It’s Cool…but does it work?
description
Transcript of It’s Cool…but does it work?
It’s Cool…but does it work?
Barbara Henry / Jeff PrestonAugust 16, 2011
Outline
• The Value of the User Experience• User-Centered Design• Tools & Resources• Making it “Stick”• Questions / Answers
1. Identification of key problem areas
2. Avoidance of wasting resources to make unneeded changes
3. Targeting of high value/low effort fixes
4. All of the above
What value can a User-Centered Design process bring to application development?
“The Requirements…”
(for the developers)
1. Must have wheels2. Must seat at least two people3. Must be steerable4. Must go forwards and backwards
“It’s Cool…”
“…but does it work?”
Upon further examination…
• What was likely the main flaw with the “car”?
• What would have helped make it “work”?
Too big Too small It had six wheels The wing No user
manual Its color # of Buttons
Too many features
Hmm….None of these?
Paint it black
Simplify gauges
Make it smaller
iPad-based user manual Larger cabin Make it
biggerRemove 2
wheels
2 week training course
Hmm…None of these
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
With a focused approach on user-centered design, organizations can save money and resources on
1. Development2. Maintenance3. Redesign4. Training5. Support
While at the same time increasing6. Success rates7. Productivity8. User satisfaction9. Job satisfaction
Value Proposition
1. The Basic User-Centered Design Construct2. Tools & Resources3. Making it “Stick”
What would you like to hear more about?
User-Centered Design
Consists of three elements:1. User Research
– Know your audience, their behaviors, goals, intentions2. Usability Testing
– Conduct empirical data gathering with real users – in real scenarios – using real models
3. Usability Framework– Build-out and test within the framework of an iterative process
Elements ofUser-Centered Design
User-Centered DesignUser Research
User Research Profiles:Profiles will describe the varying characteristics of individual users within a single user group
1. Summarizes commonalities2. Anonymous – except by roles or common tasks
User Research Personas: A persona is a concrete “characterization” of a single user group
3. It is not an actual person – it’s a fictitious person that represents the information collected from user groups or communities
4. It represents a high-value group – such as stakeholders or customers5. It explains the probabilities of that group – not the possibilities
User-Centered DesignUsability Testing
Usability Testing Definition:1. The process of having existing or potential users experience your site,
software, or product2. It is a performance-based evaluation3. It is an ongoing process – not a one-shot evaluation4. It is key in maintaining efficiencies in rapidly changing environments
Usability Testing Purpose:5. To provide feedback based on what the user “does”…6. Via specific tasks and objectives…7. Using your site, software, or product…8. So that improvements, efficiencies, & corrections can be made
It is not hypothesis driven, it is activity driven
User-Centered DesignUsability Framework
Usability for Development Lifecycles• Usability testing is possible at most all points within the
development cycle
Requirements Gathering
Design Prototype Development Functional Testing
Testing Deploy
UT
UT
UT
UT
UT
UT
UT
User-Centered DesignUsability Framework
Usability for an Iterative Development Framework• An iterative approach can accommodate usability with
greater frequency – allowing for enhanced effectiveness
Sprint 1 Sprint 2 Sprint 3 Sprint 4 Sprint 5
Sprint 6 Sprint 7 Sprint 8 Sprint 9 Sprint 10
Tools & Resources
Making it “Stick”Things to keep in mind
Making it “Stick”Be aware of possible objections to a User-Centered Design approach
1. “It might uncover a showstopper”– If there is something wrong with your product, you will want to discover it before your
customers/stakeholders2. “It adds too much time and cost to the development cycle”
– When properly executed within the development cycle, UCD will decrease the number of iterations – thereby saving time and resources ($$$)
– Usability testing does not have to be big and complex. A simple and focused effort will suffice so long as the end-users are involved. Frequent, timely, to-the-point feedback is usually much more relevant and digestible to development teams than long, infrequent laundry lists of problems
– Any money you do spend will pale in comparison to the cost of doing nothing– Post-release corrections and fixes will overwhelm resources with “emergencies”
3. “There are no problems because I can use it just fine…”– Chances are your users cannot– Would you care to stake the project on that?
Making it “Stick”Be aware of possible objections to a User-Centered Design approach
4. “We are too early in the process – we do not have everything thought out”– There is no better time to incorporate UCD
5. “We are too late in the process”– It is best to identify problems early in the development process, but discovering them
any time is better than releasing the project into a production environment when it’s full of usability problems
6. “We’re doing bug testing – that will take care of any problems”– Usability testing and bug testing are very different issues – you cannot afford to be
without either one.
“80% of maintenance is due to unmet or unforeseen user requirements; only 20% is due to bugs or reliability problems” - WebWord.com: A Business Case for Usability
Making it “Stick”Be aware of possible objections to a User-Centered Design approach
And finally….
“We can just explain it in the user’s manual”
(When was the last time you read the user manual?)
What is most important in successful usability studies?
1. High-tech audio/visual equipment
2. Objective, relevant users3. Defined stakeholder goals
and expectations4. The process5. The timing6. The follow-up7. All of the above
Questions?