Guerrilla User and Design Research

Guerrilla user & design research: undertaking research on a shoestring By Ruth Ellison Twitter @RuthEllison Edge of the Web 2009 conference

Does this sound familiar? Dilbert by Scott Adams

Work at Stamford Interactive Live in Canberra Chocolate appreciator Work mostly with Federal Government Loves gadgets I’m Ruth Information architect ‚I help make User experience designer things easier to use‛ Loves robots

What is user & design research

Build a deeper understanding of the problem space* in order to inform your design process * people, their activities, context of use, technical constraints, business needs etc

Guerrilla research is... Doing research with less money and time! And sometimes under the radar...

Formal research More time & money Much greater depth of results Guerrilla research Less depth of results Faster & cheaper

Where does research fit in? Analyse Strategy Research Design Build Test

Why we don’t do research

Don‘t have It’s just too enough money hard Don’t have Don‘t have access to the time the users We already know what We are the the users users want Barriers to research

Why we should do research

1 in 3 IT projects fail to meet user expectations (worldwide) http://www.tcs.com/news_events/press_releases/Pages/ITprojectunderperformanceacceptedasthenormbyglobalbusinessmanagementre searchreveals.aspx http://www.galorath.com/wp/software-project-failure-costs-billions-better-estimation-planning-can-help.php

Human error causes most software project failures due to: Unclear requirements Overly optimistic and/or unrealistic schedules Lack of user input Lack of executive sponsorship and support Turnover and layoffs “Software Quality Insights”, published January 2009, http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/software-quality/why-software- projects-fail-and-more-will-fail-in-2009/

Culture, not features, drives adoption Anil Dash

Inform the design Design build on research rather than opinions Lower possibility of building something that you have to change again

How we do it

Large number of techniques Website analytics Focus groups Surrogates The coffee Surveys meeting Interviews A/B testing Expert/heuristic reviews Design Ethnographic studies concept wall Contextual enquiries Guerrilla usability Usability testing Usability walkthroughs testing Formal Guerrilla techniques techniques

The projects

Project 1 website redesign Limited budget & time Experienced web team Project 2 web app redesign Limited budget & time Limited access to overseas users Wanted recommendations for improving UI Project 3 intranet redesign Limited budget & time Limited access to some users

The techniques Design concept wall Interviews Surrogates The lunch room chat The coffee meeting Guerrilla usability testing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gord99/3583275256/

Design concept wall

It is... A method of getting feedback from users & stakeholders Designs placed on wall Helps to socialise the designs

Use when... Want input from a greater amount of people with a minimal budget Input from users and stakeholders

A wall Sharpies Post it notes Design concepts on A3 paper Instructions to passersby

Highly visible wall Get permission to put up on wall Leave contact details Map flow between screens Allow for anonymous feedback

Things to watch out for Doesn’t work in all environments People may not participate Depends on organisational culture

Focus groups

Use when... Limited time with people Limited access to people Instead of focus groups

6-8 participants 45 minute one-on-one interviews Script & questions Incentives* Recording device maybe * Money, coffee or chocolates work well

Define clear research questions Start wide then narrow Listen! Open-ended questions People don’t always say what they mean

Things to watch out for Underlying political agendas Leading the interviewee

Surrogates Also known as intermediaries, proxies, key informants

It is... Using people to talk to them about the target audience

Use when... No direct access to end user Commercial-in-confidence content or security concerns Should not replace research with actual target audience

Things to watch out for Another layer of bias Second hand information

The lunch room chat

Learn about organisation Build relationships ‘Smokers talk’ conversations

The coffee meeting

The coffee meeting Informal meeting over a hot beverage of choice Need input from stakeholders Highly politically charged situations

Guerrilla usability testing Similar technique is cafe testing

It is... Usability testing on the cheap Method of finding out what works and doesn’t works Involves real people No formal lab

Source: Brighton Uni Usability Lab, http://www.flickr.com/photos/yandle/3231980616/

Prototypes low-fidelity 4-5 participants 10-60 minutes, one- on-one sessions Incentives Tasks/scenarios Recording equipment

A step by step guide Plan Recruit participants Conduct usability testing Debrief & decide with project team

Test when and where you can Listen & observe Any users are better than none Use people who reflect target group but don’t get hang up over it

To design an easy-to-use interface, pay attention to what users do, not [just] what they say. Self reported claims are unreliable, as are user speculations about future behaviour Jakob Nielsen

But wait...there’s more! Mwhawhahah There truly isn’t any excuse to avoid doing research now!

Trade shows, conferences Airplane neighbours Reception areas

Bookmarks & favourites, browser history User forums & wikis Website logs

Useful tools

Making sense of the research

"If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.“ - Henry Ford

Share the research

Scenarios or user stories Personas Presentations Interesting visualisations http://experiencematters.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/legos-building-block-for-good- experiences/

http://experiencematters.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/legos-building-block-for-good-experiences/

Some research is better than none Clearly understand why you’re doing the research Use a combination of techniques Small wins Grab opportunities to research!

Further reading Mike Kuniavsky’s Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner’s Guide to User Research Intermediaries in user research, http://www.gurtle.com/ppov/2009/01/23/intermediaries-in-user-research Can’t You Just Ask People?, http://theanthroguys.com/2009/09/17/can’t-you-just-ask-people/ Bite-Sized UX Research, http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2008/05/bite-sized-ux-research.php Affinity Diagrams, http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_86.htm User Research for Personas and Other Audience Models, http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2009/04/user-research-for-personas-and-other-audience-models.php

Ruth Ellison Email: ruthe@stamfordinteractive.com.au Web: www.stamfordinteractive.com.au www.ruthellison.com @RuthEllison Find this presentation at www.slideshare.net/ruthellison

Photo credits selective color on a shoestring by theilr from http://www.flickr.com/photos/theilr/2988412495/. Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license Canton trade fair by tarotasticfrom http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjt195/380173157/ Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license Horse power by Zadok Ben-David (2003) by marie-ll from http://www.flickr.com/photos/grrrl/61040830/ Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license easyJet A321 Cabin by WebDub from http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishflyguy/2436838012/ Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 GenericYoono by Glenn Batuyong from http://www.flickr.com/photos/glennbatuyong/2436810549/ Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license If you were choosing the default bookmarks for a browser, what would you choose? -- Current day safari default bookmarks by Amit Gupta from http://www.flickr.com/photos/superamit/2254765518/ Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic license Kent and austin in the inter@ctivate reception area – DSC00061 by sean dreilinger from http://www.flickr.com/photos/43927576@N00/433923968 Available under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Photo credits Cafeteria at work by CaptQuirk from http://www.flickr.com/photos/perrynelson/3963005/ Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic license Affinity diagrams by jderuna from http://www.flickr.com/photos/jderuna/2280189105 Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license Twitter icon from http://randaclay.com/freebies/free-twitter-graphics/ Hattori Hanzou by Hattori Hanzou http://www.flickr.com/photos/dunechaser/107089103/in/set- 72057594068446573/ Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license bookshelf spectrum, revisited by chotda from http://www.flickr.com/photos/santos/1704875109/ Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic licence Thank You! by vernhart from http://www.flickr.com/photos/vernhart/1574355646/in/photostream// Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

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Guerrilla User and Design Research

by Ruth Ellison

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