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.

Transcript

1. WHAT UX RESEARCH CAN YOU DO WITH 5 USERS IN 1 HOUR? TOMER SHARON | @tsharon
2. I’M TOMER
3. 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?
4. USER EXPERIENCE What people feel when they use something.
5. UX RESEARCH A discipline that studies people, design, and how they interact with each other to achieve specific goals in different contexts.
6. USERS Our Gods.
7. 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!
8. SO, WHAT UX RESEARCH CAN YOU DO WITH 5 USERS IN 1 HOUR?
9. IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN
10. 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
11. GOALS & RESEARCH QUESTIONS A study goal is general Research questions are specific
12. GOAL EXAMPLE Uncover user needs for scheduling doctor appointments
13. 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?
14. 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
15. KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS
16. 1 What do people need?
17. 2 What are good design aspects of a product and opportunities to improve it?
18. 3 What is the right way to structure information and help people navigate through it?
19. 4 Do people notice important elements in our design?
20. 1 NEEDS 2 USABILITY 3 INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE 4 ATTENTION
21. 1 FIELD FRIDAY 2 GROUP CARD SORT 3 NOTICEABILITY EVALUATION
22. #1 RULE FOR UX RESEARCH
23. DON’T LISTEN TO USERS
24. OBSERVE BEHAVIOR
25. FIELD FRIDAY 1 A technique for learning oh-so-many things about a design. A usability test conducted by engineers, speed-dating style.
26. USABILITY TESTING IS NOT A BIG DEAL
27. IT’S A SMALL DEAL
28. Things to keep Opportunities for improvement Data about speed, success, & satisfaction Missing features Unforgettable quotes RESULTS 1
29. “I think that this is sort of funny, but if I wasn’t amused by this, I’d be really fucking pissed”
30. “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.”
31. Discussion guide Instructions Tasks Questions Debrief PREPARATIONS 1
32. Answer the research questions Core Realistic Probably one or two More than what you need Print or read TASKS 1
33. 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
34. 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
35. 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?
36. A BETTER OPTION 1 “IF YOU WANT TO BE A GOOD ARCHEOLOGIST, GET OUT OF THE LIBRARY!”
37. READ MORE ABOUT IT 1
38. 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
40. RESULTS Dendrogram Terminology Relationships Missing features 2
41. PREPARATIONS 2 Selecting content (current or future) Preparing the cards (<100, + empty, #) Selecting a tool Open or closed sort? Group work In-person
42. PLAY-BY-PLAY Brief participants Mostly observe and take notes Keep the momentum going Don’t lead the witness Prompt quiet participants 2
43. 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
44. READ MORE ABOUT IT 2
45. “ONLY AN EYE TRACKER CAN TELL US IF USERS NOTICE STUFF.” - PEOPLE
46. “REALLY?” -  ME
47. EYE TRACKERS ARE NOT MIND READERS
48. EYE TRACKERS ONLY TELL YOU WHERE PEOPLE LOOK AT, NOT WHAT THEY NOTICE
49. 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.
52. RESULTS A crystal-clear answer Design tightness 3
53. 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
54. 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
55. 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?
56. READ MORE ABOUT IT 3 Not yet, sorry.
57. 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
58. IF THERE ARE TWO THINGS I’D LIKE YOU TO REMEMBER FROM THIS TALK
59. DON’T LISTEN TO USERS
60. OBSERVE THEIR BEHAVIOR
61. “DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU SEE ON A POWERPOINT SLIDE JUST BECAUSE THERE’S A PICTURE WITH A QUOTE NEXT TO IT.” - THE SITUATION
62. THANK YOU @tsharon