intro to ux methods (kcdc 2013)

KCDC 2013

Introduction to User Experience Methods

Introduction to User Experience Methods

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Danielle Gobert Cooley @dgcooley

03 May 2013 #KCDC2013

KCDC 2013

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03 May 2013 @dgcooley #KCDC2013

KCDC 2013

Danielle Gobert Cooley


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[email protected] The image cannot be

@dgcooley

14 years as a UX Specialist BE, Biomedical and Electrical Engineering – Vanderbilt University MS, Human Factors in Information Design – Bentley University

Selected Clients

http://linkedin.com/in/dgcooley

KCDC 2013

Important Things to Know About UX Methods

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Please Remember

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The purpose of these methods is to

inform your design.

They are not validation methods.


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Let Me Repeat That

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inform your design.



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You Are Not Your User

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YOU

NOT YOU


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Why Do It? To Avoid Ending Up Here

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One More Thing…

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inform your design.



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Usability Study

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Ques=ons It Answers*

•  How easy or difficult is it to use the product?

•  How efficiently do people use the product?

•  Do the users understand the product’s terminology?

•  Do the controls make sense?

•  Can people find the information they are seeking?

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* Depends in part on prototype fidelity … more on that in a few moments.


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How It’s Done

1.  Recruit representative end users.

2.  Observe impartially as they attempt to perform tasks with a prototype.

3.  Typically, participants are asked to think aloud as they use the prototype to perform the tasks. This provides insight into WHY certain interface elements are confusing and what might work better.

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Tips… –  Recruiting the right users is key! –  Avoid bias everywhere – in task phrasing, your and your observers’ body language, and in verbal questions asked. –  Recordings are great, but huge time sucks. –  Quantitative studies often

aren’t worth it.


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A Note About Prototype Fidelity

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Advantages

•  Controlled setting means easier logistics. •  Recording and observing is easier, too.

•  For the rare quantitative study, lab-based testing makes it easier to use such tools as Morae or Ovo.

•  Lab-based testing has fewer variables to control, which can be a factor for more rigid studies.

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Disadvantages

•  Lab setting provides no context of use. •  Labs can be expensive to rent or build

–  (but they don’t have to be)

•  Participants are sometimes timid in a lab setting

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Field Study

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Questions It Answers

•  How do environmental circumstances affect the usability of the product?

•  How have people worked around issues with the product?

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How It’s Done


2.  Observe impartially in the environment in which the product will be used as they attempt to perform tasks with a prototype.

3.  Collect artifacts.

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Advantages

•  Gathers contextual data –  Ambient light, noise

–  Distractions

•  Participants usually less intimidated

•  Much more convenient for participants, so recruiting can be easier

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Contextual Inquiry? Though the terms are often used interchangeably, Contextual Inquiry is actually a

type of field study that follows a very specific format.


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Disadvantages

•  Logistics are more difficult for researchers. •  Observation is more challenging.

•  Recording is more challenging. •  Security issues sometimes prohibit photographs or

other recording.

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Card Sort

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•  How would the users organize the product’s content and features?

•  Do the users largely agree on how the content should be organized?

•  Do the users agree with the categorizations proposed by the project team?

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How It’s Done


2.  Identify content items to be categorized

3.  Participants sort the content items into groupings that make sense to them.

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Two types … – In an OPEN card sort, participants create the categories.

– In a CLOSED card sort, the researcher establishes the categories.


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Advantages

•  Incredibly inexpensive •  Done very quickly with remote

evaluation tools.

•  Asynchronous, so scheduling is not an issue. Participants take part at their convenience.

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Disadvantages

•  More complicated with large sets of cards.

•  Really, there’s almost no reason NOT to do a card sort, unless you don’t plan to use the results.

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Tree Test

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•  Can users find content in the proposed navigation?

•  Do the proposed group labels correctly reflect the content within them?

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How It’s Done


2.  Set up study with IA to be evaluated.

3.  Give participants specific content elements to find in that architecture.

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Advantages

•  Incredibly inexpensive •  Done very quickly with remote

evaluation tools.

•  Asynchronous, so scheduling is not an issue. Participants take part at their convenience.

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Yep. Just like card sorting!


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Disadvantages

•  The full IA and nav structure must be created in order to execute a tree test, so there is significant investment in the “prototype,” if you will.

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Tree Test vs. Card Sort – An OPEN Card Sort generates an information

architecture. – A CLOSED Card sort usually evaluates high-level labeling. – A Tree Test evaluates findability in an existing

information architecture.

OK. This one IS a validation method.


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Survey

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•  What is the users’ opinion about various aspects of the product?

•  How do users believe they use or will use the product?

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How It’s Done

1.  Recruit participants 2.  Write survey

3.  Relax while the data rolls right in.

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Advantages

•  Cheap •  Fast

•  Remote •  Easy data collection

•  Large number of participants

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Disadvantages

•  Data are self-reported. –  What people do is not the same as what people SAY they do.

•  Good question curation is surprisingly challenging.

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Expert Review

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•  Does the product comply with conventions and best practices?

•  Has the expert seen issues in the past with any of the design elements or interaction techniques used in the product?

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How It’s Done

•  An experienced UX Specialist analyzes the product, looking for common mistakes or interface elements or interactions that are not consistent with best practices.

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Heuristic Evaluation? Though this term is thrown around a lot, a Heuristic Evaluation is really a specialized type of Expert

Review.


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Advantages

•  Considerably less expensive than lab or field studies •  Often relatively fast – again, as compared to lab or

field studies.

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Disadvantages

•  No actual end-user perspective. •  Experts vary. J

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Other Techniques

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In No Particular Order…

•  Journaling Studies – Users keep a journal of their interactions (good and bad) with the product.

•  A/B Testing – Two different versions of a product are placed online and success rates analyzed.

•  Analytics – Web site or product metrics are analyzed to determine user success or failure.

•  Personas – Descriptive profiles of representative end users. This is actually an output of field research.

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Recap & Additional Resources

•  User Experience is important. Really. •  These are NOT validation techniques!

•  There are a lot of methods to choose from, and one will yield an answer to your questions.

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intro to ux methods (kcdc 2013)

Technology

validation methods

disadvantages lab setting

open card sort

right users iskey

prototype fidelity13

prototype toperform

context of use

lab setting15