PREDICTIONS OF THE FUTURE
43. ATTITUDE-BEHAVIOR RELATIONSHIP CLARITY OF ATTITUDE
44. PRINCIPLE ATTITUDE & BEHAVIOR CORRELATION INCREASES WHEN ATTITUDE IS CLEARER
45. STUDENTS PARTICIPATED IN ELECTION IF THEY HAD MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CANDIDATES COMPARED TO STUDENTS WHO WERE NOT VERY UP-TO-DATE WITH CANDIDATE INFORMATION. [DAVIDSON ET AL, 1985]
47. ATTITUDE-BEHAVIOR RELATIONSHIP ACCESSIBILITY OF ATTITUDE TO CONCIOUS
48. PRINCIPLE CONSCIOUS- ACCESSIBLE ATTITUDE BETTER PREDICTS BEHAVIOR
49. COMPUTER GEEKS SPEND A LOT OF TIME THINKING ABOUT THEIR OWN COMPUTER SOFTWARE PREFERENCES. PEOPLE’S ATTITUDES BETTER PREDICT BEHAVIOR WHEN THEY ARE ASKED OR HEAR ABOUT THEM REPEATEDLY. [POWELL & FAZIO, 1984, BORGIDA & CAMPBELL, 1982]
51. ATTITUDE-BEHAVIOR RELATIONSHIP PERSONALITY
52. PRINCIPLE PEOPLE WITH HIGH SELF MONITORING DO NOT DEMONSTRATE CONSISTENCY OF ATTITUDE & BEHAVIOR
53. PEOPLE CONCERNED WITH THEIR SELF-PRESENTATION CLOSELY MONITOR THEMSELVES TO ENSURE DESIRED PUBLIC APPEARANCES
54. IT IS HARD TO PREDICT BEHAVIOR BASED ON ATTITUDE OF PEOPLE WITH HIGH SELF-MONITORING SCORES. [SNYDER, 1974, 1979]
55. THIS IS WHY YOU SEE SOME PEOPLE MISERABLY FAILING TO COMPLETE TASKS IN A USABILITY TEST YET ARE ‘EXTREMELY SATISFIED’
56. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?
57. NEVER ASK WHAT THEY NEED DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GOOD THING TO HAVE?
58. INSTEAD OBSERVE WHAT THEY DO SHOW ME THE MOST FREQUENT TASK YOU TYPICALLY DO.
59. NEVER ASK WHAT IS THEIR FEEDBACK WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS COOL “SHARE” BUTTON?
60. INSTEAD WATCH THEM USE IT CAN YOU SHOW ME HOW YOU DO THAT?
61. HIGH-QUALITY
62. ONLY AN EYE TRACKER CAN TELL IF USERS NOTICE STUFF
63. REALLY?
64. EYE TRACKERS ARE NOT MIND READERS
65. EYE TRACKERS TELL YOU WHERE PEOPLE LOOK, NOT WHAT THEY SEE
66. NOTICEABILITY TEST
67. NOTICEABILITY TEST A RESEARCH TECHNIQUE FOR LEARNING WHETHER PEOPLE NOTICE KEY ELEMENTS IN YOUR DESIGN
68. HOW TO AFTER USERS COMPLETE A TASK ASK THEM TO RE- ASSEMBLE THE KEY SCREEN, SHUT UP, & WATCH WHAT HAPPENS
71. ANALYSIS DID THEY PUT KEY ELEMENTS IN PLACE? DID THEY LEAVE OUT WHAT DOESN’T BELONG? DID THEY DRAW ELEMENTS THAT WEREN’T THERE?
72. RESULT YOU GET A CRYSTAL-CLEAR ANSWER
73. QUESTION IT ANSWERS DO THEY NOTICE IT?
74. WHY IS IT HIGH- QUALITY?
75. IMPACTFUL
76. A/B USABILITY STUDY*
77. *A STANDALONE A/B TEST ONLY TELLS YOU WHAT HAPPENED, NOT WHY
78. A/B USABILITY TEST AN ONLINE RESEARCH TECHNIQUE DURING WHICH USERS ARE ASKED TO COMPLETE TASKS WHILE UX METRICS ARE COLLECTED BEHIND THE SCENES
79. RESULTS THINGS TO KEEP OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT COMPERATIVE DATA ABOUT SPEED, SUCCESS, & SATISFACTION
80. TASK EXAMPLE IMAGINE YOU ARE PLANNING A VACATION IN BORA BORA BETWEEN MAY 10 AND 20, 2013, WITH YOUR SPOUSE. USE UNITED.COM TO BOOK YOUR FLIGHTS.
81. WHY IS IT IMPACTFUL?
82. FAST
84. COLORFUL COLLABORATION TOOL
85. THE RAINBOW SPREADSHEET
86. THE RAINBOW SPREADSHEET A SPREADSHEET WITH WHICH DATA COLLECTED DURING A UX STUDY IS CENTRALLY DOCUMENTED COLLABORATIVELY BY A TEAM
87. THE SPREADSHEET SERVES AS THE CENTERPIECE FOR LESSONS LEARNED FROM A STUDY AND LATER TURNS INTO THE FINAL REPORT
93. ADVANTAGES INVOLVES THE ENTIRE TEAM FAST TURNAROUND OF RESULTS COMMITTMENT TO ACT ON RESULTS VISUAL INFO CLARIFIES WHAT’S IMPORTANT NO REPORT
94. DISADVANTAGES ENGINEERS STOP CODING SOME PEOPLE CAN’T ATTEND CAN’T BE USED IN SOME ORGANIZATIONS NO REPORT
95. CURRENTLY ON
96. WHY IS IT FAST?
97. RECAP
98. HOW PEOPLE FEEL WHEN THEY USE SOMETHING.
99. PROVIDING INSIGHTS INTO PRODUCT USERS, THEIR PERSPECTIVES, AND THEIR ABILITIES TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE AT THE RIGHT TIME.
100. WHAT DO PEOPLE NEED?
101. WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT?
102. CAN PEOPLE USE IT?
103. PSYCHOLOGY OF ATTITUDE & BEHAVIOR 1.  Level of measurement 2.  Time between measurements 3.  Way of acquiring attitude 4.  Clarity of attitude 5.  Accessibility of attitude to conscious 6.  Personality
105. WANT HIGH- QUALITY?
106. FOCUS ON BEHAVIOR TRY THE NOTICEABILITY TEST
107. LOOKING FOR IMPACT?
108. COMPARE TRY THE A/B USABILITY TEST
109. NEED FAST RESULTS?
110. NO REPORTS! TRY THE RAINBOW SPREADSHEET
111. HIGH-QUALITY IMPACTFUL FAST
112. AND PLEASE…
113. DON’T LISTEN TO USERS
114. DO LISTEN TO SNOWMOBILING TOUR GUIDES