Using Social Media to Improve User Experience edUi version

Using Social Media to Improve User Experience

Erling Amundson, Principal Digital Strategist, User Experience

1 Billion People

/Are connected via

social media

17

• Social media are tools or technologies that allow people to connect and to share information with others.

• Common examples:– Facebook– Twitter– LinkedIn– YouTube– Blogs– Forums

• Social Media can be:– Public or Private– Open to anyone or for specific group members

• Examples– Twitter vs. Chatter– Public blog vs. Intranet

Social Media in 20121. Social networking is now

the most popular online activity

2. 62% of adults worldwide now use social media

3. 80% of US social network users prefer to connect with brands through Facebook

4. 40% of Twitter users regularly search for products in TwitterSource: http://thesocialskinny.com/99-new-social-media-stats-for-2012/

This is changing how people communicate with each other

and with organizations

And yet…according to Facebook, 95% of all

Facebook wall posts are

NOT answered by brands

“Customers are paying extra attention to the whole of their experience with your business. And what they see – how they connect the dots between their experiences, perceptions, and the attitude of your employees – figures into their buying decisions. You need to equip every employee to be an ambassador, a representative, and an advocate in the very moment they need to be.”

Customer Self Help: In Product Social

Customer Self Help: Translate & ShareNorton Together

Digital Strategy

More than Marketing

Deliver an experience

UX Professionals Offer

ListeningCollaboration

Learning about usersIdentifying experience improvements

The point of UX is to meaningfully engage with real people who will use the products so that the products & experiences will better meet

their needs.

Meet your users where they are

Meet your users:• In person:

–User group meetings–Conferences–User research

• In social media– Forums– Comments– Twitter

Social can improve current UX deliverables

Social Personas

Who are your users?

• Students• Alumni• Fans• Faculty• Parents• Donors• Museum patrons• Doctors, patients, scientists, citizens, etc.

Personas• Personas, descriptions of typical users or customers, are a

useful tool. They help align a team, working toward producing a product that will work for a real person.

• Personas are especially useful when your team is large and doesn’t have much contact with the people who will use the products they are creating. Learning something about the end user or customer helps the team keep them in mind as they work.

• Only, personas aren’t usually real people. They are representations, often combinations of characteristics, used to portray expected users. Personas can be created from visiting with real users. Or, they can be created based on customer or industry demographics.

Personas

If you choose to use traditional personas, you can now enhance them with a richer set of information. What does ‘Bob’ like, who is he connected to, what groups does he belong to, and what is he saying about your product? Enhance your personas with connection maps, social media streams, and a richer description of the person.

Social Data Enhances Personas

Events:CXPA Inaugural Conference October 19-20, 2011UPA International 2012 Conference June 4-8, 2012

Top Tasks: - Identify and refine search keywords - Monitor social media mentions - Create socially driven UX methods

Recent Tweets: Mocking up a socially enhanced persona to share at #upa2012. This is kind of cool. #ux

RT @KnowledgeBishop Most will say it can’t be done: Prove them wrong. #BeTheOne

Wondering why so many brands have a social presence but don’t respond to their customers questions. #cx #ux

- Employed at Symantec - 20 years experience in UX/Usability - MS Applied Psychology - Advanced Radian6 user

Groups:

ErlingDigital Strategist

“I want to create experiences that delight people”

Top Connections:

Why not experiment with personas?• Danielle Cooley experimented with creating

personas in the form of social media profiles in Facebook and Twitter.

• Danielle’s persona template for Photoshop can be found at http://facebookpersona.notlong.com/

Danielle Cooley’s Facebook Persona

@JustWilma photo via creative commons license from flickr user Alaskan Dude.@RedheadRockStar photo courtesy of twitter user @ElisaRockDoc.

@JustWilma @RedheadRockStar

EmploymentPoliticsGeography

Hobbies Gender

Wilma Marron Rock Star. Gamer.

Danielle Cooley’s Twitter Persona

“If your colleagues believe users are critical and recognize that they don’t know everything about the users, the next step is obvious: They need to learn more about these people. And the most efficient and productive way to do that is by interacting with them directly.”

Personas vs. Personal Contact

• One alternative is to consider ongoing contact with real people, people who will buy and use the products you make. There is no substitute for a relationship with your users. Rather than imagining what ‘Bob’ the persona might want, you can actually talk to the real Sarah and ask her, show her the proposed design, get her feedback on what would work in her environment.

• Social media lowers the barriers for finding and meeting with real users. Reach out, begin the conversation, and get to know your users and customers.

• Trust your customers and your staff. Connect them in a conversation that benefits everyone.

“Do you want your ideas and creative concepts to see the light of day? Then don’t start with the customer “in mind,” but actually with the customer. Anything that comes straight from their mouths is pretty … hard to refute.”

Social can improve current UX processes

Recruiting

Blogs & Community

• If you are a good writer• Share your expertise

– Product– Technology– Process

• Write a weekly or monthly article: 300-500 words on organization’s site or Wordpress

• Read and respond to comments• Build a community of followers

Blog & Community

• Blog before research:– Announce upcoming studies– Recruit participants

• Blog after research– Thank participants publically– Announce findings– Generate interest in the next event

Social can improve current UX processes

Participation & Engagement

User Engagement

Understand

Refine Design

AwarenessAwareness

User Engagement Installation

Installation

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

LearningLearning

Acquisition

Acquisition

Configuration

Configuration

RemovingRemoving

UsingUsing

Engaging with Twitter

@customer I am frustrated with ProductX is bad. It shouldn’t be so hard to do TaskY.

@customer Thanks. That is helpful. But, I still think the feature could be easier to use.

@support Sorry you are having problems. Have you seen the tips at http://t.co.abcdefg ?

@support I’d love to hear your ideas. Please DM me so we can chat more.

Social engagement is part of the experience

Socially driven design enables you to engage with users on an ongoing basis

Relationships enable better participation by users in the

design process

42

Prototype

“Feature Enhancement”

Company + Author

Prototype

Author

Product Enhanced

Business Unit

“Feature Released”

Socially Driven Design ™

Social Media enables global Participatory Design

#eduiconf

Connecting With Your Users In Social Media

Engaging The Community

• Find out where people are having conversations• Listen & learn• Find ways to be helpful; contribute to the community

– Tips– KB articles

• Build relationships– Online & offline– Invite them to user groups, usability tests, customer

events• Thank them

– For their time, feedback, and for sharing their knowledge

Join a Community

• Select one place of interest– A Forum– Twitter

• Start small– Listen & observe 2-3 hours per week– Watch for role models

• Respond to the topics you know• Ask for help with what you don’t know

– Ask for someone else to respond– Ask for the answer you can respond

“He practices digital generosity. As a result, when he does ask for something, his followers and fans respond. This phenomenon is what I have come to call the 20-to-1 rule. It represents a ratio. It means that you have to make twenty relational deposits for every marketing withdrawal… If you want to build a social media platform – one where people listen to you – then you have to be a giver, not a taker.”

Digital Generosity

Actionable Mentions

• Case: Request for help resolving real-time issue

• Query: Question that doesn’t require support resource

• Rant: Insult that merits consideration• Rave: Praise from a user or customer

How to Listen

Social Listening Tools

Social Listening Tools

• Twitter• Facebook• Blog

• Google Searches• Google Blog Search

Social Listening Tools

• Integrate your social media– HootSuite – TweetDeck

• Google Alerts• Social Mention

Professional Social Listening Tools

• Powerful search and response tools:– Radian6– Sysmos

Social UX

A Few Parting Thoughts

Social breaks silos

Align culture around great experience

Socially Driven Design provides faster feedback

Real-time data not days or weeks later

Socially Driven Design is Agile

Continual conversation shortens feedback cycles

Get Started

Partner with a few social leaders in your organization

Reach out to socially active users

Thank You

• Let’s continue the Discussion:– Twitter: @XDstrategy– Email: [email protected]