2. My name is Pablo
I specialize in UX & UI
I am passionate about
USERSand USABILITY
I live inNew York City
I work with companies
and with start-ups
I work both for the web and with mobile
About Me
3. Background
I
have
a
Bachelor
of
Science
in
Psychology
from
Carnegie
Mellon
University
I
have
a
Ph.D.
in
Informa;on
Science
from
the
University
of
Michigan
(focused
on
Human-‐Computer
Interac;on)
I
worked
at
AtyponSystems
I
have
contracted
with
Olark
&
Fidelity
Investments
...
and
have
been
involved
with
start-‐ups
4. Strategy
Information Architecture
Content Strategy
Interaction Design
Conceptual Sketches
Branding
Concept
Requirements Gathering
User Research
Needs Analysis
Task Analysis
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Usability
Experiements
A/BTesting (& Surveys)
UserTesting/Walkthroughs
Prototyping
Wireframes
Mockups
Hifi/Lofi Prototypes
Follow-up
User Logs Analysis
Interviews
Surveys
Iteration
Adaptation
Re-skinning
Re-branding
Collecting Feedback
Discovery
Requirements Gathering
Marketing Research
Competitor Analysis
Heuristic Analysis
User Experience
Personas
Scenarios
User Journeys
Storyboarding
Finalization
Visual Design
Coding (HTML/CSS, etc.)
Process
I believe in the power of research and
design to positively impact technology
and interfaces to empower their users.
I am a researcher by training, but I have
been involved in interface and
interaction design.
I believe in evidence-based design, by
which I mean design based on a
foundation of data.The role of research
is to guide design and to evaluate
changes to ensure that the designs and
features we create are both powerful
and useful/usable.
I understand how to collect data from
stakeholders and users alike. I am
comfortable using both qualitative and
quantitative methods to understand
what people need. As an advocate for
the user, I can bring my experiences to
stakeholders to balance the needs of
both.
I believe in spending time on formative
research to understand user needs,
while also ensuring quality through
user testing.
6. Work
Overview
I do work that is both research- and
design-focused.
My projects tend to focus on either
research or design, though I am able
to do both as part of one project.
Some of my research turns into
wireframes and prototypes as proof
of concept for ideas that surface
through my investigations.
A lot of my research methods also
blur the line between design and
research (e.g., prototypes and
prototype testing).
Case Studies
+ Research
- CTools
- Olark
+ Design
- Web UI
- Mobile
8. CTools
Overview
CTools was the in-house
learning-based CMS (content
management system)
implemented at the
University of Michigan.
Even though the system is
designed for students and
faculty, staff were using the
system in ways that were not
related to learning. No one
had previously put effort into
learning about these users, so
the system continued to be
improved without their imput.
My role was to study these
users and make
recommendations.
Task
Conducted user research to understand the underserved group
of unintended users
Challenges
Advocated for a user type that was never intended or expected to
be a primary user (a new type of persona).
To draw insight from a very complex user group with many traits.
9. CTools
Process
I undertook the process of
understanding these users
and I had to:
+ Understand the space
+ Decide what data I needed
+ Design a research agenda
+ Collect the data
+ Analyze the data
+ Make design-based rec’s
I sought to understand this underserved
group of users by studying
+ how they felt about the system
+ how the system fits in with their needs
+ how the system fits into their work
+ how the system fits in with other tools
+ actual system usage
+ surveys
+ user log analyis
+ interviews
+ card-sorting
+ walkthroughs
Research
Paradigm
Data
Sources
11. UserTypes
I was able to develop an
understanding of why and
how staff used the system.
As a result, I developed
personas.These personas
reflected different kinds of
staff, based on the kind of
work they perform.
I was also able to highlight
ways in which staff’s
understanding of the
system led to their inability
to leverage all the features
in the system, a common
finding with content
management systems.
Improving CTools
My work showed that there were a number of features in
CTools that were crucial to how staff work—features that
allowed staff to perform job activities that they would not
otherwise be able to perform with commercial systems. I was
able to suggest these features as the primary ones to keep
improving to achieve immediate impact.
I also showed parts of the workflow in using CTools that
allowed these users to continue to use the system without
learning about new features that would improve thir ability to
work.This part of the workflow has since been fixed.
CTools
12. Olark
Overview
Olark is a tech copany that
develops a customizable
web-based chat interface to
facilitate cmmunication
between customer service
and sales representatives.
Olark has two interfaces— a
client-side chat operator
interface and a chat box that
customers chat through on
the websites where the
Olark code snippet is
installed.
Task
Conducted user/marketing
research to help improve
Olark’s interface and services.
Highlighted pain points for
Olark’s potential customers,
provided insight into how to
improve Olark from current
customers’feedback,
interpreted existing user data
as formative resarch, and
suggested future research.
Challenges
Tons of Data to sift through.
Piecing together email
correspondence into data that
could be analyzed.
+ Surveys
+ Analysis of Email Logs
13. Olark
Process
Since the data was already
collected, my role was to
determine how to analyze it.
I analyzed a post-signup
survey to find pain points,
but also relized that there
were many other insights
that could be drawn based
on user-reported
demographics.
I also used email exchanges
to a customer feedback
follow-up email to find
themes in users’thoughts on
how Olark could improve
their interface and services.
+ Assessment of Olark’s research needs
+ Gathering/Organizing secondary data sources
+ Analysis
+ Reporting
14. Olark
Deliverables
My main deliverable was a
report for Olark.The report
contained my analysis of the
two main research
questions as well as some
mock-ups of UI solutions,
and places where more user
research is needed.
I also presented my findings
to the company via a virtual
presentation.
mprovement. This category consisted of a
of operator-facing client issues such
as responses, notifications, and co-
browsing list shown in Table 5. Even
excluding major
-facing client issues like co-browsing and
responses, the many different wishes for
ments resulted in this category being the top
ents asked for improvements to the
design lark’s web interface as well as
improvement fers and the way that
conversations are
pace for improvement codes, there are actually
10
OLARK: “ONE THING OL ARK CAN DO BETTER”
a simple question: “What is one thing Olark can do
mpaign was Olark-subscriber email exchanges with 639
Olark asked users to respond to
better? The result of this email ca
unique respondents.
One Thing
Can Do
12
RESULTS
TOP 10 IMPROVEMENTS FOR OLARK
Olark provides an important service for a lot of
its users, exemplified by a solid number of “kudos”
and compliments that were given even along with
the constructive criticism users gave (37+)2.There were
also a few respondents who had no advice and were
more interested in being rude (9).
Table 4 shows the top ten improvements to Olark.
The Operator-facing Olark interface is the space for
most i
number
canned
and the
operator
canned
improve
rated.
Whereas some respondents were not specific
about what improvements they wanted, there were
many cases where there was a specific issue.
These improvements included the sometimes
problematic way that Olark currently addresses
the away/offline interactions that operators have
with visitors, the lack of ability to use the service to
transmit images and documentation directly, and pre-
chat surveys to route site visitors to the correct
operator (rather than speaking to an operator and
then being transferred).
Respond
of chat.o
of trans
ended.
2
Because kudos sometimes meant running out s
more kudos than presented by this number
Top Ten Olark Improvements
Op Chat Interface (gen)
Integrations
Pricing
Reporting & Metrics
Mobile
Voyeurism: Ops &
Visitor Tracking (22)
Op Monitoring (17)
Notifications
Canned responses
Visitor Chat: Themes
Co-browsing
Table 4. Top 10 improvements
88
61
46
41
40
39
29
29
20
19
Chat Improvements
Notifications
Canned responses
Co-browsing
General improvement
Offline/away handling
Attachments
Pre-chat surveys
Design Transfers
End Conversation
Voice chat
Video Chat
Multi-Op chat
Links
29
29
19
11
11
11
10
9
8
8
5
5
5
4
4
3
Rich text
Better visitor list
Table 5: Chat-related improvements (top
three notifications
21
FURTHER WORK
Of the issues and improvements highlighted by the analysis, I recommend three potential
areas that could provide the greatest impact for continued user research—canned
responses, native/mobile clients, and the handling of notifications.
USER STUDY: MOBILE & NOTIFICATIONS
While quite a few respondents seemed to want a mobile app, very few of them gave details about
what functionality they would like aside from the ability to chat more easily from a device.
Only a few users specifically reported wanting mobile apps for concurrent logins as a failsafe for
missed notifications (2) or as a way of managing their log-in status away from the
desktop (2). Judging from the problems that many users had with notifications, I suspect
that a mobile app could provide a solution to the problem of missed notifications by helping to
provide better flexibility and awareness of messages both at the desk and away from it.
Further work could entail gauging this interest with current users, either through a survey of the Olark
community or via email/phone interactions with users who suggested mobile apps and notification
improvements. This inquiry would ask:
Do users want mobile as a failsafe for missed messages?
Do users want mobile as a primary chat interface? The primary chat interface?
USER STUDY: CANNED RESPONSES
Canned responses had been brought up by a sizeable portion of Olark users. Through the
interactions between these users and Olark, it was clear there was a workaround for this type of
operator-customer interaction, but Olark subscribers still wanted a better, more direct
approach to canned messages.
As per the data presentation, it is unclear what specific aspects of canned responses these users
want. Though the data speaks to desire to be able to insert specific responses for commonly
used phrases, it is unclear how subscribers imagine this, which leads to the questions:
What do users want from a canned message?
How many canned messages?
What level of interaction with these messages?
I propose email exchanges with these subscribers where these issues can be elaborated on to extract
scenarios and use cases that can inform decisions around the design of this potential improvement.
15. Olark Outcomes
User Details
Through my analysis of
post-signup survey, I was
able to tell Olark about
users’immediate concerns. I
was also able to break these
concerns down by user
types.These user types are
the foundation for work to
establish better personas for
marketing and product
teams.
Improving Olark
My research on the email corpus raised a list of things that users
through Olark could improve. I was able to qualitatively sort these
reponses into categories, which I could then quantify into an
ordered list.This list then provided a roadmap for which UI/UX
and marketing problems to prioritize.
I was also able to mock-up some prototypes for solutions to some
of the problems that were specifically related to the UI in order to
prove that certain suggestions would actually be implementable.
16. Fidelity
Prototype Testing
In my contract with Fidelity, I worked with business partners,
designers, and other researchers to test prototypes. As a research
contractor, I:
+ designed and conducted usability tests
+ analyzed usability test data into findings
+ analyzed A/B test data
+ compared quantitative measures across time points
As a result of my research (behind NDA), I have:
+ performed heuristic evaluations as‘expert review’of
potential usability problems ahead of the usability tests
+ highlighted both positive and negative aspects of the
prototypes
18. Requirements
Concept
Strategy
Prototype/
Feedback
Finalize
Iterate
Process
I like to keep my
design process simple.
+ I gather requirements
+ I conceptualize whats the solution entails
+ I collaborate to establish a strategy for the project
+ I provide wireframes and prototypes
+ I advocate for what I think will enhance the user experience
+ I collect feedback before settling on a design
+ I provide design assets and style guides (if I am not coding)
+ I code my own HTML/CSS (when I am the one coding)
19. Web UI
I have worked on websites for organizations and start-ups.
I place a lot of emphasis on information architecture (IA) and clean
layouts. As part of my work, I often also work on branding
CSCW 2014
Branding
Information architecture
Web design & style guide
Print material graphic design
dapp
Branding
Information architecture
Style guide
Print material graphic design
Shopify template editing
20. Web UI
As part of my UI design practice, I provide site maps, wireframes,
mockups, and prototypes.
Once there are mockups/prototypes, I like to include user testing.
21. Mobile UI
I also have experience working on mobile interfaces, both from the
design and research perspectives
Target Book is a marksmanship app that helps users organize and track the results of their
target-shooting sessions.
My role was to work on the information architecture and user experience, while also working
on branding, designing some of the screens, and creating icons.
Artifacts: Wireframes, mock-ups, prototypes, User flows
T]arget Book
MyFuelUp is a mobile app that assists users in recording and tracing their diets, create meal
plans
My role on the project is to conduct user research, suggest improvements, and advocate for
usability. I have conducted competitor analysis, heuristic analysis, and surveys. I also
introduced user studies to the team and taught them how to collect this data. I also advise
on the best ways to collect data to fit the team’s needs.MyFuelUp
22. Atypon
Lo-fi wireframes
(and IA, Content Strategy,
& Visual Design)
I have used lo-fi wireframing
to create layouts. For
example, I created a
wireframes while creating a
client-facing training
sandbox for Atypon’s
WYSIWYG widget-based
website editor
(Pagebuilder).
The pages use widgets, CSS,
and HTML to display
content.
23. Sustainability
Lab
Design
Thinking
While working on a research
project for a faculty member
at University of Michigan,
we brainstormed ideas for a
site that would promote her
lab.I decided not to take on the
project, though I offered
some of my information
architecture skills as well as
a few wireframes and
mockups.
I often create wireframes
that blend in aspects of
prototypes, even if the
design eventually changes.
Sustainability Lab at the University of Michigan School of Information
Economic Social Environmental
What’s New
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Economic Social Environmental
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Researching sustainability through multiple lenses
Who we are
25. Branding & Final Design
TargetBook
I worked with the product
owner on branding and
design that complemented
each other. I iterated on the
final visual design while also
providing all the necessary
assets for the developer to
finish writing the code for
the mobile app.
TB TB
TB TB TB
26. CSCW2014:Branding,Graphic,&PrintDesign
CSCW2014
In addition to the UI design
for the CSCW conference, I
was also in charge of
establishing branding with
the conference chairs.
We iterated on dozens of
designs for logos and
typography.
I also took charge of the
print materials for the
conference, including the
conference program,
advertising, and
merchandising.
28. What I have to offer
13 years of experience in Human-Computer Interaction
Passion for technology and users
My thorough understanding of
research practice:
+Which questions to ask about users?
+What methods will give us the right answer?
+ How do we present findings in convincing ways?
+ How do we turn research into design?
+ How do we take designs and evaluate them?
Love of simple and beautiful design in service of the user
Experience working with engineering, design, and
Marketing/Sales teams
I can work easily on web or mobile platforms
I am thorough without sacrificing speed and efficiency
I work well alone and in teams
Projects
I enjoy all opportunities to
work with end users to
improve their lives through
technology.
I tend to gravitate towards
systems, interfaces, and
apps that are geared
towards education, health,
fitness, and entertainment.
