Upgrade to Pro — share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …

What UX Research Can You Do with 5 Users in 1 Hour?

Tomer Sharon
October 03, 2012

What UX Research Can You Do with 5 Users in 1 Hour?

When an 'agile' organization wants to do UX research, there's almost always an issue with research not being fast enough. Nevertheless, it's very easy to do fast, crappy research many people are happy with. This talk will first identify the heart and soul of good research: focused research questions. We will then discuss three fast, high-quality techniques you can implement with 5 users in 1 hour for better understanding what users need, for organizing a product, and improving its design: usability testing, card sorting, and noticeability evaluation.

Tomer Sharon

October 03, 2012
Tweet

More Decks by Tomer Sharon

Other Decks in Design

Transcript

  1. WHAT UX RESEARCH CAN YOU DO WITH 5 USERS IN

    1 HOUR? TOMER SHARON | @tsharon
  2. THE CHALLENGE UX research in agile teams is perceived as

    slow. Yet it is very easy to do fast, crappy research many people are happy with. HOW CAN UX RESEARCH BE FAST & OF HIGH- QUALITY?
  3. UX RESEARCH A discipline that studies people, design, and how

    they interact with each other to achieve specific goals in different contexts.
  4. RESEARCH WITH 5 USERS IN 1 HOUR Research questions Technique

    1: Field Friday Technique 2: Group Card Sort Technique 3: Noticeability Evaluation A UX research challenge for you!
  5. RESEARCH QUESTIONS Define specifics of what you are after The

    epicenter of any research activity Core of a study plan Require most attention Prevent drifting away to irrelevant areas
  6. RESEARCH QUESTION EXAMPLES 1.  How people schedule doctor appointments? 2. 

    What artifacts people use for scheduling doctor appointments? 3.  What are people’s pain points and delights during the process? 4.  What are some opportunities for problem solving in this realm?
  7. WHERE DO RESEARCH QUESTIONS COME FROM? Reason for conducting a

    UX study Assumptions about people, users, designs Team dilemmas Decisions the team is trying to make Big bosses
  8. 3 What is the right way to structure information and

    help people navigate through it?
  9. FIELD FRIDAY 1 A technique for learning oh-so-many things about

    a design. A usability test conducted by engineers, speed-dating style.
  10. Things to keep Opportunities for improvement Data about speed, success,

    & satisfaction Missing features Unforgettable quotes RESULTS 1
  11. “I think that this is sort of funny, but if

    I wasn’t amused by this, I’d be really fucking pissed”
  12. “The one thing that stood out for me was how

    embarrassed I was to see how bad our product was and how awkward it was for me not to be able to give good answers to any of the customer’s good questions.”
  13. Answer the research questions Core Realistic Probably one or two

    More than what you need Print or read TASKS 1
  14. Imagine you are planning a vacation in Bora Bora in

    May 2013 with your spouse. Use United.com to find a flight that suits you. TASK EXAMPLE 1
  15. PLAY-BY-PLAY 1 Meet & greet participant – create rapport Brief,

    warm-up, and give tasks Insist on thinking out loud Mostly observe and take notes, shut up Don’t lead the witness Don’t think about solutions yet
  16. ANALYSIS 1 What has repeated? Any head-bangers? What were good

    and bad things? What surprised you? What are the answers to your research questions?
  17. A BETTER OPTION 1 “IF YOU WANT TO BE A

    GOOD ARCHEOLOGIST, GET OUT OF THE LIBRARY!”
  18. GROUP CARD SORT A research technique for learning how to

    structure information in a product. Groups of users are asked to put a set of items into logical groups. 2
  19. PREPARATIONS 2 Selecting content (current or future) Preparing the cards

    (<100, + empty, #) Selecting a tool Open or closed sort? Group work In-person
  20. PLAY-BY-PLAY Brief participants Mostly observe and take notes Keep the

    momentum going Don’t lead the witness Prompt quiet participants 2
  21. DATA ANALYSIS 2 Cluster analysis (xSort, spreadsheet*) Eyeball groupings Unify

    group names Analyze oral feedback & comments •  http://www.xsortapp.com/ •  http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/ analyzing_card_sort_results_with_a_spreadsheet_template
  22. NOTICEABILITY EVALUATION 3 A research technique for learning whether people

    notice key elements in your design. An exercise you can plug to a Field Friday interview during which users are asked to re-create a screen based on their memory.
  23. PREPARATIONS Print any screen Cut it into elements Print and

    cut out non-elements Mix Blank paper and scissors Sharpie and tape One kit per user 3
  24. PLAY-BY-PLAY 3 Hand kit to user after completing a task

    Explain these are elements of a screen+ Ask to re-assemble the screen Ask to draw parts that are missing Shut up and watch what happens
  25. DATA ANALYSIS 3 Did they put key elements in place?

    Did they leave out what doesn’t belong? Did they draw elements that weren’t there?
  26. RECAP The epicenteredness of research questions Usability speed-dating coolness Card

    games are it Arts & crafts is better than eye tracking Yummy challenges can be healthy
  27. “DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU SEE ON A POWERPOINT SLIDE JUST

    BECAUSE THERE’S A PICTURE WITH A QUOTE NEXT TO IT.” - THE SITUATION