non-negotiable usability

Non-Negotiable Usability

We’re not the same, but we’re One

Nathalie Cotté@[email protected]

Agenda

• Why such a radical concept– May identify with some situations

• Non-negotiable usability– Hopefully learn something to take away

• A Goal• A Team• A Checklist• A Process• A Toolbox

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Introduction

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IntroductionSo important to know whom we interact with

• Audience first

Raise your hand if you’re:

– Not front-end/UI developer– Usability person– Used to working with a

usability person– Used to working with users

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• Usability person

1998 2001 2003 20162013

Usabilityspecialist

Usability consultantUsabilityengineer

Cognitivescientist

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Process and Business data

Modeling

3 solutions: • Business Process Management• Enterprise Application Development• Digital Business Transformation

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UIModeling

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Personalized User Interfaces


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• As Bonitasofters, we:– Are passionate human with substantial egos

-> involvement– Think we are quite clever

-> self-confidence– Like to enjoy ourselves

-> motivation– Are a little shy or…

-> Space for improvement

… have preferences

– All pursue the same goal: create a product that rocks!10

Tension points around UX

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Tension points about UX

“Everyone has common sense.

UX is an optional polish on top of the technical base.

It is an additional constraint when time is short. ”

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Do with common sense

• No UX person, no users involved

Formal specs Technical POC(feasibility) Working Alpha

Bug-free Beta End-to-end testedRelease

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Do with common sense• No UX person, no users involved

Bad user

feedback.

⇒ Lots of rework after it’s delivered. Sad. Hurts egos.⇒ If you code for someone else than yourself, you need UX

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“OK, UX is a job in itself.

It’s a needed polish on top of the technical base.

It’s an additional constraint when time is short. ”

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“OK, UX is a job in itself.


It’s an additional constraint when time is short. ”

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An additional constraint

• Because of hard-to-translate usability principles?– User guidance, information structure, incitation– Help – Minimal workload, concision, low density– Consistency & standards– Visibility on the system status, feedback, waiting time– User control and freedom– Flexibility, variability intra-individual– Avoid errors and help error recovery, manage delete

⇒ Leave it to the usability person, work with him/her⇒ Learn/train as you go

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Not a constraint. A purpose.

• User eXperience = make your– Users, whoever they are– Succeed on all use-cases– Avoid and recover from error– Be efficient– Learn– Enjoy

⇒Make your work worth it⇒Make its value real: create perceived quality

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“OK, we can all be part of UX.


It’s a team purpose.Time is short. ”

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It’s a team purpose.Time is short. ”

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Polishing…

• UX person as a disastrous post-disaster relief– After the feature / product is developed– External consultant– An audit/validation, as the last testing suite.

Formal specsTechnical POC

(feasibility) Working Alpha

Bug-free Beta End-to-end testedRelease

Usabilityvalidation

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Polishing…

• UX person as a disastrous post-disaster relief

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Polishing…

• UX person as a disastrous post-disaster relief

– Eventually, nothing may be improved, at all23



It’s a needed integrated layer.

It’s a team purpose. Time is short. ”

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It’s a team purpose. Time is short. ”

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Time vs. influence

• UX person as an internal influencer– Why “influencer”?

• This shirt is made of great fabrics, nicely cut and shaped...26

Time vs. influence

• UX person as an internal influencer– Why “influencer”?

• The difference between a shirt and a piece of software

– So the UX person is not a doer; only an influencer

Nice shirtTaylor

Useful and usable productDeveloper

Raw material Finished product

Nice fabricTextile worker

Clean, smart, bug-free codeDeveloper

Shirt

Piece of software

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Time vs. influence

• When influence is not enough:– UX design comes last in a thick roadmap:

• A new feature always start with technical feasibility

⇒Feasibility of what? What do we want, in details?⇒It’s like running in the morning mist

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Time vs. influence

• When influence is not enough– UX improvement comes last in a sprint planning:

• New features and maintenance go first

⇒Some bugs are less critical than users getting stuck(Usability improvements have severity levels too)

⇒Usability debt

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Time vs. influence

• UX person as a Silly Crusader vs Team Manager– “Release date is fixed”– “Other features are in the queue for this release”– “The time spent on the feature is enough”– “You cannot argue till you get to the perfect UX” – “You have to let go”

Just - Based – On – TimeRegardless – Of – The – Value – Delivered

LET GO ?!30

Time vs. influence

• Users feedback implies rework. Painful.• More rework that it would have taken if UX was put 1st

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Time vs. influence

– Fight for UX.

– UX can become a person to person struggle32




It’s a team purpose. But time is short. ”

So what?33

The good news

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Fresh truth

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Fresh truth

• 68% of users give up because they think you don’t care about them

• 50% development time is about fixing avoidable issues

• 97% of users cite “ease of use” as the main factor in selecting enterprise applications

• By 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the important brand differentiator

⇒ There is no other way than spend time on UX

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The good newsRationale

• With sensible goals, a team can gather– We’re not the same, but we’re One

• Part of the answer already exists and proved right– It’s called User-Centered Design

• Now calling on developers’ nature of Heroes– That is true at Bonitasoft

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- Heroes’ qualities• Solid logic• Sense of responsibility• Empathy• Courage• Humility• …. But no super-hero: not reading users’ minds 38


• Solid logic, that’s it!!⇒The team needs:

• Data from the field• Thresholds

⇒ Turn usability into a Boolean system:• Good to release / Not good to release• Feedback on non-negotiable items are bugs• No perfect UI. Good enough UI. Checked.

⇒That is Non-Negotiable Usability39


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Non-Negotiable UsabilityTapping solid logic

• A goal:– The user needs to be successful to find value in

what we produce

• A team:– We want to build pride on what we release– We all play a part in this goal– We work with data from the field and thresholds

to avoid endless discussions and tension

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Non-Negotiable UsabilityTapping solid logic

• A checklist:(modified from User-Centered Design):

UX = make your– Users, from the VIP personas– Succeed, on the basic use-cases– Avoid and recover from error– Be efficient whatever their “profile”

– Learn– Enjoy

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Non-Negotiable UsabilityTapping humility

• A checklist to learn:– Users, from the VIP personas

• Create and know your personas– Succeed, on the basic use-cases

• Get use-cases from them– Learn

• Easy to notice• Easy to guess the value• Easy to understand words, controls, flow

– Avoid and recover from error• Guidance• Clear, complete messages

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• A process: user success means

• Drink beers…. with users

Non-Negotiable UsabilityTapping sense of responsibility

TESTIMPLEMENTDESIGNCOLLECT FINALIZE

Communicate with users

Real drawInquiries Personas Real test Personas

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Non-Negotiable UsabilityTapping empathy

• We need data, on users– Do you know your users?– Do you know what you should

know about your users?

• A process: COLLECT

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• A process: COLLECT data on users– What you have in common: a cognitive brain

Decisionmaking

ActionFeedback

DecodingAttentional

focusMemoriesBeliefsSenses


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COMPANY GOAL

TEAM SUB-GOALS

TASK

Pick a ticket from a sorted

list

Answer tickets relevantly and

on time

Expand

Pleasecustomers

• A process: COLLECT data on users– What you have in common: Goals to achieve

• E.g.: Customer support team member

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Physical stateMental state

GenderSkills

Seniority

PrescriptionMaterialsMachines

Social relationshipsOrganization

Work timeWork space

Activity

Para

met

ers

Parameters

• A process: COLLECT data on users– What is different:

• Personal history• Environment

– Relationship to the piece of software 48

Non-Negotiable UsabilityTapping courage

• A process: COLLECT data on users– What’s different

• We have built the system – they haven’t

• We have to bridge the gap, not them

What Bonita BPM needs to do to let Dave use it

User-centered design

Techno-centered design

What Dave needs to do to use Bonita BPM Studio

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Non-Negotiable UsabilityTapping empathy and courage

• A process: COLLECT data on users. Who’s DAVE?

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Non-Negotiable UsabilityTapping courage

– Gather questions relevant to the application you build

– Get help from customer-facing Depts: Marketing, Sales, Customer Support, consultants

– Research networks of professionals, forums…

– Meet your users in the streets (B2C)– Do surveys, interviews, observations– Use movie tickets, vouchers, goodies,

offers, to thank for the time they spend– Create your network of personas, then

each persona

• A process: COLLECT data on users and create personas

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• A process and a toolboxNon-Negotiable Usability

Identifycustomers and their projects

Gather a panel

A stakeholder

For each new feature: COLLECT

User Acc Criteria

Power users

Personas

Use-cases

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• A process and a toolboxNon-Negotiable Usability

FUNCTIONAL DESIGN

• At least in parallel with technical design, if not before

Design Studio(UI and navigation)

Mockups /Quick specs

Technical design / Quick POC

Agreement on the feasible must

have

Split / Backlog

Story telling(= pre-Doc)

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• A process and a toolbox

• Share your screens with the usability person to get him/her guide you to implement usability principles


IMPLEMENT

Write tests

Code

Personas

Write targetvalue for a

sprint

Checklist

Mockups

UACStory told

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Examples

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• A process/IMPLEMENT– Learn/Easy to notice: use hierarchy


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• A process/IMPLEMENT– Learn/Easy to notice: Catch attention (tours)


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• A process/IMPLEMENT– Learn/Easy to notice: use tips


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• A process/IMPLEMENT– Learn/Understand: use contextual help


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• A process/IMPLEMENT– Learn/Understand: Embed generic help


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• A process/IMPLEMENT– Learn/Understand: Give examples


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• A process/IMPLEMENT– Learn/Understand: Offer tutorials


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• A process/IMPLEMENT– Avoid errors: Use warnings


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• A process/IMPLEMENT– Avoid errors: Also give positive feedback


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• A process/IMPLEMENT– Avoid errors: Use default values


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• A process/IMPLEMENT– Avoid errors: Explain expected formats


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May include:1. There is an issue2. Its cause3. Its severity4. Its consequences5. What the user can do to recover6. Shortcuts on buttons

… in words the persona can understand

• A process/IMPLEMENT– Recover from errors: Write helpful error msg

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Non-Negotiable Usability• A process/IMPLEMENT

– Recover from errors: Use refactoring wizards

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TEST

Test at myDesk

PanelSummarizeknown risks

• A process and a toolbox

• 3 to 5 users are enough• Record the test sessions: this is data to share

Assistedtesting

sessions

Customers and partnersSummarize

know risks

Feature level

Β version level

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FINALIZE

Write the documentation

Knownlimitations

• A process

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To take away

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So that all goes smooth

“OK, we can all be part of UX.It’s a needed integrated layer.It’s a team purpose even more when time is short.We just need to work with data and thresholds. ”

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So that all goes smooth

• Work as a multi-skilled team including users

• Aim at providing success / value to the users

• Never put UX work last

• Base decisions on data and thresholds to avoid discussions

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• Heroes are good learners

Conclusion

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I hope you’re taking up the challenge

For the usersFor the product

For the company

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What’s negotiable

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Negotiable

• Efficiency, to be dealt with later on• More advanced use-cases, write tutorials until then• Graphical wows, yet another, fundamental job

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Visit us online bonitasoft.com

Join our communityBonitasoft.org

DownloadBonitasoft.com/downloads

Follow us on twitter @bonitasoft

Good UX – No tension

@NathErgo38

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Usability principles - Details

• Sources:– Bastien, J. M. C., & Scapin, D. L. (1993). Ergonomic criteria for the

evaluation of human-computer interfaces (Report No. 156). Rocquencourt, France: Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique.

=> http://www.ergoweb.ca/criteres.html

– Nielsen, J., and Molich, R. (1990). Heuristic evaluation of user interfaces, Proc. ACM CHI'90 Conf. (Seattle, WA, 1-5 April), 249-256.

=> http://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/

– ISO 9241-110=> http://www.userfocus.co.uk/resources/iso9241/part110.html

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“- Is my new cool feature usable enough to be shipped?

- Easy, check your non negotiable usability items

- Well, how do I know?

- Easy, there’s a talk about thatNathalie CottéUsability specialist

non-negotiable usability

Software