Mary Ann Petti, MPH, CHES@MaryAnnPetti

Homespun UX: Going Beyond Web AnalyticsSeptember 13, 2014, NERD Summit, Amherst, MA

Source: Damien Newman, Central

Source: Damien Newman, Central

Source: Damien Newman, Central

The UCD Process

①Research the user

①Design a prototype

①Test it

①Tweak it

⑤Test it again

Web Analytics vs. UX

Web Analytics vs. UX

Web Analytics+Learning how users interact with websites and mobile apps by recording aspects of users’ behavior and analyzing the data.

User Experience+Utilizing user research and design techniques — including usability testing, user personas, and user-centered design — to make a product usable, useful, and delightful.

Defining UXDefining UX

Photo credit: http://www.mommytesters.com/

Answers: What?

Answers: What?

Answers: WHY?

Speaks to the organization’s goals

Speaks to organizational goals

Speaks to users’ goals

Lou’s TABLE OF OVERGENERALIZED

DICHOTOMIESWeb Analytics User Experience

What they analyze Users’ behaviors (what’s happening)

Users’ intentions and motives (why those things happen)

What methods they employ

Quantitative methods to determine what’s happening

Qualitative methods for explaining why things happen

What they’re trying to achieve

Helps the organization meet goals (expressed at KPI)

Helps users achieve goals (expressed as tasks or topics of interest)

How they use data Measure performance (goal-driven analysis)

Uncover patters and surprises (emergent analysis

What kind of data they use

Statistical data (“real” data in large volumes, full of errors)

Descriptive data (in small volumes, generated in lab environment, full of errors)

Source: Louis Rosenfeld, Seeing the Elephant: Defragmenting User Research, http://www.slideshare.net/lrosenfeld/beyond-user-research

STORY TIME!STORY TIME!

Making Room for UX Research

Making Room for UX Research

Step 1: Discover and strategizeStep 2: Plan a user research studyStep 3: Talk to usersStep 4: Communicate results

Step 1: Discover and Strategize

Goal: Focus and guide a project, setting the team up for long-term success

Key Questions:+What do you plan to fix through UX design?+What is the vision for the UX?+What are the nuts and bolts of the project?

Step 1: Discover and Strategize

Possible Methods+Discovery meeting+UX project plan+Analytics review+Environmental scan

UX Project planSample Method

Users

Users

Users’ motivations

Step 2: Plan User Research Study

Goal: Plan a study that will get your team the information it needs to create something useable, useful, and delightful.

Key Questions:+What are the goals of the research study?+What do you know?+What don’t you know?+How are you going to learn it?

Step 2: Plan User Research Study

Possible Methods:+Research plan+Moderator’s guide+Prototype*

*This is slightly out of turn, but if you want to test a prototype, you’ll need to decide what you’re testing and make sure it’s built during this phase.

Moderator’s guideSample Method

Include instructions and cues for the moderator

Include screen shots to help the moderator to not lose their place

Step 3: Talk to Users

Goal: Learn as much as you can about who your users are and what motivates them

Key Questions:+What concerns are top of mind for users? How do they *really* behave?+How does a user experience the product or tool from start to finish?

Step 3: Talk to Users

Possible Methods:+Interviews (in-depth, contextual)+Focus groups (stakeholders, friendship circles)+Observation+Usability testing+Collaging+Card sorting+Tree testing (IA testing)+Click testing

How many people do I need to test?

+ It depends.

+ 1 is better than none.

+ Between 3 and 8 is great.*

* 4 users catch 80% of usability issues

[Source: Nielson Norman Group, 2000]

SIDEBAR! NNgroup.com

CollagingSample Method #1

Sample Method: Collaging

+Participants create a collage that represents the characteristics they would like to see in a new website

+Result: Provides insights into users’ needs normally not revealed in interviews and focus groups

“This is how I feel, free and full of energy. I want my doctor to understand that this is how I want to feel with her help.”

ObservationSample Method #2

7

Computer is positioned so it's diagonal from the exam table. The clinician and the patient sit next to the computer for most of the visit. At the end of the visit, the clinician gives the patient an EMR print out with a summary.

Sample method: Observation

Tree testing (IA testing)Sample Method #3

Sample Method: Tree Testing

+A technique for evaluating how easy it is for people to locate information within a material or website structure

+Participants are given a topic to find within a text version of a site map or table of contents

Sample Method: Tree Testing

Sample Method: Tree Testing

Tree Testing Report for HealthyPeople.gov 41

Step 4: Communicate Results

Goal: Communicate results clearly to team members and clients, and advocate for users’ needs.

Key Questions:+What are the key findings from user testing? How can they be prioritized?+What are the recommendations?+How can this information be presented in a visual way?

Step 4: Communicate Results

Possible Methods:+Post-it notes+Personas+User journey/storyboards

Post-it notesSample Method #1

PersonasSample Method #2

Source: Dan Mall, “Memoirs of a #RWD Survivor,” An Event Apart, July 2014

Source: Dan Mall, “Memoirs of a #RWD Survivor,” An Event Apart, July 2014

Source: Dan Mall, “Memoirs of a #RWD Survivor,” An Event Apart, July 2014

Source: Dan Mall, “Memoirs of a #RWD Survivor,” An Event Apart, July 2014

The bottom line?

Involving users will help:

+Improve user satisfaction+Increase trust and credibility+Increase success rate and reduce user error+Attract more/new users over time

If you only do one thing…

There is only one key requirement when conducting user research:

Talking to users. Even 2 or 3 is better than none at all.

Thank You!!

Mary Ann Petti

maryann@communicatehealth.com

www.communicatehealth.com