Putting Users in UX

Episode 3

Planning, Executing and Analyzing User Research

   

Putting Users in UX Episode 1

Research Methods for Strategy Now Available at Usability Matters Blog

Episode 2

Research Methods for Design Now Available at Usability Matters Blog

Episode 3

Planning, Executing and Analyzing User Research Today

Meet Usability Matters

•  Passionate about making technology work for people

•  Thrive in solving complex design problems

•  Dedication to finding the right solution

Terry Costantino + Steven LeMay

What we’ll be talking about today

Background •  UX Process

•  Research Process

User Research 1.  Planning.

2.  Recruiting

3.  Conducting

4.  Analyzing

Wrap-up

UX Process Usability Testing

A/B Testing

Eye Tracking

Heuristic Evaluation

Contextual Inquiry

Interviews

Surveys

Focus Groups

World Café

Usability Testing

Card Sorting

Usability Testing

Collaborative Sketching

Online Discussion

DETERMINE OBJECTIVES PLAN RECRUIT CONDUCT ANALYZE

& REPORT

Research Process

1 Planning Determining the what, why, and how

Planning

Test Plan •  Clarify the objectives

•  Select method(s) and outline approach

•  Logistics: location, device(s), timeline, schedule, etc.

•  Determine participant criteria and recruiting method

Research Objectives – Overall

Assess the site’s ability to inform and drive users to conversion: •  Do participants understand the offer?

•  Does the content drive them to subscribe or convert?

•  Is there enough of the right kinds of information for participants to make the

decision to subscribe or convert?

•  Is the site meeting their expectations? Is anything missing?    Assess the ease of use of the subscription flow? •  Are participants able to understand requirements for subscribing?

•  Is anything confusing or unclear?

Research Objectives - Examples

Planning

Logistics •  Location – office, research facility, remote via web conference, online via web

survey tool or social media

•  Device(s) – desktop, mobile, other?

•  Timeline and schedule

•  Participant criteria and recruiting method

2 Recruiting Determining who will participate in the research and finding them

Image  bins  courtesy  of  slimmer_jimmer,  CC-­‐BY  2.0  

Recruit when you are …

•  Trying to understand your audience

•  Designing for specific:

Recruiting

Contexts Roles Demographics Abilities

Participant Criteria – Baseline Must-Have’s

•  Example: all participants must

•  Have access to a laptop or desktop computer with Internet access

•  Be able to speak English fluently and confidently enough to be well

understood

•  Not work for a market research company, telco or broadcaster

•  Be 18 years of age or older

Recruiting

Participant Criteria – Project Specific Variables

•  Example: the study must include

•  Customers who work in a small business

•  Members of our loyalty program

•  Small business customer who have called the customer support line

within the last 6 months

Recruiting

Participant Criteria – Demographics and Technographics

Recruiting

•  Example: the study must include people who

•  Are older than 65 years of age

•  Who speak a language other than English at home

•  Who use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram

at least twice a week

Recruiting process

•  Invite people to complete an online qualification survey

•  Informal friends and family email

•  Email to a customer or member list

Recruiting

Example screener question

Recruiting

Have you used public transit with a wheelchair, walker, or other mobility assistive device?

☐ Within the past week RECRUIT MIN 1, MAX 2

☐ Within the past month

☐ Within the past 6 months RECRUIT MIN 1, MAX 2

☐ Longer ago than 6 months

☐ Never RECRUIT MAX 10

Incentives

•  Usually cash (or gift card)

•  Very specific criteria may require more $$$

•  Baked goods are great for guerrilla research!

•  May not be necessary in some cases.

•  May be prohibited in some cases.

Recruiting

What you need

•  Screener or survey

•  Schedule

•  Contact list

•  Overview of what to expect

•  Instructions for participants

•  NDA and recording waiver

•  Summary of participant answers

Recruiting

3 Conducting Using your preparation to have a useful dialogue with participants

Write research guide, script or survey

•  A few easy questions to get the participant warmed up

•  Instructions that guide the tasks and activities

•  Probe only as needed

•  Do at least one pilot session or survey response

Conducting

Set-up

•  Choose tools for conducting, recording, and

monitoring

•  Clarify roles – facilitator, analyst, notetaker,

observers

•  Test your entire set-up

Conducting

Facilitating

•  Getting warmed up

•  Guiding the tasks

•  Getting the participant(s) to talk

•  Listening to the participant(s)

•  Using probes to get more information

•  Letting the objectives guide you

Conducting

Image  observa6on  room  courtesy  of  Dave,  CC-­‐BY  2.0  

Monitoring

•  Watching responses

•  Planned and unplanned interventions

•  Probing for additional information

Conducting

Recording

•  Flipcharts

•  Sticky notes

•  Note taking – manual and/or electronic

•  Audio

•  Video

Conducting

4 Analyzing Finding and communicating useful, actionable insights

Pear Note

Communication

•  Keep the team involved

•  Debrief immediately after the research is done

•  Discuss and prioritize key findings together

Analysis and Reporting

Reporting

•  Framework

•  Smashing Elements of Mobile User

Experience

•  Global issues / Page level issues

•  Formal report

•  Summary presentation

Analysis and Reporting

   Questions?

   

Thank You

   

3 Easy Ways to Improve the Accessibility of Your Website

   

Stay in touch Terry Costantino and Steven LeMay Usability Matters www.usabilitymatters.com Follow us on Twitter: @umatters +1 416 598 7770 terry@usabilitymatters.com steven@usabilitymatters.com