Agile Vancouver - Involving Stakeholders in User Experience (UX) Design

Involving Stakeholders in!
User Experience (UX) Design"
Paul D. Hibbitts!
Hibbitts Design"

A Little About Me"
!  Established Hibbitts Design in 1998"
!  100+ successful software UX projects"
!  Instructor at Simon Fraser University"
!  Usability Mentor, 2009 Season of Usability!
(co-sponsored by Google)"
!  HFI-Certiﬁed Usability Analyst"
12-02-22" ©2012 Paul D. Hibbitts.All rights reserved. " 2"

Stakeholders"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/levelten/4195533335/

Stakeholder Types!
I’ve Encountered"
!  Project sponsors"
!  Project inﬂuencers"
!  People affected by the project outcomes"
!  People that will build the project"
!  People who work with the customers of!
the project"
!  People who provide user support for project"
!  Customers of the project (not end-users)"

Stakeholder Involvement!
“Happiness” Poll"

INVOLVING STAKEHOLDERS TIP #1"
Empathy is a key element!
for UX design and working
with your stakeholders."
"

Methods We Will be!
Exploring Today"
1.  Usability and UX goals"
2.  Design scenarios"
3.  Stakeholder design reviews"

Why These Methods?"
"  Quick and easy to learn techniques"
"  Each method can be fairly structured"
"  No unnecessary documentation is created"
"  Involves stakeholders at multiple points"
"  Passive review and/or active collaboration"
"  Mixture of individual and group activities"
"

Your Mileage MayVary!"

Your Mileage May WillVary!"

1. Setting Direction with!
Usability and UX Goals"http://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/3137422976/

Usability Goals – How it Works"
!  Learnability (first time users) "
•  The product should be easy to learn"
!  Efficiency (experienced users)"
•  The product should be efficient to use"
!  Memorability (casual users)"
•  The product should be easy to remember"
!  Error-resistance (all users)"
•  The product should minimize usage errors"

Starts the Conversation!
about Usability Early!"

Deﬁning Usability Goals"
!  Common factors for consideration are"
•  Frequency of use"
•  Importance of task or need"
•  Task structure (e.g. complexity, repetition)"
•  Motivation/attitude"
!  Assign a priority to each goal (e.g. 1-3)"

Assessing Usability Goals"
!  Use a valid + reliable usability survey, such as
the System Usability Scale (SUS)"
!  Be sure to observe users, and don’t just rely on
what they record on a survey"
!  Don’t get hung-up on trying to separately
assess each usability goal"

UX Goals – How it Feels"
!  Can be daunting to articulate and agree upon"
!  Product Reaction Cards by Microsoft (2002)"
!  118 words (60% positive, 40% negative)"

Sample Product Reaction Cards"
Accessible Desirable Gets in the way Patronizing Stressful
Appealing Easy to use Hard to use Personal
Time-
consuming
Attractive Efficient High quality Predictable Time-saving
Busy Empowering Inconsistent Relevant Too technical
Collaborative Exciting Intimidating Reliable Trustworthy
Complex Familiar Inviting Rigid Uncontrollable
Comprehensive Fast Motivating Simplistic Unconventional
Confusing Flexible Not valuable Slow Unpredictable
Connected Fresh Organized Sophisticated Usable
Consistent Frustrating Overbearing Stimulating Useful
Customizable Fun Overwhelming
Straight
Forward
Valuable
www.microsoft.com/usability/UEPostings/ProductReactionCards.doc

Example Process for!
Deﬁning UX Goals"
1.  Each stakeholder selects a set number of
attributes (i.e. 6-10)"
2.  All chosen items are posted on a wall"
3.  Each stakeholder is given a set number of
“points” to vote for each attribute"
4.  Visualize results (e.g. word cloud), and further
reﬁne as needed"

Word cloud created using wordle.com"
Example Reaction Cards!
Word Cloud"

Assessing UX Goals"
1.  Reduce provided attributes to 60 to 70"
2.  Ask participants to select most relevant 10"
3.  Pair with a standard usability survey!
(e.g. System Usability Scale)"
4.  Visualize the results (e.g. word cloud)"
5.  Position as one input, not ﬁnal decision"

A critical question to ask
your stakeholders early on is!
“what does success look like
to you?”"
"

2. Envisioning with!
Design Scenarios"http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjpacres/3293117576/

What are Scenarios?"
!  Descriptions of people and their activities"
!  Series of events that results in reaching!
a goal"
!  Can be described textually or visually"

Example Scenario"
“Emma, a sales manager, needs to arrange a
meeting with her 5-member sales team to work out
the details of an upcoming promotion. Using the
meeting room booking system from her ofﬁce
computer she determines when they can all meet
this week and reserves a room with a projector for
the meeting.”!

Why Use Scenarios?"
!  Focus on (high-level) user goals"
!  Excellent way to share a vision!
(without requiring visuals)"
!  Highlights missing speciﬁcs early"
!  Provides a workﬂow-based viewpoint"
!  Establishes a shared understanding"

Why Use Scenarios?"
“Scenarios are among the most powerful tools in
product and service design, with uses ranging from
developing requirements to ensuring that a design
accounts for the full range of possible interactions.”"
Kim Goodwin!
Author of “Designing for the Digital Age”!
and pastVP of Cooper Design"

Possible User Representations!
for Scenarios"
!  Persona "
•  A specific fictional person representing each type
of user"
!  User profile"
•  A broad summary of relevant user characteristics
for each type of user"

Design success
factors
" Make booking a
meeting painless
" Provide the best
meeting room
possible
" Leverage existing
calendar tool
concepts
Knowledge,*
Skills*&*Abili2es*
• Very comfortable
using desktop
apps and the Web
• Undergraduate
degree in
Marketing and
Communications
• Has seven years
of related job
experience
Goals,*mo2ves*
&*concerns*
• To have her team
deliver materials
on time and on
budget
• To meet the
performance
objectives set by
her Manager
• To minimize her
time related to
management
duties
Key*tasks*&*
ac2ons*
• Perform multiple
job tasks at once
• Books 4-6
meetings a day
• Provides
leadership to her
team with
various projects
• Effectively co-
ordinate activities
of various team
members
“If all these meetings aren’t bad enough, it always take more work than I want
to find a meeting time that works for everyone - along with a suitable room!”
Demographics
• 46 years old
• Has joined the company only one year ago
• Responsible for 5-member team
Emma: Sales Team Manager

Meeting Goals
Meeting Scheduling Tasks
To attend as few meetings as possible
To find convenient times and locations for meetings
To ensure needed meeting resources are available
To not miss attending any scheduled meetings
Decide attendees
Assess available meeting times and locations
Book room and required resources
Characteristics
Age 30-55
Windows experience Low – High (moderate is typical)
Frequency of use At least several times a day
Other software used Microsoft Office, Google Apps, HR System
Usage Mandatory
Turnover rate Low
Environment of use Desktop, tablets, and smartphones
User Profile: Managers

Personas and/or User Proﬁles
– Good Question!"
!  Some considerations…"
•  Time and resources"
•  Available data"
•  Product type"
•  Team work style/culture"

User Representations Poll"

Choosing Scenarios to Create"
1.  List the user tasks (moderate granularity) of
the system/product you will be creating"
2.  Determine frequency and importance for all
tasks to help with scenario creation,
prioritization and UI structure decisions"

How to Create Good Scenarios"
#  Describe what, not how"
#  Be very speciﬁc"
#  Describe reaching a user goal!
(or solving a problem)"
#  Include underlying motivation"
#  Describe who the user(s) are"
#  Include the context of use"

Describe What, Not How"
the meeting.”!

BeVery Speciﬁc"
the meeting.”!

Describe Reaching a User Goal"
the meeting.”!

Differences Between!
Goals and Tasks"
Goals" Tasks"
!  Things users want or need
to achieve"
!  Tends to remain constant
over time"
!  System independent"
!  Reaching a goal changes the
state of the world"
!  Must be performed to!
reach goals"
!  Tends to change over time,
often due to technology"
!  System dependent"
!  May require!
problem solving"

Include Underlying Motivation"
the meeting.”!

Describe Who the User(s) Are"
the meeting.”!

Include the Context of Use"
the meeting.”!

Good Scenarios…"
"  Describe what, not how"
"  Are very speciﬁc"
"  Describe reaching a user goal!
(or solving a problem)"
"  Include underlying motivation"
"  Describe who the user(s) are"
"  Include the context of use"

Before conducting user
research, create a research plan
with your stakeholders."
"

3. Getting Feedback with!
Stakeholder Design Reviews"http://www.flickr.com/photos/cspp1/6217471472/

Oh, the Troubles I’ve Seen…"
!  Wrong type of feedback"
!  Personal opinion (wars)"
!  Last-minute surprise requirement"
!  Multiple concepts causing endless debates"
!  Company culture/politics/issues"

One Format That Has!
Worked for Me"

1. Set Level of Feedback"
!  Conceptual buy-in"
•  Sketchy mockups (e.g. paper + markers, Balsamiq)"
!  Detailed content/layout buy-in"
•  Wireframes (e.g. PowerPoint, OmniGrafﬂe,Visio)"
!  Interactive behavior buy-in"
•  Working prototype (e.g. JustinMind, FlairBuilder)"

2. Deﬁne Objective of!
the Session"
!  For example, to identify potential problems
state that solutions are “off the table” "
!  If a solution is still provided, ask about the
problem it is intended to solve"

3. Review Goals!
and User Descriptions"
!  Present usability and UX goals along with
user proﬁles/personas"
!  Earlier stakeholder involvement and sign-off
should minimize “swoop-and-poops”"

4. Present the Design"
!  Walkthrough design based on scenarios"
!  State that the design will be shown twice"
•  First time for overall context"
•  Second time for feedback and Q&A"
!  Link shown design solutions to deﬁned goals"

Learn and speak the language!
of your stakeholders."
"

Involving Stakeholders Summary"
"  Usability and UX goals"
"  Design scenarios"
"  Stakeholder design reviews"

Related Readings"
www.delicious.com/stacks/paulhibbitts"
Involving Stakeholders in UX Design"

More Techniques I’ve Used!
Successfully with Stakeholders"
!  Ad-hoc persona workshops"
!  UX design principles"
!  Co-design (project deﬁnition) workshop"
!  Page description diagrams"
!  Application maps"

Additional Readings"
www.delicious.com/stacks/paulhibbitts"
Involving Stakeholders in UX Design – More Techniques"

ThankYou! Further Questions?"
Contact info"
Web: paulhibbitts.com"
Email: paul@paulhibbitts.com"
Twitter: @hibbittsdesign"
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/paulhibbitts"
These slides"
Speaker Deck: speakerdeck.com/u/hibbittsdesign !
SlideShare: slideshare.net/hibbittsdesign/"

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