User-Centered Design at a Distance - DocTrainUX 2007 Vancouver

Slide 1: User-Centered Design at a Distance Presented to DocTrainUX 2007 Vancouver April 20, 2007 Paul D. Hibbitts www.paulhibbitts.com

Slide 2: About Me  Usability & interface design specialist for over 14 years  Platforms include Windows, Web, Mac, Pocket PC, SmartPhone, Palm OS, Blackberry, and WAP  Led user experience design of small screen interfaces at Infowave Software (2000-02)  Instructor at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia since 1997  Career origins in Mac multimedia (HyperCard) 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 2

Slide 3: User-Centered Design (UCD) Evaluate Conceptualize Users & Goals Design 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 3

Slide 4: Typical UCD Activities Meetings Focus Contextual Interviews/ Card Groups Inquiries Surveys Sorts Participatory Paper Design Usability Data Design Studies Prototyping Reviews Tests Analysis Illustrations: Indiana University User Experience Group 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 4

Slide 5: Screen Sharing  The ability to remotely view the contents of another computer screen in real-time 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 5

Slide 6: Core UCD at a Distance Activities + Screen Sharing  Remote contextual inquiries  Generally defined as “observing people while they do their everyday tasks in their own environment”  Remote usability tests  Generally defined as “observing people trying to performing specific tasks with a product” 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 6

Slide 7: Remote Contextual Inquiries Benefits and challenges  Choosing screen sharing software  Session preparations  Conducting the session  Post-session activities  4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 7

Slide 8: Benefits Larger participant population available  More flexibility in scheduling participants  Reduced travel time and associated costs  Provides a more natural environment  for participants  Visibility of any end-user customizations  Additional observers can be easily accommodated 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 8

Slide 9: Some Challenges  Exposure to company culture and physical work environment  Participant workplace interruptions  Rapport with participants  Time zone differences  Technical issues, including bandwidth 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 9

Slide 10: Choosing Screen Sharing Software Ease of installation for participants  End-user brand familiarity (e.g. trust)  Screen fidelity and response  Two-way control  Recording support  Cost  4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 10

Slide 11: Example Screen Sharing Tools AIM Pro (AOL and WebEx)  Ethnio (Bolt|Peters)  Glance (Glance Networks)  GoToMeeting (Citrix)  MeetMeNow & Meeting Center (WebEx)  Uservue (Techsmith)  4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 11

Slide 13: Session Preparations  Budget adequate time for scheduling participants  Create an online survey which combines an application for participants + user profile  Decide on session format (ideally participants would use their own system, or if necessary a provided “demo” system) 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 13

Slide 14: Key Lessons Learned  More detailed preparation required, not less  Conduct one or more subject matter expert interviews (i.e. highly insightful users) before typical end-user sessions  Keep sessions short, ideally 30-45 minutes  Budget time for setup and session overruns 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 14

Slide 15: Conducting the Session  Ask users to demonstrate, with real data if possible, their typical work tasks with the system  Record (with permission) audio, and possibly video, of the session – this better supports individually conducted contextual inquiries  Use a telephone headset if at all possible 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 15

Slide 16: Key Lessons Learned  Screen resolution can impact performance  Best response when interacting with software is for participant to share their screen with you  Let participants know that you can see their mouse pointer when they are sharing their screen  Don’t be surprised if users have a lot to say!  Screen captures of key screens are an effective alternative to video recording 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 16

Slide 17: Post-session Activities  Confirm with participants that they have demonstrated their most important tasks to you  Briefly review the key issues that you’ve learnt during the session  Thank participants, and as appropriate, ask participants if follow-up contact is ok 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 17

Slide 18: Key Lessons Learned  Review and transcribe interview sessions as soon as possible (ideally the same day!)  Take advantage of playback speed controls when reviewing audio recording of sessions Pictured: Sony Digital Voice 2 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 18

Slide 19: Remote Usability Tests  Create an introductory slide show for session  Consider test format (e.g. participants verbally or physically interacting with a prototype)  When participants are verbally interacting with a prototype, be extra careful about providing unintentional hints (e.g. mouse pointer position)  If the participants are verbally interacting with a prototype consider only recording session audio 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 19

Slide 20: Case Study  Canadian Real Estate Association, who kindly granted permission to showcase their project  National REALTOR® Web-based application  Over 25,000 users spread across the country  Client + (most) end users at a distance 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 20

Slide 21: Hardware Pictured: Plantronics telephone headset Pictured: NEXXTECH telephone call-corder 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 21

Slide 22: Software Basecamp  GoToMeeting 2.0  Office 2003  SnagIt 7.0  Sony Digital Voice 2.0  SurveyMonkey.com  4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 22

Slide 23: Example Remote Contextual Inquiry Findings  While most REALTORS® expressed overall satisfaction with WEBForms, learnability and efficiency could still be dramatically improved  Some highly beneficial features were underutilized due to low visibility  Feature usage was often impeded by an unnecessarily high level of user interface complexity  Some terminology used within WEBForms was not understandable or not sufficiently descriptive for REALTORS®  Valuable design input and feedback from WEBForms trainers and help desk personnel was underutilized 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 23

Slide 25: WEBForms Help | Sign Out Your Name, Ottawa Real Estate Board (Change Board) Announcements: OREB Standard Form Updates View all announcements… Transaction Kits Transaction Templates Custom Clauses Printable Single Forms Search: Transaction Kit Name Search for: Clear Search Create New Transaction Kit Email Duplicate Delete Change MLS® # Print Transaction Kit Name Address Type MLS® # Created Modified 456 Any Street Sale 384564 31-May-06 09-Jun-06 Manage Kit ( ) Rogers 789 Any Street Sale 384657 20-May-06 30-May-06 Manage Kit ( ) Lee 123 Any Street Listing 284656 01-Jan-06 12-May-06 Manage Kit ( ) Miller 456 Any Street Sale 678365 17-Feb-06 21-Apr-06 Manage Kit ( ) Watkins 789 Any Street Sale 198463 25-Apr-06 14-Apr-06 Manage Kit ( ) McNeil 123 Any Street Listing 783753 18-May-06 02-Apr-06 Manage Kit ( ) Davis 456 Any Street Listing 284675 29-Feb-06 27-Mar-06 Manage Kit ( ) Lang 789 Any Street Sale 864343 12-Jan-06 11-Mar-06 Manage Kit ( ) Peters 123 Any Street Sale 294654 15-Dec-06 30-Feb-06 Manage Kit ( ) Lau 456 Any Street Sale 396754 07-Jan-06 11-Feb-06 Manage Kit ( ) Munro 10 per page Show: 1-10 of 30 | First | Prev | Next | Last ©2006 The Canadian Real Estate Association. All Rights Reserved.

Slide 27: WEBForms Help | Sign Out Your Name, Ottawa Real Estate Board Create New Transaction Kit Select Forms for Transaction All Forms Recently Used Forms Sales Show: Add » Agreement of Purchase and Sale - 100 (Preview) Add » Agreement of Purchase and Sale - Condominium Resale (Preview) Add » Agreement of Purchase and Sale - Cooperative Building Resale - 102 (Preview) Add » Amendment to Agreement of Purchase and Sale (Preview) Add » Commission Slip - 1 (Preview) Add » Commission Slip - Agreement to Lease - 1A (Preview) Add » Confirmation of Co-operation and Representation (Preview) Change Order My transaction forms: Remove « Agreement of Purchase and Sale - 100 (Preview) Preview Transaction Kit Cancel < Back Create & Save Transaction Kit ©2006 The Canadian Real Estate Association. All Rights Reserved.

Slide 28: Remote Usability Test Results Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4 Task 5 REALTOR® #1 ½     REALTOR® #2      REALTOR® #3 ½     REALTOR® #4      REALTOR® #5 ½     REALTOR® #6 ½     =Success, ½ =Partial Success 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 28

Slide 29: Where To Go From Here?  The slides presented today will be available at  www.paulhibbitts.com/presentations.html  User-Centered design at a distance links  www.paulhibbitts.com/usabilityatadistancelinks.html  Ma.gnolia social bookmarking group  http://ma.gnolia.com/groups/UsabilityAtADistance 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 29

Slide 30: Thank You! Comments or Questions?  My contact information  paul@paulhibbitts.com 4/20/2007 ©2007 Paul D. Hibbitts. All rights reserved. 30