Gareth and Thea walked Christchurch
through user-centreddesign and personas in March 2013.! !

Meet the team.! ! This
is Gareth.! ! This is Thea.! !

We’re 10years old!! !

/ FUNDIT FUI / Fusion
Transactive FUS / Futrix FTX / Gallagher GLG / Gareth Morgan Investments GMN / Gibson Sheat Lawyers GSL / Greater Wellington GRW / Green Realm Travel GRT / Greentree GTEork GSN / Harrison Grierson Consultants Ltd HGC / Health Alliance HLA / Health Sponsorship Council We’ve worked with aett-Packard New Zealand HLP / HSA Global HSA / Hunter Safety HSL / IAG New Zealand IAG / ImmigrZealand INZ / of companies bunch Infinity INF / Infopower POW / Inform IFM / Infotools ITL / Inland Revenue Department IR across about INR / Institute of Chartered Accountants ICN / Intergen INT / International Nepal Fellowship INP / Jam 200+ op Textiles 20 industries JDT / Kickstand-help.com KSD / Kineo Pacific (was Flexible Learning Network) FLL / KiwiBa / KiwiRail KWR / !Korero Maori KRM / Land Information New Zealand LNZ / Last.co.nz LST / LawFuel L ing Media LML / Les Mills International LMI / Lincoln University LIN / Local Government New Zealand L ist LOC / Loyalty New Zealand LOY / Mainfreight MAN / Maori Language Commission MLC / Marker M ey University MAS / Medical Assurance Society MSO / Mercury Projects MER / Meridian Energy MRDervice MET / Mighty River Power MRP / Ministry for Culture and Heritage MCH / Ministry of Agriculture try MAF / Ministry of Consumer Affairs MCA / Ministry of Economic Development MED / Ministry of Edu / Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade MFT / Ministry of Health MOH / Ministry of Justice MJS / Ministry l Development MSD / Ministry of Tourism MTM / Ministry of Transport MOT / MyInfoSafe MIS / Nationa arch Institute NER / Navico NVO / Navman Technology New Zealand NAV / New Zealand Couriers NZC nd Defence Force NZD / New Zealand Emission Units Register EUR / New Zealand Film CommissionZealand Food Safety Authority NFS / New Zealand Green Building Council NGB / New Zealand HeraldZealand Institute of Chartered Accountants ICA / New Zealand Lotteries NZL / New Zealand Natural Clo / New Zealand On Screen NOS / New Zealand Police POL / New Zealand Post NZP / New Zealand Tra prise NTE / New Zealand Transport Agency NTA / Nielsen NetRatings NNR / NZBio NZB / Office of the Clients " ral OAG / Open Polytechnic OPT / Orcon ORC / Outward Bound OWB / Palmerston North City Councilerston North City Library PNL / Parliament Counsel Office PCO / Parliamentary Services PLM / Paymae Software PSW / Perweek PWK / PGG Wrightson PGW / Pivot Software PVT / Positively Wellington T / Powershop PSL / Professionals Real Estate PRO / Provenco PRV / PSIS PIS / Quit Group QUG / Qu QVL / Rabobank RAB / Real Estate Institute of NZ RNZ / Red Vespa RED / Reserve Bank of New Zea / Retirement Commission RCO / Save The Children STC / Scoop SCO / Sell me Free SMF / Serato Au arch SAR / Silverstripe SIL / SirValUse SVU / Sky Network Television STV / SMX / Snapper Services S

This is what wedo: user-centred
design. Moreabout this shortly.! !UCD"

UCD helpsprevent this from happening.!
!

World class companies don’tcompete on services,
products, technology, or features. " They compete on experience. " And world-class experience = user insight + user-centred design."

And this is why "
we exist.! ! " " Our mission" Transform New Zealand organisations into providers of world class customer experiences"

Here’s whatwe’ll cover.! Two case
studies. ! One good. One not good. " Why you should care. " Introducing user-centred design. " Personas. " Questions.!

These guys do a pretty
good job.Except when it comes to TXT-a-park…! !

You live in Auckland. You
want to head into town. You take your car.! !

Good – loadsof carparks.! !

Less good: youhave to pay
for them.! !

Good: there are payment options.
Except, you don’t have coins, and you can’tfigure out which way roundyour card goes. So you use your phone.! ! !

However…! ! It is appalling.
"

Hmmm…! !1,188 Complaints about TXT-a-Park"
Nationwide, 2011-2012. Source = NZ Herald, February 3, 2013!

Read this inthe paper last
weekend.! !

Saw these twoladies yelling at
TXT-a-park.! !

This is a video of
a UX consultant taking 3minutes to attempt to use TXT-a-park, beforeabandoning in frustration.! ! !

1 Step 1. Read instructions.!
!

2 Step 2. Push TXT-a-Park.!
!

Step 3. Find3 the number
to TXT to.! !

Step 4. Find the4 simultaneous
equation to TXT to that number..! !

Step 5. Find the5 machine
code, the first part of that simultaneous equation.! !

Step 6. Find a6 code,
that relates to a $.! !

Step 7. Find7 the time
frame that relates to that $.! !

Let’s recap…! ! A B
C 7275 62061" Where 1 = $1.50 = 30 minutes " D E

And those 1 = $1.50
= 30 minutes*simultaneous equations…! " ! 2 = $3.00 = 60 minutes* " 3 = $4.50 = 90 minutes* " 4 = $6.00 = 120 minutes* " 5 = $12.00 = 180 minutes* " 6 = $18.00 = 240 minutes* " ! *Except on Saturdays. Oh, and there’s a 50c transaction fee. !

It’s trickier on theweekend. Guess
what the line1 = $1.50 = 90 minutes " is for?! ! 2 = $3.00 = 180 minutes " 3 = $4.50 = 270 minutes " 4 = $6.00 = 360 minutes " " 5 = $12.00 = 720 minutes" 6 = $18.00 = 1080 minutes"

Pay for anything tothe right
of the line, and you’ve paid to $20! M-F S-Spark for longer than you can park for…! ! $10! $0! 1! 2! 3! 4! 5! 6! 7! 8! 9! 10! 11! 12! 13! 14! 15! 16! 17!

Step 8. Send8 the TXT.
Note the error feedback…! !

Step 9. Push9 OK. If
you don’t: it’ll reset.! !

Not such a goodexperience.! !

In fact, it’s tragic. Because
if AT had involved users in the design process, I thisexperience could have been vastly superior.! ! !

Perception.! ! " " "
" 80% of companies believe they provide a superior proposition" " Source = a Bain & Co. survey of 400 firms !

And reality.! ! " "
" " …but just 8% of their customers agree with them " " Source = a Bain & Co. survey of 400 firms !

Andconsequences.! ! " " "
"64% of shoppers have immediately bought from a competitor after poor service" " Source = Oracle’s 2012 CX Index Report !

Okay, a betterexample of actual
user-centred design.! !

Tourism is a key industry
for NZ. And Tourism’snewzealand.com website is a key link between the 60M " people considering NZ as a destination, and our tourism " operators.! ! ! " " The portion of New Zealand’s foreign exchange earnings from Tourism for the year ended March 2012 – 15.4%, or $9.6B" " Source = Tourism Industry Association New Zealand!

And involving usersin the design
of thatwebsite has made a big difference to Since we completed the it’s use.! !usability improvements to the site we have seen important increases in consumerengagement – views of content… is up 47per cent and there has been increased useof functionality such as… the Trip Planner tool – which is up 300 per cent " " Catherine Bates, GM Brand and International PR, Tourism NZ!

Our brief.! ! Redesign critical
newzealand.com user journeys"

The old site.Looked good.But didn’t
work good.! !

Here’s the fullprogramme ofUCD work
we Expert Review"did on the site.! ! Personas" Tree Testing" Card Sorting" Co-Design" Interaction Design" User Testing"

That involved research.! Expert Review"
! Personas" Tree Testing" Card Sorting" Co-Design" Interaction Design" User Testing"

Design.! Expert Review" ! Personas"
Tree Testing" Card Sorting" Co-Design" Interaction Design" User Testing"

Testing and iterating.! Expert Review"
! Personas" Tree Testing" Card Sorting" Co-Design" Interaction Design" User Testing"

Let’s start with an expert
review. We throw 2 experts at the site toidentify what users might struggle with.! !

And we complete a system
usability scorebenchmarking exercise.Newzealand.com fell justbelow good. Which is not so good. ! !

Our experts found 81 issues.
That’snot a large amount.! 81 ! Usability findings"

But 30 critical / major
issues – issues that prevent users fromcompleting tasks – is a 30 big deal.! ! Critical / major issues"

Things like disconnectednavigation, or separation
between content and calls-to-action.! ! !

Or similar content pop-ups with
completelydifferent layouts.! !

Overall, loads of people keen
on NZ, and loads of good content. Poor interactiondesign meant users took time learning to find content, instead of engaging with the content.! ! !

Methodology 2: Personas.! Expert Review"
! Personas" Tree Testing" Card Sorting" Co-Design" Interaction Design" User Testing"

A persona is a fictitiousperson
who embodies allof your research and isused in design""Richard Douglass, Optimal Usability, 2012"

We had marketing personas, andshedloads
of research on ouractive considerers. But what thosemarketing personas didn’t tell uswas what differentiated the needsof our users when usingnewzealand.com, nor the processof how to design for those users""Dave Brem, Websites Manager, Tourism New Zealand, 2013"

Here’s an output from these
personas.Characters with tourism-specific history, gathered via research. ! !

These personas were pulled together
after conducting dozens ofinterviews with people considering NZ as a destination.! ! !

The main benefit of a
userprofile is as a reminder thatyou’re not the user. Apersona helps you makedetailed decisions basedon validated research""Thea Myers, Optimal, 2012"

If you have enough info to
create a 60 pagebook, then you’ve got a persona""Kris Nygren, Optimal, 2012"

These persona postersare still sitting
on ourdesks. We use them inall our work. They arebaked into our process""Dave Brem, Websites Manager, Tourism New Zealand, 2013"

Methodology 3. Tree-testing.! Expert Review"
! Personas" Tree Testing" Card Sorting" Co-Design" Interaction Design" User Testing"

Tree-testing is about determining the‘findability’
of information within your information architecture (IA).! !

We use a tool called
Treejack. Google it.! !

1 of 4You’re traveling to
New Zealand and want to findout more about Maori customs before you leave.Where would you find that? It allows us to launch a survey asking users to complete a task by indicating where they would find the answer to that task within an IA.! ! !

Your IA gets a score,
et. al.! !

And a mindmap thatshows the
differentpaths users took to find the answer to each task.! !

Once you’ve got a score,tweak
your IA and retest.! ! Iterate"

We treejacked morethan we planned
to.They key is tochoose the righttasks to test""Dave Brem, Websites Manager, Tourism New Zealand, 2013"

And for thosetrickier parts of
the IA – Expert Review" card sort.! ! Personas" Tree Testing" Card Sorting" Co-Design" Interaction Design" User Testing"

Again: we usea survey tool
called OptimalSort.! !

It allows you to createvirtual
‘cards’, and allowsusers to sort those cardsinto categories – of their own, or predefined by you.! ! !

For newzealand.com, card sorting suggesting
two IA variants. By activity type…! !

…or by intensity. Sowe tested
both!! !

We used concept / collaborative
designExpert Reviewworkshops to generate as "many alternative designs to tricky problems as possible.! Personas" ! ! Tree Testing" Card Sorting" Co-Design" Interaction Design" User Testing"

Here’s one.! !

Here’s another one.! !

Oh, and here’s another one.!
!

And here’s a typical co-design
output.! !

And here’s a detailed iteration.!
!

After theworkshop, wesummarise the main
themes.! !

And assessthem againstbusiness anduser criteria.!
!

And agree which elements to
Expert Review"progress further intodetailed interaction design.! ! Personas" Tree Testing" Card Sorting" Co-Design" Interaction Design" User Testing"

Interaction design isn’t about colours,
fonts, or the look of a site. It’s about designing thethings people want to do, so that they work.! ! !

These are someannotated wireframes – the
notes describing the detail of key interactions.! !

From wireframes, we created clickable
prototypes.! !

We used these prototypes during
user testing…! !

User testing is about Expert
Review getting actual users to " complete actual tasks,and aggregating insights from observing several users.! Personas" ! Tree Testing" Card Sorting" Co-Design" Interaction Design" User Testing"

Because newzealand.com’susers aren’t in NZ,
we had to test in their context, in their language.! ! !

In America,China, and Australia.! !

From testing, weaggregate insights and
recommendations, and…! !

Mmm-hmm.! ! Iterate"

Go check out the site.
It’s good : )! ! newzealand.com"

Following a year of continuous design
and usability improvements… resulting in the sites strongest 12month period – visits are up four per cent and referrals up 18 per cent for the year ending 31 January (2013) " " Catherine Bates, GM Brand and International PR, Tourism NZ!

Just to put that in
context, 18 per cent means hundreds of thousands more active considerers contacting NZ tourism operators – this is our reason for being " " Dave Brem, Websites Manager, Tourism NZ, 2013!

Okay. Let’srecap UCD…! ! RE

INVOLV USERS E OFTEN VOLVEIN
ERS US RLY ITERAT EA ITERAT E,

Right. Now, aboutpersonas.! ! Personas"
Thea Myers

Thea’s one of our senior
designer / consultants.! ! Thea

Thea’s done heaps offorklift drivers
• commercial fishers • leisure sailing and fishing! persona projects.! !call centre agents • physicians • banking & mobile phone consumers!international travelers • international tourists to nz • life insurance buyers!car insurance buyers • health insurance buyers • business insurance buyers!home insurance buyers • small business owners • people establishing a business!IT professionals • receptionists • alcohol drinkers • medical device dealers!sufferers of sleep apnea • grocery buyers • courier package senders!

So what are Personas and
why do we use them?

So, the dictionarydefinition of apersona
is…! ! Persona per SŌ na’ [noun] 1.A persona is a realistic archetype serving as a surrogate for one segment of a system’s (or part of a system’s) actual targeted audience.

Yeah yeah yeah. Personas arebasically
just stand- in users, based Persona on research.! ! per SŌ na’ [noun] 1.A persona is a realistic archetype Stand-in user serving as a surrogate for one segment of a system’s (or part of a system’s) actual targeted audience.

Useful when:" • The design
team is an actual team, with more than a single person working the entire process from ideation through implementation. ! • The team members are different from their users (true most of the time.) ! • The team members do not have regular interaction directly with users ! • Different users will interact with the product or service differently because they have different intentions, context, knowledge, skills, or experience.! -Jared Spool

Here’s an example output from
a persona researchproject. Not Optimal’s, just an example Thea found online.! !

Here’s another one.! !

And another one.! !

And anotherone. This timewith an
action figure.! !

And another one.! !

How to create Personas

A four-stepprocess – with the third
step being the tricky one.! ! How to create Personas 1. User research 2. Analysis 3. [Scene missing] 4. Voila! Personas!

Always start with research. Read
what you have now. Interview stakeholders. Interview customer-facingroles. Talk to users – 10-20 How to create Personas is reasonable.! ! 1. User research 2. Analysis 3. [Scene missing] 4. Voila! Personas!

Then, analyse what yourinterview data.!
! How to create Personas 1. User research 2. Analysis 3. [Scene missing] 4. Voila! Personas!

Step away from the people
you interviewed, and see them as acollection of data.! !

Plenty of ways of conducting
analysis – all of which involve post-it notes…! !

Now for the magic.! !
How to create Personas 1. User research 2. Analysis 3. [Scene missing] 4. Voila! Personas!

This ‘scene-missing’ stepis about transforming
that data into personas. Thisisn’t creative writing – but more breathing life into your data.! ! !

And you’re done. Right?! …!
! How to create Personas 1. User research 2. Analysis 3. [Scene missing] 4. Voila! Personas!

You guessed it:nope. You’re onlyhalfway.
Now youhave to use those personas.! ! How to use Personas

Personas are not the onesource
of truth. They canhelp you find it, but if it’shigh risk, you’ll still need to test it with actual users.! ! ! How to use Personas They are a tool, and like any tool, you must know how to wield them!

Okay, so Theahas learned a
few lessons whileworking on thesepersona projects.! ! Lessons learnt

Like this one: define Make
sure Be prepared to up- your scope well. Are you’re talking to scale your research if you interested in all enough of the right you feel there are gapscustomers, or just those people about the in understanding, orusing your site, or just a right stuff.! new user groups.! part of your site?! ! ! ! ! Lessons learnt ! Define your scope well, and be prepared to scale the research!

And make sure youdesign the
output from persona research towork for the people who will use those outputs.! ! ! Lessons learnt Consider who will be using the personas, design for them

You might be beststarting out
with rough and ready sketchprofiles to remind yourdesigners that they are not the user.! ! !

How you representpersonas with images
is important too. Use believable pictures – this is Thea’s mom!! !

Stock photos arepretty shocking.Apparently this
iswhat doctors andnurses look like.! !

And this is what‘women laughingalone
with salad’ looks like…! !

The outputs from lightweight personawork
are often best left at the same sketchfidelity as the research.! Patty Persona ! ! Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et.

And most importantly:keep them live!
Evolve them. Re-interviewpeople and adapt. They will stagnate and die if not fed.! ! Lessons learnt Keep them alive!

That does takesome effort to
do.! ! Lessons learnt Keep them alive! (This takes effort money)

How canwe help?""thea@optimalusability.com / +64 21
706 166 "gareth@optimalusability.com / +64 21 740 750"