Luddites Won't Let Me Skype In: HS2 IT User Research Project
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Transcript of Luddites Won't Let Me Skype In: HS2 IT User Research Project
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
HS2 IT USER RESEARCH PROJECTLUDDITES WON’T LET ME SKYPE IN
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
HELLO
• the project• what we got away with• why we chose the techniques• what we got out of it
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHY WE ASKED FOR THIS
• we have a railway to build• we have an organisation to build• digital information services are
critical• new to service design
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
10 WEEK USER RESEARCH PROJECT
• broad and shallow
• understand our users across the organisation
• learn• make it stick
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
“IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT THE USER NEEDS ARE, YOU WON’T BUILD THE RIGHT THING. DO RESEARCH, ANALYSE DATA, TALK TO USERS. DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS.”
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
Sprint 1: Project Set-up Sprint 4: Analysis PhaseSprint 2 - 3: Research Phase Sprint 5: Conclusion
Stakeholder mapping
Guerilla interviews
Develop the brief
Work out next round of interview questions
Design interview tools
Book interviews
Conduct interviews
Survey
‘Week in your life’ research kit
User needs workshop
Review existing sources of information
Repeated thematic analysis throughout previous phases and this phase to articulate pain points and needs
Create project insights document
Create personas
Create toolkit
Create challenges document
Make ‘exhibition’ with project outputs
Presentation to key stakeholders
Show & tell to staff to sense check
Make film to document process
THE PROJECTPROJECT PHASES
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
OUR IDEA OF ‘GOOD’ DISCOVERYIN THIS INSTANCE AT LEAST
• issues come up repeatedly• outputs presented accessibly• clear direction as a result• demonstrating & engaging
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
this was not discovery with intention of going into alpha...
...this was big picture research to find out what the pressing issues are that need specific research...
...plus a learning experience for staff
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHAT WE GOT AWAY WITH A DESIGNER’S DELIGHT
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHAT WE GOT AWAY WITHREFINE BRIEF 1/4 WAY THROUGH
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHAT WE GOT AWAY WITHPOP UP INTERVIEWS
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHAT WE GOT AWAY WITHTALKING ABOUT ‘DESIGN RESEARCH’
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHAT WE GOT AWAY WITHHAND DRAWING STUFF
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHY DO POP UP INTERVIEWS
• lots of people, quickly• broad and shallow• quick impressions pointing to
top of mind issues for further research
• see people in their normal environments
• contact with people we wouldn’t have access to otherwise
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHY DO REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLING PAPER DIAGRAM
• getting spread in directorates was a hot topic
• working out loud• easy to stay on track
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHY USE PAPER TOOLS IN INTERVIEWS
• less confrontational than questions list
• visual & engaging• feels safely structured despite
being wide open research• helps prompt memory of the
working week
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHY USE CULTURAL PROBES
• inspect minutiae of interactions - logged at the time; less distorted than reported through interview
• fun & engaging & beautiful• detailed honesty - harder to get
in interview situation - insight into culture & characters
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
EXTRACT FROM A ‘WEEK IN YOUR LIFE’ RESEARCH KIT(A CULTURAL PROBE)
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHY DO PERSONAS
• simplify staff into manageable categories that we can design for
• HS2 personas: types of activities in roles - affects who they interact with & how
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHY MAKE A TOOLKIT
• start off practice of user research
• co-write with others: ownership • make process tangible even
though researchers are gone• bespoke: specific to context;
more likely to make sense to beginner
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
THEMATIC ANALYSIS IS NOT WITHIN EVERYONE’S EXPERIENCE
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
BUSINESS ANALYSTS LEADING INTERVIEWS: NEW & CHALLENGING
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
MEASURES OF SUCCESS
• personas rang true with staff• culture people engaged• toolkit felt useful (+github)• got back 8/10 cultural probes
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHY IT WORKED
• management consistently unblocking blockers quickly
• J2 comfortable with uncertainty• over ambitious• business analysts did interviews• W9&10 for testing outputs only
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHAT DID WE GET OUT OF IT?
We got what we hoped for…• we can do this! • user personas to shape design
and delivery of information services
• strong basis for service-specific user research next
• people-centred understanding of our services
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
WHAT DID WE GET OUT OF IT?
And more…!• rich insight into the kinds of
people who work in HS2• new understanding of the
organisation• will inform a whole range of
other work
Lior Smith @liorsmith Rainmaker | Jeremy Foot @jeremyfoot HS2
GITHUB & FOLLOW
@liorsmith@jeremyfoot
Github search: ‘HS2 toolkit’ or ’user needs toolkit’