User Experience Design Fundamentals - Part 2: Talking with Users

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We design smart, usable digital products Laura Ballay & Meghan Deutscher

User Experience Design Fundamentals 2: Talking With Users

A brief recap… •  What is a User? •  What are User Goals? •  Why are User Motivations

important?

Today’s Takeaways Understand why you should talk to users to uncover, validate and/or understand their goals. Learn how and when to talk with your users: • User research methods • Planning • Best practices for interviews

Why Talk With Your Users? How well user goals are understood Why you should talk with your users

I don’t know my users’ goals. Uncover user goals by questioning their behavior.

I have an idea of what my users’ goals are.

Validate user goals by observing their behavior.

I know what my users’ goals are. Understand how users fulfill their goals; what their behaviors, attitudes and challenges are.

Does my product help users accomplish their goals?

Validate whether or not your product helps the user and how likely it is they’ll use it.

Can my product be better? Continuously learn more about your users and how they use the product.

What is User Research? “Design research describes any number of investigative techniques used to add context and insight to the design process.

It’s also used to combat the natural tendency to design for ourselves (or our stakeholders) rather than designing for our target audience. Without design research we tend towards a self-serving, uninformed design process.” – UX Booth

Three principles for good user research protocol: 1. Understanding why 2. Studying users in context (environment) and see any

other influencing factors 3. Biases/behaviors that you have to work around

1. Always Ask “Why” Empathy: “What happens to us when we leave our own bodies...and find ourselves either momentarily or for a longer period of time in the mind of the other. We observe reality through her eyes, feel her emotions, share in her pain.”

–Kehn Lampert

2. Consider User Biases When we perceive our own behavior, we put more weight into our thoughts than actions. When perceiving the behavior of others, we put more weight in actions, less in thoughts.

3. Study User in Context A user’s environment contains clues to their goals and behavior. You’ll learn things they can’t tell you.

User Research Methods

Personas Task Analysis User Interviews Usability Testing Participatory Design Diary Studies Focus Groups Hallway Testing Surveys Analytics & Log Review A/B and Beta Testing Stakeholder Interviews User Observations Card Sort Paper Prototyping SME Interviews Automated Testing (i.e. usertesting.com)

“The Good”

Personas Task Analysis User Interviews Usability Testing Participatory Design Diary Studies Focus Groups Hallway Testing Surveys Analytics & Log Review A/B and Beta Testing Stakeholder Interviews User Observations Card Sort Paper Prototyping SME Interviews Automated Testing (i.e. usertesting.com)

PROS

CONS

•  Model design on real users •  Thoroughly understand user

needs •  Validate ideas before going

“live” •  Prioritize efforts

•  Can take a lot of time •  Can be expensive •  Need “lab rats” •  Requires significant planning

“The Cheap”

Personas Task Analysis User Interviews Usability Testing Participatory Design Diary Studies Focus Groups Hallway Testing Surveys Analytics & Log Review A/B and Beta Testing Stakeholder Interviews User Observations Card Sort Paper Prototyping SME Interviews Automated Testing (i.e. usertesting.com)

PROS

CONS

•  Inexpensive •  Some can be automated •  Some produce more numbers;

stats can be comforting to stakeholders

•  No understanding of “why” •  Can be misleading •  Often opinion-based rather

than behavior-based •  Feedback may come after

product is already complete

“The Fast”

Personas Task Analysis User Interviews Usability Testing Participatory Design Diary Studies Focus Groups Hallway Testing Surveys Analytics & Log Review A/B and Beta Testing Stakeholder Interviews User Observations Card Sort Paper Prototyping SME Interviews Automated Testing (i.e. usertesting.com)

PROS

CONS

•  Can be done quickly and in small teams

•  Can show visual concepts and get feedback early on

•  Limited planning required

•  Limited understanding of “why” •  Users may still be kept at

arm’s length •  Feedback may be limited

An Example: Personas

To DIY or not to DIY? A user research study can be a long, involved process. Running a study smoothly and successfully takes practice and might be better left to the experts. But, there’s still a lot to gain by simply learning how to talk with your users.

User Research Planning

•  Setting research goals •  Recruiting participants •  Logistics •  Open interview questions

Types of Questions

Background “Tell me about yourself…”, “How did you come to work here?”

Goal oriented “What makes a good day?”, “What wastes your time?”

Workflow oriented “What did you do when you came home from work?”, “How often do you do this?”

System oriented “What do you most often do with the product?”, “What do you like most about this product?”

Attitude oriented “What do you enjoy the most about riding the bus?”, “What do you procrastinate on?”

Good questions are open A closed question: “Can you find the ‘About Us’ section?”

Rephrased as an open question: “If you wanted to learn more about this company, where would you look?”

With a follow-up if they can’t find it: “Where do you expect to find this? What are you looking for?”

Good questions don’t lead A leading question: “Would this feature help you?”

Rephrased to not lead: “How might you use this feature?”

Another leading question: “Did you find this form easier to fill out?” Rephrased to not lead: “Can you tell me what you liked about both of these forms?”

Good questions avoid technical jargon Jargon: “Is there anything else you’d expect to see in the Task Details Pane?”

Lose the jargon: “Is there anything else you’d want to know about this task?”

Good questions follow a conversation “How often do you watch TV?”

“Not very often. A few nights a week. It depends if there’s something I want to watch.”

“How do you find shows to watch?”

“Friends, or I’ll watch shows I’ve seen already. Sometimes I look at some websites that review TV shows to see if something looks good.”

“Can you show me the websites you go to?” (…)

An exercise Create a list of questions to ask your target users concerning the main user goal your product is trying to support.

Interview Best Practices

•  Use a script •  Start with small talk •  Explain the study •  Ask open-ended and non-leading

questions •  Pause after asking a question and

after a participant responds •  Avoid interrupting, even if it’s just to

agree •  Find out ‘why’ •  Record the session

Interview practice Find a partner and interview them with the questions you’ve written down. (They can pretend to be your user.)

More Hints & Tips for Interviews •  Be impartial – see if you can barter services if this hard •  Small creative incentives can land you participants •  Do a dry run to practice •  Create a checklist so you don’t forget anything •  If you’re asking them to show you how to do something, create

believable & realistic scenarios for your users •  Encourage honesty •  Ask a friend or colleague to take notes for you •  Some tools can help (Excel, video recorder, Silverback, etc.)

What you can do now

•  Jot down questions you’d like to ask your users. •  Practice your questions with friends and family. •  Go talk with your users.

Next workshop: We’ll teach what to do with what you’ve learned from users.

Homework Fill out the interview plan template. Talk to a couple of users.

Questions? [email protected]

Thanks! …and thank you to all the awesome people who share their photos on Flickr:

Stephen Bowler Eva Ekeblad Simon Law

Katia Strieck Johnathan Hoke Peretz Partensky

-JvL- Dipanker Dutta

Mark Roy Alan Cleaver Brian Moore

Sancho McCann Abbey Hendrickson

"Carbon Arc" See-ming Lee

"Fracking" Andrea Hernandez Courtney McGough

Devon Shaw

Another User Research Example: Observation & Participatory Design

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Designers asked, “How to design mobile that’s easier to adopt by older people?”

Designers watched older people the “out of the box” experience

Participatory design with older people, using bananas as “prototype” phones

Designers then redesigned the “How to use” manual based on what they learned

Two Samsung designers wanted to make the mobile experience easier for older users – read what they did in The Value of Empathy (scroll halfway)

Link: http://changeobserver.designobserver.com/feature/the-value-of-empathy/11347/