User experience & design user centered analysis

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User Centered Analysis

description

UCA is a multistage process which allows designers to analyze and foresee how user is going to use the product. UCA employs proven and objective data-gathering and analysis techniques to develop a clear understanding of who the users are and how they will approach a website or application.

Transcript of User experience & design user centered analysis

Page 1: User experience & design user centered analysis

User Centered Analysis

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What is UCAUCA is a multistage process which allows designers to analyze and foresee how user is going to use the product. UCA employs proven and objective data-gathering and analysis techniques to develop a clear understanding of who the users are and how they will approach a website or application.

Process of discovering….•Who the users are•How they think and work•The stakeholder goals and objectives

Collecting data on…•User profiles•Work environment•Scenarios of how user’s will use the interface•Task analysis

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Uncovering the user’s mental model•People come with mental models•It usually come from past experience•Mental models don’t always match reality•Mental models set expectations, which drive shape and behavior•80% of usability derives from matching the conceptual model•People can’t describe their own mental model

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UCA vs. UTUCA •Data gathering and analysis to design a product•How do users think and work in the entire domain•What are the factors affecting users’ tasks?•What do users want or expect from the design?•What are the users’ aspirations, problems and motivations?

UT•Evaluation of existing design with set criteria•Is the design usable?•Does design match the way users think and work?•Is the design effective, efficient and satisfactory for the user?•Can users complete their tasks?

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UCA vs. UTUCA techniques•Interview•Surveys•Contextual observation•Focus groups•JAD Sessions

UT techniques•Walk through•Performance test•Subjective Rating•Heuristics•A-B testing•Click Stream

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Creating Design strategy•The design strategy fosters cross-department communication by pulling together all the goals for everyone to see. It documents consistencies, allowing priorities, scope, and objective to be discussed.•It specifies the description of the problem and the definition of good solution by identifying critical aspects of the solution.•A design strategy communicates a positive message to the team by including their point of view and concerns, valuing and trusting previous work, and working as efficiently as possible.•It incorporates existing documentation if possible to increase efficiency and prevent reinventing of the wheel.

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Components of Design strategy• Business Goals – usually phrased as specific metrics regarding sales, costs, name recognition, etc.•Target Users – Primary users for whom the interface must be a success•General tasks – Conceptually, the tasks users are expected to accomplish•Technological constraints – what is possible given the technology of existing database, architecture, standards, etc.•Marketing/Branding Goals – The values and personality the interface must project. Aspects that differentiate the interface, product or service from competitors•Critical success factors – Key outcomes that must be met to succeed. Outcomes usually phrased in terms of user experience or business metrics.

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Usability improvementsHow user-performance can be improved?•Highly specific to the project•Measurable•Get management’s input•Communicate to whole project team•Use as usability testing objectives

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Profiles and personas•User groups•User profiles•Task profiles•Environmental profiles•Personas

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User GroupsSites or applications typically have some target users; a user group. Focusing on many user groups creates design challenges. Selecting the important user groups to focus on is business decision.

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User ProfilesProfiles clarify assumptions about users and their tasks, including the task environment, and communicate those assumptions. Profiles highlight the aspects of the user groups that influence design, and provide a means to document the rationale for early design decisions. They emphasize the variation among user groups, and form a basis for prioritizing the user group.

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User ProfilesCharacteristic Customer service

representativeCustomer System

AdministratorAge/Gender 75% Female,

Median Age 3275% Male, Age 25-40 Median 30

80% Male, Age 25-35 Median 27

Education Some higher education

Most have degrees Technical education

Language English, Spanish, French

English English

Computer/web experience

Low to med Med High

Domain Expertise Low to high Med High

Task knowledge Initial : Low to Med after 1 week high

Low to med high

Expectation Ease of use, speed of task

Ease of use Comprehensive functionality

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Task profilesOne way to select which tasks to analyze and redesign is to examine which tasks are performed by which types of users.

Tasks Roles

Customer service Representative

Outside Sales Customer Administrator

Request New User name & Password

X

Find customer X X X

View customer X X

Enter/ edit customer data

X X

View reports X X

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Environmental ProfilesCapture characteristics of the user’s location, workspace, lighting conditions, hardware and software.

Characteristic Variable Design Implications

Location Indoor/outdoor weather exposure

Equipment options position entry

Workspace Cramped / spacious Display size position entry

Lighting Bright to dim Color contrast fonts

Hardware Monitor size/resolution color system sound card video card

Legibility presentation options color palette compatibility

Software Browser technology constraints

HTML/script support response time detail design compatibility

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PersonasA persona is a concrete characterization of a single user group. It synthesizes information from the user, task and environment profiles. It is a detailed example of a potential end user that represents a specific target audience type and focuses on probabilities not possibilities. Create a persona for each major target group do not develop personas for less important groups. Design up to three personas rarely more.

Personas help designer think in terms of users by providing a concrete characterization of them and how they might use the site.

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Field studies•Direct and indirect data gathering methods•One-on-one interview techniques•User observations

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Three dimensions of data-gathering methodsDirect – obtaining data from actual userIndirect – obtaining data from users without direct contact

Individual vs. groupIndividual – one person at a timeGroup- more then one person at a time

Performance vs. discussionPerformance-the tasks are performed in the sessionDiscussion-the tasks are discussed, recalled, projected, opinions given etc.

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One on one interviewsOne on one interviews are a good choice if it is difficult to have people perform a task while being observed. It also helps to complete a picture of their perspective and ideas instead of just observing them.

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Complementary data-gathering methodsMethods that are less expensive or use less time are referred to as complementary methods because their advantages and disadvantages are different then field studies.

•Direct data gathering methods for groups•Indirect data gathering methods

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Direct methodsGroup of users

•Focus groups•JAD (joint application development sessions)•User group meetings and usability roundtables

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Direct methods•Focus groups – are made up of small groups of participants (8-10 participants) that are led through a set of subjects by facilitator. The session is made up of moderated discussion and brainstorming. Focus groups are best used early in the development process.

Benefits include:•Rapid feedback from users•Design team gets a window on user’s stated priorities•Generates product possibilities that stakeholders may have missed

Drawbacks include:•Participants may influence each other•Some participants may dominate conversation•Talking about something is different from actually doing it

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Direct methodsJAD (joint application development sessions)

A facilitated workshop or JAD session is similar to a focus group, but it include a cross section of stakeholders, engineers and users.

•They help getting rapid feedback on big decisions, as they bring the users, developers and designers together. They can also help identify missed or unnecessary design elements.•The concerns are the same as those for focus groups. They also need a good moderator. Also it may be tempting to design on the spot, and to educate users about the backend rather then offer solutions.

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Direct methodsUser group meetings and usability roundtables- user group meetings and usability roundtables are similar to user interviews, but are conducted in a group. They typically include more sophisticated or longtime users, and are conducted away from the user environment. The participants bring work samples to present and discuss.

•Benefits include user feedback on problems from the actual users, and also a sample of real world examples of the user’s work.•However, participants are not always good at selecting important samples, and samples are out of context. Also participants may influence one another on important topics.

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Indirect methodsReviewing customer feedback

•Conducting surveys•Analyzing help desk or support line calls•Analyzing bulletin boards or discussion groups•User representatives•Analyzing web trends

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Indirect methodsConducting surveys

•Surveys offer a fast and cheap data collection method with the ability to cast a wide net quickly. Data collection and analysis can be automated to reduce time and cost.•Surveys tend to focus on preferences and rely on memory. It is harder to learn about performance and there is no opportunity to probe or follow up. Also the reliability of the data is difficult to establish. The motivation and attention span of the participants are critical and it can be difficult to achieve a representative sample.

Three common types of surveys are-•Marketing survey•Needs assessment survey•Evaluation survey

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Indirect methodsHelp desks and support lines

Summaries of logged communications from phone support, email and in person requests for help.

•These summaries highlight the difficult functions or interactions and relative frequency of problems. They can identify additional needs and provide direct access to the user vocabulary.•This sampling is neither systematic nor complete and only highlights the problems people could not solve on their own. Only irritated users who can’t get help elsewhere call.

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Indirect methodsMonitoring bulletin or discussion boards

Bulletin and discussion boards typically summarize bug reports/fixes user problems and work- around.

•The problems are chronologically reported and often include user generated troubleshooting. They usually include user wish lists (if read carefully) and can be used to create FAQs.•Many users may not take advantage of these resources as they may be difficult to use and users may not know they exist. They offer a systematic method for discovery of problems but not for determining the frequency or criticality of the problems.

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Indirect methodsUser or organizational representatives

User or organizational representatives are intermediaries who document user’s goals and needs.

•They may impart a basic understanding of the task.•They may not an actual user even if they used to be. Hence their perspectives on the tasks are quite different. They may also have a design agenda. They may supervise users and therefore may not hear accurate information from them. Also they may not impartially diagnose users needs, but project their own opinions. An intermediary’s presence may make direct contact seem unnecessary.

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Indirect methodsWeb analysis logs

Web analysis logs of frequently hit pages, path analysis and exit points. They also offer an insight into time on task.

•They provide guidance on the kinds of questions to ask.•Web log data are often inaccurate.

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Selecting the right methodThere is no perfect or even best method of gathering data about users. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. The detailed circumstances of your situation will determine which you want to use and when.The richest data are produced by

•Direct – from the user themselves with no filtering through someone else•Individual-no summarizing across users and believing there is an ‘average user’Use more then one method for optimum results.

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Thank youBy Preeti Arora

[email protected]