Bringing them online: Using design research to identify online opportunities

Bringing them online Using design research to identify online opportunities Alun Machin Senior Experience Architect Patrick Kennedy Design Research Lead Oz-IA09 - Friday 2 nd October 2009 Image sourced from www.flickr.com/photos/rogerbarker/2881764517/

Introduction The 5,000 foot view Royal Randwick Racecourse, Sydney - Image courtesy of Google Maps

Introduction And a brief agenda
In 2009, NDM aimed to develop a syndicated horse racing vertical across its masthead network that reduces duplication and increases efficiencies
The vision included
Building the SuperRacing brand to be the most recognised online racing website within the Australian market
Providing the greatest depth of quality and editorial content – the most in-depth analysis, comprehensive reporting and valued opinion within racing in Australia
Increasing NDM’s market share in terms of unique browsers in the Australian market
The practical outcome of this was a new horse racing ‘section’ that would be shared across the NDM network of websites
Today we will give a glimpse of the process we followed when undertaking user research and using the findings to design the finished product
We will then unveil the new SuperRacing website

Overview of methodology The what, how and who
Secondary research
Primary user research
Analysis
Conceptualisation
Testing
Detailed product design
Research: Pat and Alun
Conceptulisation: Alun and Pat
Detailed EA design: Alun
Visual design: designer in another team

Secondary research Literature review and competitor review

Secondary research is a very useful foundation on which to begin a design research project
Literature review
Previous research from other sources was collated and reviewed for potentially useful findings with regard to the research objectives
Included earlier research conducted by USiT and other NDM business units, but also academic research conducted by external parties
Among other things, this gave us a basic audience model with which to recruit participants for primary research and later revised and expanded
Competitor review
This covered the content and functionality across a wide range of Australian and international racing-related websites
Also included a wider look at online racing activity using tools like Google Trends
Conducted by Alun
Secondary research Literature review and competitor review

User research Interviews and diary study

User research Interviews and diary study
Our primary research consisted of interviews and a diary study
Interviews
Interviews with individual participants were conducted
10 in-depth interviews were conducted (5 in person and 5 via phone)
Diary study
After each interview, participants were given an “online racing diary” to use over the course of a week
This attempted to gain more detail than could be gained during 1 hour of face time
Exercises were also set to capture specific information

Analysis Bringing it all together

Analysis Bringing it all together
Many notes were taken during interviews
Diaries were ‘transcribed’
A simplified form of grounded theory was used to establish themes
Secondary research findings were also included in this analysis
There was also lots of discussion and sketching!
A few of the themes that came out of the research are discussed on the following slides

Racing is a predominantly social activity User research findings Ascot Racecourse, UK - Image sourced from http://www.flickr.com/photos/russelljsmith/2485323167/

Racing is a predominantly social activity User research findings
Horse racing is a social thing
Except for hard core betting addicts that are only concerned about betting and money
Key elements are the social process of “turf talk” between friends/family
And the intellectual challenge of using knowledge to pick a winner
For many people it’s part of their lifestyle, their leisure
And for almost all of the people we talked to, there was a family connection
They were introduced to horse racing by parents or an older generation, and thus to a certain extent they had some “knowledge by association”

We are facing a complex existing ecosystem User research findings Horse racing enthusiast Specialist publications TV Newspaper form guide Tipsters Racetrack Friends and family Betting agency Specialist websites Radio ?

We are facing a complex existing ecosystem User research findings
There are many different sources of information available to punters
Newspapers, websites, TV, radio, friends and family
There is also a lot of tacit knowledge about racing; intuition and gut feel that is built up over years
Not surprisingly, many sources of information are offline
Each medium, or source of information, has its pros and cons
So our “competitors” lie not just within the traditional media industry
They use multiple sources, there is no such thing as a “one stop shop”
This ecosystem of aggregated information sources is something we must try to fit into
Rather than thinking we can sweep the field and be everything to everyone

We are facing a complex existing ecosystem User research findings
The audience’s ecosystem is a good perspective from which to assess the usefulness or appropriateness of strategy and design
When mapping out the ecosystem we need to answer questions such as:
Where do they currently get information?
Who they trust?
Who would they think to get info from? (ie brand perception)
How can we supplement or compliment other sources?
What things work online? What doesn’t make sense to be online?

Information overload is a problem There are over 2,600 race meetings comprising over 19,500 races conducted at over 350 race tracks in Australia each year, making Australia the second largest thoroughbred industry in the world based on the number of races. User research findings - Source: Racing Information Services Australia (RISA)

Information overload is a problem User research findings
With the amount of information about racing that is available, information overload is a problem
Too many races, too many horses, too much data
This is especially the case for the more serious racing enthusiasts
Punters have to limit what they follow, to do so with any success
This might mean only following/betting weekend races
Or it might mean only following certain tracks/cities
And the types of content they use is impacted
“ Lots of things would be great to have [eg video of last starts] but it comes down to how much time do you have to study”
“ Short interviews they have on Racenet TV are good, with trainers but they are short, about 30 seconds (unless it’s a well known trainer like Gai Waterhouse)”

Audience modeling Segmentation and identifying opportunities The Princess The Apprentice Life-long Punter The Serious Bettor

Audience modeling Segmentation and identifying opportunities
Based on both secondary and primary user research, an audience model was developed that segmented the potential audience into four
We then identified areas of opportunity for SuperRacing based on
Realistic needs and wants of the audience
The competitive landscape
Users’ information ecosystem (ie where they currently get into from)
What the audience would realistically come to us for (in terms of information)
Playing to our strengths (eg expert editorial content)
Minimising our weaknesses (eg resources, late market entry)
In particular we looked for where we could use a website to supplement existing, and offline, information sources
We could then prioritise the audience (eg primary and secondary personas)

Say hi to Sally The Princess “ I missed the first race, because I couldn’t decide what to wear!” SALLY

v2.1 Background image on previous slide sourced from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/russelljsmith/2486129826/
Sally is a racing “Princess”
Young professional
Interested in fashion and glamour
Mainstream publications (papers and mags) are her entry point to racing
New to racing, very little knowledge
Goes to the races quite often during carnival seasons, for the fashion/party
Goes into sweeps for Melbourne Cup
Does not go to club/pub/TAB to enjoy racing
Uses internet at work and a fair bit for social purposes
Generally not a sports fan
Say hi to Sally The Princess

Dave says g’day The Apprentice “ I try to know the form, but sometimes I just take a punt!” DAVE

v2.0 Background images on previous slide sourced from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boboroshi/13142954/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/neeta_lind/2191150047/
Dave is a racing “Apprentice”
Interested in the social side, but getting more serious about betting and racing
Had an interest for a while but relatively little knowledge
Not always sure what he’s reading (with regard to racing jargon and data)
Relies heavily on tips and advice
Reads up on the form, but can also bet on impulse
Learning more about racing all the time
Wants to get better at picking winners
Aspires to be John (or maybe Carl)
Uses the internet quite a bit
Enjoys sports in general
Dave says g’day The Apprentice

This is John The Life-Long Punter “ Saturday racing is my relaxation; a few drinks and a bet” JOHN

v2.0 Background image on previous slide sourced from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/charliebrewer/58806103/
John is a long-time racing follower
Grew up with it, there’s a family connection
It’s part of his social fabric
Frequents the local club, pub and TAB (his Saturday ritual)
Doesn’t go to the track anymore (too many Princesses!)
Highly knowledgeable about horse racing
Uses his own knowledge and intuition rather than listening to tips or advice
Big sports fan in general
Mainly uses paper form guide and the TV at TAB
Doesn’t bet online but will use the internet for info
Well known as the guru punter
This is John The Life-Long Punter

Meet Carl The Serious Bettor “ If I’m chasing I keep going till I get up, I don’t like to lose” CARL

v2.0 Background image on previous slide sourced from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedkerwin/2543014596/
Carl is a serious racing bettor
High income profession
Takes racing, and betting, very seriously
He bets big (ego bettor)
Experienced, but hasn’t been around as long as John
More data focussed; lots of research using all sources
Uses a system, rather than intuition
Heavy online user
May go to the track occasionally (bit of a flirt and flaunt)
Invests in horses (including syndicates)
Bets most weekends
Keeps track of his betting and progress
Meet Carl The Serious Bettor

Further analysis Mental models and requirements ranking

Further analysis Mental models and requirements specification
We further explored the needs, actions and use of information sources by users by producing mental models (ala Indi Young) for each persona
These are an excellent way to pull together the knowledge we gained about the audience but also gives the business a way of assessing how the needs are being met (ie ‘gap analysis’ below the line)
Gap analysis and requirements prioritisation was also performed using a requirements list, segmented and ranked by persona
This list of requirements referred back to a formal requirements specification containing business, technical and project management requirements
Note: some detail has been obscured to protect IP

Conceptualisation Where to now? Galaxy 3C 305 - located about 600 million light years away from Earth Image Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/F. Massaro et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI/C.P. O'Dea et al.; Radio: NSF/VLA/CfA/F. Massaro, E. Liuzzo, A. Bonafede et al.

Conceptualisation Where to now?
The black hole moment….
We’ve got the insightful research in the bag
There’s lots of business requirements
And plenty of editorial requirements
So much to digest
The canvas is blank
Where do we start?

Conceptualisation Stop. Rewind a moment… image sourced from: www.flickr.com/photos/mrdannywilliams/2998437883/

Conceptualisation Stop. Rewind a moment…
So as a team we took a deep breath and got all retrospective…

Conceptualisation Don’t forget…

Conceptualisation Don’t forget…
Don’t forget from a site design perspective to ask…
How can we meet the user needs identified?
How can our site can fit into the existing racing ecosystem?
What are the touch points we can address and deliver on?

Conceptualisation Challenge… Race Card in Print…

Conceptualisation Challenge… Race Card in Print…
One of the big Challenges: Bringing the Form Guide to the web
Cross referencing between tips, odds and horse form statistics is hard unless you are in the ‘know’
How do we translate this online?
There’s no editorial context. Stories appear elsewhere (previous/next page)
Another design challenge: ‘Don’t forget! We needed the detail but not the complexity’
“ Good luck with that. A tough challenge” – key stakeholder

Conceptualisation Thinking, collaborating, sketching, thinking…

Conceptualisation Thinking, collaborating, sketching, thinking…
Time was spent brainstorming ideas for the website
In particular how we could effectively fit into the audience’s ecosystem
This was a joint process with both research and design disciplines taking part
Visualising the user requirements
Visualising the editorial and business requirements
We delved down into a fair amount of detail for some specific aspects of the possible design solution in response to specific issues raised in the research
For example: The ‘My Race Picks’ idea which allows users to keep a list of bets they might place, similar to a shopping cart on a e-commerce website
Contextualising the Race details. Matching statistics with form, editorial, expert opinion and live tweets

Conceptualisation From sketches to Visio

Concept wireframes From sketches to Visio
Feed sketches and specific user requirements into concept
As ideas for possible solutions started to solidify the sketches were transferred into Visio to form ‘conceptual wireframes’
These were used for usability testing and also as a basis for visual design mock-ups

Concept testing Eyetracking wireframes and design mocks

Concept testing Eyetracking wireframes and design mocks
To help validate our conceptual design decisions user testing was performed
The testing was a very loose/open form of usability testing
The emphasis was on exploring how well the concepts worked with real users
Both wireframes and visual design mocks were used in the testing
Eyetracking was performed to allow for extra depth of analysis for certain aspects of the design
For example: Contextualisation of stories > Display Race Meeting name above story link
Several iterations of design revisions and testing were undertaken

Detailed design Site map

Detailed design Site map
Following on from the testing we entered the detailed product design phase
Calendar/Race card/Race Details is the core of the site (circled in red)
A different design approach from the normally content driven media sites we produce

Detailed design Wireframes

Detailed design Wireframes
This involved finalising and fleshing out the conceptual deliverables
Getting the business to sign off and making them usable from a site production perspective (developers, third parties, designers etc etc)
Brings context to the subject by showing related content
For example: Tips, Track Data, Live updates, related expert opinion, stories

Detailed design Visual design

Detailed design Visual design
Based on the detailed wireframes production grade visual designs were produced for all site pages

Innovations Twitter integration for ‘Trackside Live’ Journalist at racetrack Backend processing

Innovations Twitter integration for ‘Trackside Live’
There are a number of innovative elements incorporated into the design
One of these is the use of Twitter for the “trackside live” functionality
Trackside live gives the user real-time coverage from particular racetracks at particular times
Eg: a major race meeting or a horse trial session
It involves commentary from an expert journalist who is in the thick of the action
This is invaluable information for many racing enthusiasts (particularly at the more serious end of the spectrum)
Journalists currently attend many race meetings but have been unable to easily broadcast their commentary
Using Blackberry devices, journalists can now Tweet information that is then picked up by the website CMS, processed and contextually placed on the website
The processing includes expanding short-hand and turning keywords into contextual links
Eg: Horse Name links to Horse statistics page, Race number links to Race details page

The finished product http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/racing/

Any questions? Patrick Kennedy [email_address] @patrickkennedy Alun Machin [email_address] @alunmac (note these slides will be placed on slideshare: www.slideshare.net/PatrickKennedy/ ) Sam Houston Racetrack, Texas - Image sourced from http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/2636452277/

About Patrick Kennedy
Patrick Kennedy is Design Research Lead at News Digital Media, where he specialises in understanding audiences and their needs through user research, and using that knowledge to inform strategy and the design of online experiences
Patrick has over ten years experience in web design, information architecture and user experience design, and has worked with many different types of organisations in a variety of industries, both in Australia and the UK, assisting them with enhancing their websites and other information systems
Patrick blogs at www.gurtle.com/ppov/ and you can find him on twitter as @PatrickKennedy

About Alun Machin
Alun Machin is a Senior Experience Architect at News Digital Media where he specialises in creating engaging online presences for the company’s plethora of websites
Alun has well over a decade of experience in interaction design and has worked with a wide variety of organisations both in Australia and Europe
He’s particularly excited about the challenge of designing shared experience spaces with delivery through multiple devices including mobile
As well as being a passionate advocate of user-centered product design Alun remains a hopeless devotee of Liverpool Football Club and enjoys playing records very loudly
You can find Alun on twitter as @alunmac

About News Digital Media
News Digital Media ( www.newsdigitalmedia.com.au ) is one of Australia’s largest and most innovative digital media publishers
Its network includes news.com.au , truelocal.com.au , careerone.com.au , carsguide.com.au , moshtix.com.au and the websites for News Limited’s newspapers including The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier Mail and The Advertiser
News Digital Media is the online division of News Corporation’s Australian subsidiary News Limited
The User Standards and Innovative Technology (USiT) team provides UX, IA and user research expertise to the rest of the NDM and News Limited network

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Bringing them online: Using design research to identify online opportunities

by Patrick Kennedy on Oct 01, 2009

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Bringing them online: Using design research to identify online opportunities — Presentation Transcript