This document discusses user experience and interviewing users. It provides an introduction to common user experience terms and concepts like usability. Benefits of usability include increased productivity and customer satisfaction. The document then focuses on practical tips for interviewing users, which is a common research method. It outlines the interview process including preparation, conducting the interview, analysis and reporting. Key tips include preparing questions without bias, letting the user be the expert, listening carefully and reviewing data immediately.

1. Connecting with users
User Experience in Practice
Katherine Wahl
Usability/Accessibility Consultant
October, 2014

2. About me

3. Agenda
¤ User experience introduction
¤ Interview introduction
¤ Practical interview tips

4. User Experience
Introduction

5. Common terms
interaction_design usability
hf product_design ucd human_factors user-centered_design
information_architecture ux
visual_design hci information_design user_experience

6. Usability
Concept that has been around for generations, but only
recently standardized and greatly expanded.
¤ World War II – instrumentation
¤ Software industry
¤ Web explosion
¤ Consumer devices
¤ Medical devices

7. Usability
"[Usability refers to] the extent to
which a product can be used by
specified users to achieve specified
goals with effectiveness, efficiency
and satisfaction in a specified
context of use." - ISO 9241-11

8. Benefits of usability
¤ Increased productivity
¤ Decreased training and support costs
¤ Increased sales and revenues
¤ Reduced development time and costs
¤ Reduced maintenance costs
¤ Increased customer satisfaction

9. What are we trying to do?
“The key to making things
understandable is to understand
what it’s like not to understand.”
(Richard Saul Wurman)

10. What NOT to do
http://simpsons.wikia.com/index.php?title=The_Homer&image=TheHomer-png
Users are not designers and designers are not users!

11. Interviewing users
Practical tips

12. Interviewing users
¤ A common method of obtaining user feedback
¤ The researcher talks directly with the user in a one-on-one
conversation
¤ Often used in conjunction with other research methods
like a usability test or contextual inquiry
¤ There is no substitute for talking with real users

13. Interview skills
¤ Comfortable talking to users
¤ Empathy
¤ Recognize the expertise of the participant
¤ Listen
¤ Set aside your own bias
¤ Synthesize and analysis

14. Advantages
¤ Versatility
¤ Sessions can be set up and run quickly
¤ Open to an iterative process
¤ Not dependent on developers
¤ Data is from real users
¤ Opportunity to develop a deep understanding of users
¤ Inexpensive

15. Challenges
¤ Defining goals
¤ Recognizing and eliminating bias
¤ Listening carefully
¤ Expecting the unexpected
¤ Recording the session
¤ Analyzing the data

16. Steps in the process
¤ Preparation
¤ Conducting the interview
¤ Analysis
¤ Reporting

17. Goals
¤ Set reasonable goals
¤ Discuss them with your client
¤ Define what NOT to expect

18. Recruiting participants
¤ Define your audience
¤ How many participants should you include?
¤ Plan your schedule

19. Writing questions
¤ Draft and revise your questions
¤ Be mindful of bias
¤ Think about timing
¤ Know the material well

20. Tools

21. The interview: Set expectations

22. Talking with participants
¤ Remember that the participant is the expert
¤ Listen
¤ Observe
¤ Clarify
¤ Record quotes

23. Be ready for surprises

24. Analysis
¤ Review your data carefully
¤ Look for themes and trends

25. Reporting
¤ Make your report usable
¤ Try to deliver results in person

26. Things to remember
¤ Prepare thoroughly
¤ The participant is the expert
¤ Be mindful of bias
¤ Listen carefully
¤ Show empathy
¤ Record quotes accurately
¤ Review data immediately

27. Questions?
Contact me at kwahl107@gmail.com

28. Bibliography
Buxton, Bill. (2007). Sketching User Experiences: Getting the
Design Right and the Design Right. Amsterdam, Netherlands:
Morgan Kaufmann/Elsevier.
Courage, Catherine & Kathy Baxter. (2005). Understanding
Your Users: A Practical Guide to User Requirements Methods,
Tools, and Techniques. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Morgan
Kaufmann/Elsevier.
Goodman, Elizabeth, Mike Kuniavsky and Andrea Moed.
(2012). Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner’s
Guide to User Research (2nd Edition). San Francisco,
California: Elsevier/Morgan Kaufmann.

29. Bibliography
Morville, Peter & Louis Rosenfeld. (2006). Information Architecture
for the World Wide Web – Third Edition. Sebastopol, California:
O’Reilly Media, Inc.
Nielsen, Jakob. (1993) Usability Engineering. San Francisco,
California: Morgan Kaufmann.
Portugal, Steve, (2013) Interviewing Users: How to Uncover
Compelling Insights. Brooklyn, New York: Rosenfeld.
Quesenbery, Whitney & Kevin Brooks. (2010). Storytelling for User
Experiences: Crafting Stories for Better Design. Brooklyn, New York:
Rosenfeld.
Schumacher, Robert. Editor (2009). Handbook of Global User
Research. Amsterdam:, Netherlands: Elsevier/Morgan Kaufmann.