there’s no “you” in “user” seeing the digital world through users' eyes jeffrey veen...
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There’s No “You” In “User”Seeing the Digital World Through Users' Eyes
Jeffrey Veen <[email protected]>
Partner, Adaptive Path
www.adaptivepath.com/presentations/gospelcom/
viabilityfeasibility
desirability
Hi,
I'm remodeling my kitchen and buying new appliances. While researching my decisions, I visited your site to see how your refrigerators compared to other manufactures. One of the most important factors in my decision is the amount of energy the product uses -- but I couldn't find this information listed on your site anywhere. Am I not looking in the right place?
-jeff
Dear Jeff,
Thank you for visiting the Maytag Home Page. We welcome the opportunity to assist you.
Please forward your model number and we can send the energy rating for the model.
Eric
Maytag Customer Service
Eric,
I think you may be misunderstanding my query. I'm interested in buying a new refrigerator. One of my key decision-making points is the energy rating of the product. I'd like to be able to see the rating of all of your models on their respective product description pages.
-jeff
Dear Jeff,
Unfortunately, the energy ratings are not listed on the web page. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Jennifer
Maytag Customer Service
Jennifer,
Right. I realize that. That's why I mentioned it. It's a pretty crucial decision-making point for a lot of people (including me).
You should consider having your Web team add it to the standard product page.
-jeff
Dear Jeff,
Thank you for your comments regarding the Maytag.com Home Page.
In the future, please include the model number of your Maytag appliance so that we may assist you more efficiently.
Scott
Maytag Customer Service
To develop an experience that empowers users to accomplish their goals by finding the patterns inherent in your stuff.
Our goal...
It’s how we get a pile of stuff...
...into a structured experience.
This includes labeling...
Squares Triangles CirclesSquares CirclesTriangles
...and navigation systems...
...that are intuitive to users.
Squares Triangles Circles
Ah Ha!
But! Not all users have the same goals.
Shapes! Colors!
So, good design lets many users...
...access lots of content...
...in many ways.
But this isn’t always as easy as it sounds...
Ancient Chinese Taxonomy“The Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge”
• Belonging to the Emperor
• Embalmed
• Tame
• Suckling Pigs
• Sirens
• Fabulous
• Stray Dogs
• Included in the present
classification
• Frenzied
• Innumerable
• Drawn with a very fine
camelhair brush
• et cetera
• Having just broken the water
pitcher
• That from a long way off look
like flies
-- Jorge Luis Borges, “The Analytical Language of John Wilkins”
Design faces global issues...
Colors?
Colours?
¿De Colores?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Design faces accessibility issues...
Colors
???
Design suffers from jargon...
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Shapes WebBeansShapes WebBeanstmtm
Design suffers from politics...
CEOUser
Excellent!???
Design must be extensible...
!?!
Successful design comes from two approaches...
Top-down
•Figure out what users need
•Derive mental models
•Focus on user research
Bottom-up
•Figure out what you have
•Develop content model
•Domain of traditional IA
What is a Mental Model?
Grocery Shopping
Prepare shopping list
Look in fridgeTalk to spouse
Walk the store aisles
Does the car need gas?
How much time do I have?
Plan meals
Look for discountsClip coupons
Top down: Understanding your users
• User research may be a science, but formality isn’t required.
• Ethnographic research methods sound impressively scary, but
we all do it every day.
• Research is a way of life, not a special project you schedule
and do.
User Research Tips
• Test often– No matter what stage your product is in, there's always some
research you can do
• Test what’s testable– Time the research for the needs of the product and the abilities of
the development team– Example: Don't research label wording before you know whether
the audience wants the function it's naming
• Avoid research paralysis
– It's OK to make decisions without first asking people, just don’t make all your decisions that way
– Don’t get distracted by research and forget the product
• Be open-minded
User Profiles, Personas, Scenarios
• Studies and stories of fictional
members of audience segments
• Humanizes rigid task-based
interaction
• Sells user centered design
throughout the organization
• Depersonalizes product development
debates
Ethnographic Interviews, Task Analysis
• Engaging potential users in
discussion of how they accomplish
tasks in the real world.
• Interview transcripts are
deconstructed into specific tasks
that map to potential features
• Provides assurance of feature
selection and nomenclature
• Provides an opportunity for
innovation
Usability Testing
• Validation of feature
decisions and
implementation choices.
• “Measures” not only ability
to complete tasks, but user
expectations as well
• No longer the domain of the
“lab coat and stopwatch”
crowd
Finding Users
• For a simple test, find 3-4 people similar to your site’s audience– Friends, family, coworkers from other departments
• Determine target audience• demographic/webographic/psychographic
• Seek them out• Existing user base, customer support inquiries,
advertise on existing site• User groups, email discussion lists• Traditional means: classified ads, etc.• Use a recruiter: Charge per user based on how
specialized your population needs to be
What Did You Learn?
• Did the evaluators consistently misunderstand anything?
• Were they ever confused? What were they doing?
• What mistakes were consistently made?
• What did they have the most trouble with?
• When did they look frustrated? What were they doing?
• Did they do the things that you had expected them to do?
• Did they do things in the order in which you had expected? If not, what
order did they do them in?
• What did they find interesting? What did you expect them to find
interesting, which they did not?
• Did they know what the site is for?
Lessons Learned
• Plug-ins and Flash are two-edged swords– Interactive features are desirable when seamless– Most of our instructions are meaningless jargon
• Users do not read a lot on screen, regardless of the quality of
the writing– People scan pages looking for the next valuable link.– They gravitate to different areas of the page for different tasks
• Keep it simple– Many, many expectations are brought from the external Web– Pop-up windows are instantly closed unless initiated– Underlined words are always links
User Expectations: Shopping Cart
http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/41/web_object-ecom.htm
Bottom Up: Designing with patterns
Abstract solutions to common problems in context
Patterns are applicable not only to architecture, but all
kinds of design: computer science, corporate organization,
traffic signage and (of course) Web design
Content Item Detail
List Input Tabular Data
Prototyping Tips
• Try to work in the Web’s native language if possible
• Extremely tight iterations (daily!) serves as high-bandwidth
team communication
• Documentation captures “What we’ve learned,” not “What I
want you to do”
• Avoid the “handoff” – the team refines a prototype through
higher resolution versions, testing frequently
Going Dynamic
• Prototype is built according mental model and architecture
diagrams
• Templates and content components can go through iterative
design
• Changes can be viewed globally and instantly tested
Benefits of Dynamic Sites
• Higher initial development cost, but much lower maintenance
• Separates operations of site from development
• Do more with fewer resources
• Inherent interface consistency benefits user experience
The Process: Before Dynamic Sites
Author
Editor
Copy Edit
Production
Design
QA
Post
The Process: After Dynamic Sites
Author
Editor
Copy Edit
Post
Production Design
Template System
Operations Development
Thank you!
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