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Staff user research project

Summary report

Nick Daniels, May 2018

Contents

About this research ............................................................................................................................................ 2

Methods ............................................................................................................................................................ 3

Top tasks survey results .................................................................................................................................... 4

Existing research into top tasks ......................................................................................................................... 6

User journey maps ............................................................................................................................................ 7

What we found out in interviews and workshops ............................................................................................. 12

Analytics .......................................................................................................................................................... 15

Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................................... 17

Source data ..................................................................................................................................................... 17

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About this research

Context

In 2017, the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education1 conducted a Governance, Management and Communications Review within the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences (PPLS). Following recommendations from this review, the School set up an Intranet Working Group to look at how internal digital communications can be improved. The Intranet Working Group then commissioned this research.

What motivated the project

The School has had a SharePoint intranet since 2015, but it is under-used. While there is a good understanding of what staff want to broadcast via the intranet, we wanted a better understanding of what end users might need from it.

In particular, we wanted a clearer picture of the needs of academic staff:

• What administrative tasks does a PPLS academic need to carry out in the course of their work? • How do they currently carry out these tasks? • Where is there potential for digital technology to make these tasks easier?

Answering these questions will help us to make more informed decisions about how staff-directed webpages should be designed.

These decisions include:

• What should / shouldn’t be included on an intranet? • What should be prominent and easy to find? • How should the content be categorised?

We will also be in a better position to assess the content and organisation of our existing intranet.

1 https://www.lfhe.ac.uk/

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Methods

User research in discovery

This project fits in to the discovery phase of a design process.2

Discovery involves open enquiry into the current experience of a defined user group (see the left side of the diagram below). The main objective is to understand what tasks users need to do, how they currently do them, and what they experience in the process.

During this phase, we try to avoid prejudging the question of what solutions are needed. This happens later (as shown in the right side of the diagram), when we have a better idea of of what problems we need to solve.

What we did and who we spoke to

Top tasks analysis. 55 PPLS staff completed a survey to choose which tasks would be most important to them on an internal staff website.

Interviews, workshops and email correspondence with staff at PPLS. We spoke to 9 members of academic staff at PPLS. We also interviewed representatives from 10 divisions within PPLS Professional Services: School Office, UG Teaching Organisation, PG Office, Student Support and Experience, HR, Finance, IT Support, Research Office, Marketing and Communications, Knowledge Exchange and Impact.

Analysis of analytics data from our existing intranet. SharePoint provides basic data for the time that the current intranet has been live (2015-present).

Review of existing research. We were able to draw on two previous top tasks surveys carried out at the University of Edinburgh.

2 Read more about user research in discovery in the Government Digital Service service manual: https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-research/user-research-in-discovery

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Top tasks survey results

Top 10 tasks

Note that the top 8 items here (out of 41) accounted for half of all votes cast.

Votes Votes (%) Votes (Cuml %)

1 Contact details / room numbers of PPLS staff 25 9% 9%

2 Room / lab bookings 23 8% 17%

3 Agendas / minutes / docs for PPLS meetings 22 8% 25%

4 Events / What's on 19 7% 32%

5 Research funding (info and support) 15 5% 38%

6 Claim expenses 13 5% 43%

7 Research ethics procedures 12 4% 47%

8 Assistance with resolving a student problem 11 4% 51%

= Email lists 11 4% 55%

10 Building / facilities support 10 4% 59%

About this survey

All PPLS staff were emailed a link to the survey on 24/4/2018. The survey closed on 27/4/2018.

The survey loosely followed a method described by Gerry McGovern here: What Really Matters: Focusing on Top Tasks

Task items were chosen on the basis of in-person interviews across the School. Prior work researching top tasks at the Institute for Genetic and Molecular Medicine was also used to compile the list.

The order of the task list was randomised for every survey.

Who participated

55 surveys were completed in total:

Academic staff 33

Philosophy 6

Psychology 14

Linguistics and English Language 13

Professional Services staff 22

Each participant voted for 5 items, meaning there were 265 votes submitted in total.

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Results: all task items

0 5 10 15 20 25

Contact details / room numbers of PPLS staffRoom / lab bookings

Agendas / minutes / docs for PPLS meetingsEvents / What's on

Research funding (info and support)Claim expenses

Research ethics proceduresAssistance with resolving a student problem

Email listsBuilding / facilities support (reporting faults / getting keys / out…

Websites (access / edit PPLS websites)Equipment (browse what's available / borrow items)

IT supportCourse approval process / changing DRPS listings

Annual Review support (aka Performance and Development…Payslip

Staff newsDiscussion and voting tools (for internal decision-making)

Annual leaveMaps (buildings / campus)

Knowledge Exchange and Impact opportunities (funding /…Hiring / recruitment of staff

Academic promotion proceduresPrinters printing and photocopying

Event planning & supportRecruit participants for experiments

Wifi accessCourse evaluation data

Book travel / accommodationVisa information and support

ProcurementHosting visting academics

Order cateringAthena Swan

Disability supportStaff counselling services

PURE supportPhotography filming & videos

Fire evacuationPregnancy / Maternity leave / Paternity leave

Social media

What tasks would be most important to you on a website for PPLS staff?Academic Professional Services

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Existing research into top tasks

Data from the Institute for Genetic and Molecular Medicine

From a 2018 top tasks survey of staff at the IGMM (College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine).

239 responses with 5 votes each.

Question: Select the 5 tasks that are most important to you when using the IGMM intranet.

Votes

1 Annual Leave 144

2 Staff Search - People Finder (PMS) 121

3 Technical Services 86

4 Web Apps / Booking Systems 59

5 eExpenses / Expenses Claims 56

6 Stores & Procurement 53

7 Room Bookings 51

8 Graphics And Publication (Branding Templates etc) 32

9 Email Lists 29

10 Facilities 28

Data from the University Website Programme / User Experience Service

From a 2008 top tasks survey of academic staff from across the University.

89 responses with 5 votes each.

Question: Select your top five reasons for using the University of Edinburgh’s websites. These should be the tasks you consider to be most important to you as an employee of the University. A task you perform on any website which is part of the University of Edinburgh counts – not just the “central” blue and red pages

Votes

1 Find staff (phone directory, etc.) 74

2 Library resources 56

3 Log into MyEd 47

4 Job vacancies 23

5 Log into your local intranet 17

6 Find a department (maps, postal addresses etc.) 16

7 Claim expenses (travel, etc.) 15

8 E-learning (e.g. accessing a VLE) 15

9 Research and development 13

10 Health and safety guidelines 12

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User journey maps

About user journey maps

These are based on what staff described to us during interviews and workshops. Each map is intended to summarise the staff experience of a process.

Why are user journey maps useful?

• They highlight patterns in what staff told us about how they perceive the processes. • They help us as service designers to start from what actually happens rather than what we would like to

be happening. • They help us to empathise with what it’s like to be a user completing these tasks. • They act as a stimulus for further discussion about how processes could be improved.

Limitations

The user journey maps presented here are incomplete representations of the process itself.

They are based what we’ve learned from a sample of staff who are recounting what they do from memory.

Because they are presented from the perspective of the user, these user journey maps might miss out what happens “behind the scenes” (after a form is sent off, for example), and they may also miss out more technical aspects of the process.

Tasks

The user journey maps that follow cover four tasks, as carried out by academic staff at PPLS:

• Ad hoc room booking • Travel to a conference • Applying for research funding • Hiring staff

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* and get travel insurance

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What we found out in interviews and workshops

Common administrative tasks of PPLS academics

Finance

Claim expenses What can / can’t I claim for? How do I make a claim?

Access staff development fund How do I spend this money?

Pay someone Should I contact Finance or HR?

Buy something Do I have to use approved suppliers? How do I procure equipment?

HR

Recruit someone What’s the process? What do I have to do?

Help someone I’m recruiting Help with their visa. Relocation support.

Leave / absence Report sickness. Book leave. Maternity / Paternity leave policies

Fulfil my visa requirements Letters for UKVI. Rules and regs.

Marketing / Comms

Download images University logo. Professional photography.

Update the PPLS website List an event. Create a profile. Update a page.

Promote my event / my work Web / Social media. Display screens.

Event support Posters. Signs. Merchandise.

Promote the School Eg at an event. PPLS factsheets. Subject brochures.

IT

Book a computer lab Be sure that software and logins will work.

Fix a computer / printer It’s broken / slow. App keeps crashing. File won’t open.

Use audio equipment Book the studio. Borrow recording gear.

Host a Skype video call PhD vivas. Job interviews.

Teaching room tech support Fix A/V problem. Move room partition.

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Estates / Facilities

Report a fault Lights. Radiators.

Get room accessories Keys. Whiteboards.

Operations

Book a room / lab Meetings. Teaching.

Order catering Menu options. Prices. Timescales.

Book travel / hotel Buying tickets. Getting insurance.

Host a visiting academic What do I / they need to do?

Contact details Staff phone numbers. Locations. Who to contact about what.

Post to a mailing list What mailing lists are available? Who is on what list?

Research

Apply for a grant Process. Deadlines. Support.

Check on my grant money Balance. Budget changes.

Recruit a research assistant Recruit internally. Write job descriptions.

Events Find out what’s on. Organise an event.

Research ethics approval What do I need to do? What’s the process?

Recruit participants Use SONA (Psychology only).

Teaching

Attendance monitoring Take attendance. Monitor attendance records. Follow up on poor attenders.

Exams When are they? Collect and return papers

Marking and moderation Monitor what’s been done / what’s yet to do. Monitor distribution of marks.

Courses Change specs of an existing course. Launch a new course.

Course evaluations See my evaluations. See evaluations for a course I organise.

Student support

Help my tutee with a problem Course choices. Special circumstances. Extensions.

Subject area admin

Meetings When’s our next meeting? Minutes / agendas.

Decision making Discuss. Vote.

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Comments of interest

SharePoint

“The login stage puts people off. I often email forms as attachments even when they’re on SharePoint, because it’s easier for people to open the attachment than click a link and log in.”

“I rarely access SharePoint pages by starting at the intranet homepage. I’m much more likely to be following a link that someone’s emailed to me.”

“There could be a section for classified ads (room to rent, etc.). These things sometimes get sent via the mailing list, and they could have their own section on the intranet, where people could sign up to receive an update if a new thing gets posted.”

“A lot of what’s on SharePoint doesn’t seem to be private, so why not put it on the internet rather than the intranet?”

“SharePoint needs a working search function.”

Additional items for the top task list

“I’d like to see a clear explanation of the structure of the school (like an org chart with explanations of functions); an exhaustive list of school governance committees and their remits; a list of common workflows related to the school and how to do them, e.g. spend some of the money allocated for travel or PD&R.”

“I’d like to see at a glance any research talks (school wide) that are on that day. Be able to see a diary with upcoming workshops/conferences/events for the coming 6 months in order to prevent clashes with all day events I am organizing myself. Be able to check deadlines (for funding, for making changes to courses etc.)”

Who to contact

“It’s difficult to know who can help you with what. There have been new hires on the Professional Services side at PPLS, and I don’t always know who to contact, what the difference is between their roles, what their remit is exactly. I don’t want to ask them to do something for me and then discover that that’s not part of their job.”

Webforms

“I like the room booking form at the Business School3. If we had something like this, it would cut down on email back and forth when we’re booking a room.”

“I hate webforms. It’s hard to save data in progress and know that it’s been saved. It always seems easier to lose your data that way. And after you’ve submitted it, you often don’t get your own copy of what you’ve submitted. I prefer to work locally and then upload the doc.”

“It’s maddening when form fields could be prepopulated but they aren’t.”

Outlook Calendar

“Scheduling meetings is a nightmare. So many Doodle polls.”

“Setting up meetings would be much easier if everyone used Outlook Calendar”

“I don’t use Outlook Calendar because it sends out notifications to people without telling me”.

“I know they want us all to use Office Calendar, but realistically that doesn’t seem to be happening. Personally, I use another calendar system because I don’t want all my personal calendar things on a university calendar.

3 https://www.business-school.ed.ac.uk/forms/room-booking-form/

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Other systems

“Whosoff is easy enough to use. It has some quirks if you’re not full-time though. And a lot of staff have ideological problems with it – it seems to misunderstand how academics work.”

“The eExpenses system works well.”

Analytics

What we looked at

The table on the following page shows selected PPLS intranet pages with the number of unique users per month.

This data was extracted via the Popularity Trends tool in SharePoint.

Main findings

1. The intranet as a whole gets very little use, given the number of staff who have access to it.

2. The pages visited by the largest numbers of staff are those related to Annual Review. This can be easily explained, as staff have to complete their Annual Review documentation via SharePoint.4

3. Another popular route seems to be Support > School Office > General Enquiries. A possible explanation for this is that people are trying to access the list of staff contacts.

4. In the last year, some pages have had almost no traffic at all. See especially:

• Teaching > Technology Enhanced Education • Teaching > Quality Assurance • Teaching > Postgraduate • Teaching > Personal Tutors • Research > Research Centres • Support > Buildings and Facilities • Support > Computing and Web • Support > Head of School / DoPS

4 Some usability problems were noted with document management in the Annual Review process. In particular, staff acting as reviewers said it is hard to keep track of document changes made by staff they are reviewing.

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Unique users per month, 2015-2018

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to everyone at PPLS who took part in this research.

Thanks also to Paul De’Ath and Neil Allison for providing additional top tasks data.

Source data

Full interview notes, survey results and analytics data are available to the PPLS Intranet Working Group:

https://uoe.sharepoint.com/sites/hss/ppls/group/gclr/PPL004/default.aspx