Redesigning TCS.com with Remote Research Chris Farnum | Senior Information Architect | Enlighten Internet User Experience 2008 April 2, 2008

About the Client - TCS IT Services, Business Solutions and Outsourcing HQ – Mumbai, India Part of Tata Group, one of India’s largest industrial conglomerates and most respected brands TCS has over 108,000 IT consultants in 47 countries TCS Annual Sales: $4.3 billion (2006-2007 fiscal year) Known for quality results – CMMI Maturity Level 5

IT Services, Business Solutions and Outsourcing

HQ – Mumbai, India

Part of Tata Group, one of India’s largest industrial conglomerates and most respected brands

TCS has over 108,000 IT consultants in 47 countries

TCS Annual Sales: $4.3 billion (2006-2007 fiscal year)

Known for quality results – CMMI Maturity Level 5

Project Goal – Redesign TCS.com Global Message: Position TCS as a global company and highlight the message of the Global Network Delivery Model ™ Brand building: Firmly establish TCS positioning and support the “Experience Certainty” campaign now and into the future Demand generation: Create an environment to support Demand Generation using the new website User-centric Design: Design and Develop site based on key user needs and tasks (i.e., ‘outside in’ vs. ‘inside out’) Technical Infrastructure: Develop the new site on a scaleable Content Management System to facilitate content development & maintenance - Microsoft Sharepoint 2007

Global Message: Position TCS as a global company and highlight the message of the Global Network Delivery Model ™

Brand building: Firmly establish TCS positioning and support the “Experience Certainty” campaign now and into the future

Demand generation: Create an environment to support Demand Generation using the new website

User-centric Design: Design and Develop site based on key user needs and tasks (i.e., ‘outside in’ vs. ‘inside out’)

Technical Infrastructure: Develop the new site on a scaleable Content Management System to facilitate content development & maintenance - Microsoft Sharepoint 2007

Project Overview Engagement Plan Facilitated Work Sessions Analysis of Key Internal and External Factors Conduct User Research Project Requirements Strategic Assessment Project Requirements Information Architecture User Interface Functional Specifications Technical Specifications Art Comps Test Plan / User Acceptance Testing Launch Specifications Site Specification Art Production Programming Integration Quality Assurance User Acceptance Testing Staging Deployment Final Site Update Monitor Measure Report Improve On-Going Improvements DEFINE DESIGN BUILD Feature / Scope Definition Technical & Implementation Recommendations Preliminary UI Art Comps Strategy Requirements Design Build Maintenance

Research Step One – Stakeholder Interviews Enlighten and TCS staff conducted 28 group interview sessions on site in Chennai and Mumbai and by conference call with: Practice Leads Delivery Heads Business Unit Managers Sales Leaders Human Resource Leaders Global Representatives Executive Leadership Estimate: 60-70 participants Photo courtesy of Scott Mills

Enlighten and TCS staff conducted 28 group interview sessions on site in Chennai and Mumbai and by conference call with:

Practice Leads

Delivery Heads

Business Unit Managers

Sales Leaders

Human Resource Leaders

Global Representatives

Executive Leadership

Estimate: 60-70 participants

TCS.com Site March 2007 – Home Long, crowded, and overwhelming High abandonment rate

Long, crowded, and overwhelming

High abandonment rate

Original Site’s Organization & Navigation Left navigation Overlapping choices Options not grouped by type – apples and oranges Prioritization of choices could be improved

Left navigation

Overlapping choices

Options not grouped by type – apples and oranges

Prioritization of choices could be improved

Original Site – Services Channel Landing Page Calls to action need to be improved Channel navigation has no on-states Content could use more structure and editing

Interim Site – Launched Spring 2007

Interim Site Channel Content Channel navigation within a closed page element.

User Research Part One - Overview Research goals – to gain a better understanding of… Buying cycle and research process Site content and features Brand attributes and positioning How users see the relationships and grouping between different types of content 19 Participants Customers representing North America, Ibero-America and UK (15) Analysts (2) Career Seekers (2) User Segments Customer: C-Level Customer: Business Unit Manager Industry Influencers Career Seeker (Mid-career)

Research goals – to gain a better understanding of…

Buying cycle and research process

Site content and features

Brand attributes and positioning

How users see the relationships and grouping between different types of content

19 Participants

Customers representing North America, Ibero-America and UK (15)

Analysts (2)

Career Seekers (2)

User Segments

Customer: C-Level

Customer: Business Unit Manager

Industry Influencers

Career Seeker (Mid-career)

User Research Part One - Methods Remote user research allowed us to connect with users in their own offices while we remained in ours. Sessions consisted of: Interview questions Likert Scale questions (scale of 1-10) to measure the importance of site features and content Discussion questions about buying cycle and brand perception Online card sorting observed in real time to inform organization of content Remote user testing tool: UserVue http://www.techsmith.com/uservue.asp Online card sorting tool: WebSort http://websort.net/ Analysis with EZ-Calc

Remote user research allowed us to connect with users in their own offices while we remained in ours.

Sessions consisted of:

Interview questions

Likert Scale questions (scale of 1-10) to measure the importance of site features and content

Discussion questions about buying cycle and brand perception

Online card sorting observed in real time to inform organization of content

Remote user testing tool: UserVue

http://www.techsmith.com/uservue.asp

Online card sorting tool: WebSort

http://websort.net/

Analysis with EZ-Calc

Remote Research with UserVue Moderator (Enlighten, Ann Arbor) Participant (US, S. America, Europe…) TCS Observer (Chicago) TCS Observer (Mumbai) Desktop sharing via UserVue Voice via conference call line

UserVue Kung Fu Normally UserVue places a call directly to the participant – domestic calls ONLY. For international calling , have UserVue dial an international conference call bridge line. Send detailed instructions to particpants with invitations for accessing the prototype and the conference call. Watch out for spam filters ! Be flexible in case of poor connections. Leave plenty of time between sessions if you want to capture video. Practice!

Normally UserVue places a call directly to the participant – domestic calls ONLY.

For international calling , have UserVue dial an international conference call bridge line.

Send detailed instructions to particpants with invitations for accessing the prototype and the conference call.

Watch out for spam filters !

Be flexible in case of poor connections.

Leave plenty of time between sessions if you want to capture video.

Practice!

Card Sorting Online with WebSort

User Research Part One - Findings Top 5 Features Ranked by Average “Importance” Score (1 – 10) Case studies (7.8) International locations/language (6.9) White papers (6.4) Articles about Innovation/R&D (6.4) Press Releases (6.3) Recommendation: Provide easy access to these basic types of content and make certain that they are well structured and well written. Also, take care to NOT overplay the marketing message.

Top 5 Features Ranked by Average “Importance” Score (1 – 10)

Case studies (7.8)

International locations/language (6.9)

White papers (6.4)

Articles about Innovation/R&D (6.4)

Press Releases (6.3)

Recommendation: Provide easy access to these basic types of content and make certain that they are well structured and well written. Also, take care to NOT overplay the marketing message.

User Research Part One – Findings cont. Key Observations: Overall, users were comfortable sorting content into groupings by Industries and Services/Solutions. Products, enterprise software, development environments formed reasonably cohesive groupings but were more difficult to place within the whole organization. Case studies were easily recognizable and often grouped together on the basis of document type. Certain individual topics like eLearning and enterprise software were more problematic. Recommendations: Create a site structure and navigation system that equally supports users who wish to browse either by horizontal services or vertical industries . Provide alternate ways to find content by type (case study, white paper, etc.) TCS Products are relevant both within their industry contexts and also aggregated as a type of offering. Create special categories as needed to accommodate topics like Enterprise Software (e.g. SAP).

Key Observations:

Overall, users were comfortable sorting content into groupings by Industries and Services/Solutions.

Products, enterprise software, development environments formed reasonably cohesive groupings but were more difficult to place within the whole organization.

Case studies were easily recognizable and often grouped together on the basis of document type.

Certain individual topics like eLearning and enterprise software were more problematic.

Recommendations:

Create a site structure and navigation system that equally supports users who wish to browse either by horizontal services or vertical industries .

Provide alternate ways to find content by type (case study, white paper, etc.)

TCS Products are relevant both within their industry contexts and also aggregated as a type of offering.

Create special categories as needed to accommodate topics like Enterprise Software (e.g. SAP).

User Research Part One – Card Sort Diagram

User Research Part One - Outcomes Key Outcomes Strategic recommendations and prioritized feature set Report to client stakeholder governance board Personas for high-priority user segments CIO Business Unit Manager Career Seeker Industry Analyst High level information architecture recommendations

Key Outcomes

Strategic recommendations and prioritized feature set

Report to client stakeholder governance board

Personas for high-priority user segments

CIO

Business Unit Manager

Career Seeker

Industry Analyst

High level information architecture recommendations

Proposed High Level Information Architecture

User Research Part Two - Overview Goal - get feedback on initial idea for key pages and features: Home Solutions/Offerings landing page Services description detail page About, Contact TCS TCS Worldwide. Participants - 9 participants (volunteers from part one) 6 customers 1 analyst 1 career seeker 1 TCS stakeholder After five interviews, we updated the prototype to incorporate the feedback we had received so far.

Goal - get feedback on initial idea for key pages and features:

Home

Solutions/Offerings landing page

Services description detail page

About, Contact TCS

TCS Worldwide.

Participants - 9 participants (volunteers from part one)

6 customers

1 analyst

1 career seeker

1 TCS stakeholder

After five interviews, we updated the prototype to incorporate the feedback we had received so far.

User Research Part Two – Prototyping Methods Remote user testing with a clickable prototype IA + Design collaboration = Medium Fidelity Prototype created with Visio + SWIPR http://www.swipr.com/ Task based user testing sessions Measure feedback via Likert Scale Questions Ease of Use: 1-10 Usefulness: 1-10 Clients and internal team members observe live remotely and watch video captured from sessions

Remote user testing with a clickable prototype

IA + Design collaboration = Medium Fidelity

Prototype created

with Visio + SWIPR

http://www.swipr.com/

Task based user testing sessions

Measure feedback via Likert Scale Questions

Ease of Use: 1-10

Usefulness: 1-10

Clients and internal team members observe live remotely and watch video captured from sessions

Prototype Version A - Home Industries not expected here Useful feature but not noticed Too much duplication

Prototype Version B - Home Industries and Offerings split, “Solutions” gone New layout with Flash promo area better shown, No main navigation bar on Home Content filter tool now more prominent Thought Leadership instead of Best Practices

More Prototype Pages – Channel Landing Global Navigation bar Interactive channel landing pages

More Prototype Pages – Topic Node Channel navigation Calls to action Channel content

More Prototype Pages – Interactive Map Details available via user user interaction

User Research Part Two - Outcomes Overall Acceptance of the prototype was good. Scores improved from version A to version B Overall combined average score was approx 7 out of 10 Some concerns about usefulness of article content Revised site architecture – Solutions  Offerings and Solutions Adjusted labels – e.g. Best Practices  Thought Leadership Repositioned tool for finding Case Studies and other resources Adjusted site navigation and approach to main channels on Home Worldwide map concept proved very popular Contact Us scores improved dramatically in version B

Overall Acceptance of the prototype was good.

Scores improved from version A to version B

Overall combined average score was approx 7 out of 10

Some concerns about usefulness of article content

Revised site architecture – Solutions  Offerings and Solutions

Adjusted labels – e.g. Best Practices  Thought Leadership

Repositioned tool for finding Case Studies and other resources

Adjusted site navigation and approach to main channels on Home

Worldwide map concept proved very popular

Contact Us scores improved dramatically in version B

Revised High Level Information Architecture

Next Step - Designing the Solution Next steps: Revised wireframes and created a Functional Specification Content types and descriptive metadata attributes 9 Core Page Types for the content management system

Next steps:

Revised wireframes and created a Functional Specification

Content types and descriptive metadata attributes

9 Core Page Types for the content management system

Designing the Solution – Functional Requirements Global Page Components Wireframes & Page Requirements

Designing the Solution – Moving from Design to Build Design Comps Production Art Site Inventory Site Copy and Content Creation of HTML page templates Content Management System implementation Flash development QA Testing UAT Hosting…

Design Comps

Production Art

Site Inventory

Site Copy and Content

Creation of HTML page templates

Content Management System implementation

Flash development

QA Testing

UAT

Hosting…

The Big Moment Arrives! TCS.COM Relaunch – February 2008

TCS.COM Relaunch – February 2008

TCS.com Relaunch - Home

TCS.com Relaunch – Channel Landing

TCS.com Relaunch – Topic Node Screenshot – with callouts?

Screenshot – with callouts?

TCS.com Relaunch – Content Article

TCS.com Relaunch – Worldwide Locations

TCS.com Relaunch – Worldwide: Google Map

TCS.com Relaunch – Contact Us

Web Analytics & Measurement Our scorecard so far … Home page abandonment rate is down Offerings is the most popular channel Industries Channel funnels traffic to Offerings About isn’t often the first section visited, but gets the second highest amount of traffic Worldwide pages – 8% of site traffic Thought Leadership gets the fewest visits of any of the main sections, but includes all main visitor groups: investors, careers, client content. Often followed by white papers and case studies in the same visit Visits occurs late in sessions, not right away 3 mins 2:35 mins Visit Length 4.5 pages 3.43 pages Ave Pages Per Visit After Before

Our scorecard so far …

Home page abandonment rate is down

Offerings is the most popular channel

Industries Channel funnels traffic to Offerings

About isn’t often the first section visited, but gets the second highest amount of traffic

Worldwide pages – 8% of site traffic

Thought Leadership gets the fewest visits of any of the main sections, but includes all main visitor groups: investors, careers, client content.

Often followed by white papers and case studies in the same visit

Visits occurs late in sessions, not right away

Web Analytics – Home Page “Heat Map”

Final Thoughts Prioritizing features within a large distributed organization is challenging - user research helps in making tough decisions Try remote user testing: When local users are hard to recruit and schedule When user segmentation requires geographic diversity , but you are on a tight schedule Prototyping is a great way to make your mistakes earlier and get your internal team and the client engaged Go to India if you get the chance! Photo courtesy of Scott Mills

Prioritizing features within a large distributed organization is challenging - user research helps in making tough decisions

Try remote user testing:

When local users are hard to recruit and schedule

When user segmentation requires geographic diversity , but you are on a tight schedule

Prototyping is a great way to make your mistakes earlier and get your internal team and the client engaged

Go to India if you get the chance!

In Closing Questions and Comments? Download: This presentation is available online via Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/ChrisFarnum Contact: Chris Farnum, Senior Information Architect [email_address] Enlighten Interactive Marketing | Web Development | Strategic Consulting Ann Arbor, Michigan | www.enlighten.com

Questions and Comments?

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This presentation is available online via Slideshare:

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Contact:

Chris Farnum, Senior Information Architect [email_address]

Enlighten Interactive Marketing | Web Development | Strategic Consulting

Ann Arbor, Michigan | www.enlighten.com