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User Research: a love story - Euro IA 2017
- 1. User Research: a love story Oana Secara Sr UX Designer, Johnson Controls @oanasecara
- 10. "If you can temporarily fall in love with your test participants, [...] suddenly the person in front of you is so much more interesting than any of your own opinions.” Antonella Pavese http://www.antonellapavese.com/ @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 14. User research Love / relationship @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 15. Usability testing Practical side ;) @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 16. Business Goals What you want / need @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 17. Research plan Time / effort @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 18. Brainstorming talk to friends @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 19. Personas type of partner @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 20. Phone / Video Interview talk with them @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 21. Look above ;) Time & money @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 22. In person interview meeting @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 23. Non verbal cues Behaviour @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 24. Recruiting participants finding people @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 25. Guerrilla User Research go out for a pint @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 26. Field Research planned date @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 27. Usability Lab favourite cafe @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 28. Extended research team pals @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 29. User’s location Their place @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 30. Environmental factors familiar setting @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 31. Bias how we see them @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 32. Debrifing / Transcripts Friend interrogatory @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 34. Screening participants Smoke and mirrors @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 36. What did just happen? @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 37. Heart and soul of the users @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 38. Heart and soul of the users @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 40. What happened … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 41. What happened … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 42. What happened … Inspector’s car Inspector’s car @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 43. … and what I learned Safety / Protection @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 44. What happened … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 45. What happened … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 46. What happened … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 47. What happened … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 48. … and what I learned What you are testing for … sorta @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 49. What happened … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 50. What happened … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 51. What happened … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 52. What happened … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 53. … and what I learned Emotional connection @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 54. What happened … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 55. What happened … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 56. … and what I learned Multi-dimensional users @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 57. And so many more … @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 58. In Summary .. Love your users & Let them teach you @oanasecara #EUROIA17
- 59. Thank you! @oanasecara Let’s keep in touch
Editor's Notes
- Hello. My name is oana and I am an UX designer by job title and User Researcher by heart based in Cork, ireland. Thank you all for being here considering the last minute changes to the schedule. If there is any consolation we are all in this together I also found out just a couple of hours ago that I will indeed be talking. So it’s been a bit of a wild morning. But if you think I am saying this to justify any problems or stumbles in the talk ..rest assured that … you are completely right and that is exactly why I am saying it.
- I work for Johnson Controls which is an incredibly big company but that many people may not have heard of. We are a market leader in fire safety and protection equipment, security, hvac, etc ..pretty much anything you would need to outfit a smart building from top to bottom. Because of some mergers there are a couple of design teams around the company and we are slowly consolidating them. But sit stands now if a project does get a designer that person has to be IA, UX, Researcher, all in one. We do have a dedicated resource for visuals tho. My talk today is more or less an ode to how important user research is and while it will touch all the areas of research it mostly focuses on the emotional aspects of doing field research. And I can see some confused looks being sent my way, I mean we all know how important user research is..right?
- Well we do, but in reality most companies do not. It’s up to us to bring them on board!
- It is so important to find the users, go where they are. Try to understand. I love reading about how others do research on a much larger scale and learning from them.
- But in our case the research was limited, it was mostly myself and then I had to find a way to transmit the things I learned, and get people involved, emotionally involved , so that next time we could do more. Since I was also the designer on the projects the research was made for implementing the takeaways in the designs was not the biggest issue. The big challenge was getting all the team mates and the stakeholder invested in the project, getting them to feel for the user. And I had to be a bit creative with that. Find elements in the research that would appeal to them. Relatable events that would make the team members say “this is our user, I understand them better now”. I communicated them through presentations, slide deck, e-mails. It was always a short passage/story to get the attention and more information if they followed through. And later in the talk I will give some real life examples of things i noticed during the research.
- But first I want to talk about a slight different way of looking at the research process, it’s not a methodology or a process. Just a way I try to relate to the users I meet.
- For the people that were here last year you may remember a lovely quick talk by Clementine in which pointed out that much of the language we use has to do with fighting, with war. I used to refer to the interesting events that happened during user research as “war stories” and let me tell you how proud i was of coming up with such a nice name until i saw that ..umm.. It’s been used before , a lot. We are warriors, we are attacking the issues and we fight for our believes. And this analogy makes sense but I decided to try and see the issue from a different point of view.
- How about looking at things from the perspective of love, since we’ve been told so many times that it’s better to make love not war.
- I found this very nice perspective in an old blog post by Antonella Pavese : "If you can temporarily fall in love with your test participants, [...] suddenly the person in front of you is so much more interesting than any of your own opinions.” And this perspective really got me thinking and realising that the similarities do not stop there. We can keep looking at things through the emotional perspective of love.
- Dim the lights ...soft music playing…
- oh I’m just kidding, my boss actually made me promise I will not do something like that, she knows my love for the theatrics…. But let’s think about it…
- Sometimes you start a new chapter in your life and you think to yourself, NEXT: I don’t think I have time for love or a relationship anymore, at least not now.
- I don’t think I have time for love or a relationship anymore, at least not now. NEXT: Or you know we may only have time for the most practical sides of relationships *wink wink*
- Or you know we may only have time for the most practical sides of relationships *wink wink* NEXT: But then you decide to give it a chance and find yourself needing to look inside yourself and figure out what you want and what you need
- But then you decide to give it a chance and find yourself needing to look inside yourself and figure out what you want and what you need NEXT: how much time and effort will you invest in a relationship
- how much time and effort will you invest in a relationship NEXT: You talk with your friends and get advice from them, see what they think.
- You talk with your friends and get advice from them, see what they think. And now I will be the first to say that there is no right or wrong way to search for love. In this day and age so much of our life is online, it’s simpler and much more convenient. Much easier to manage. NEXT: So many online dating sites, you join and know more or less what type of partner you are looking for.
- So many online dating sites, you join and know more or less what type of partner you are looking for. NEXT: And when you meet someone you get to know them as much as possible, you talk with them but there are restrictions to this type of relationships,
- And when you meet someone you get to know them as much as possible, you talk with them but there are restrictions to this type of relationships, NEXT: sure it’s convenient and may not be such a strain on you, time and money wise
- sure it’s convenient and may not be such a strain on you, time and money wise Also it’s a very good starting place especially when you are not quite at peak confidence. NEXT: But let’s be honest there is nothing quite like meeting that one person face to face
- But let’s be honest there is nothing quite like meeting that one person face to face NEXT: There are just so many things that you can learn about someone when you can experience all parts of their behaviour
- There are just so many things that you can learn about someone when you can experience all parts of their behaviour NEXT: And there are so many ways to meet people in this world, Some people may not be right for you, some may not think you are right for them
- And there are so many ways to meet people in this world, Some people may not be right for you, some may not think you are right for them NEXT: Sometimes that is as easy as going out for a couple of drinks and chatting with people
- Sometimes that is as easy as going out for a couple of drinks and chatting with people NEXT: and sometimes it involves more planning in order to have a good date
- and sometimes it involves more planning in order to have a good date NEXT: And you have many decisions to make in a relationship, you have to manage the comfort level of both participants.
- And you have many decisions to make in a relationship, you have to manage the comfort level of both participants. Sure for you it’s so much easier to get them to come to that one cafe that you know like the back of your hand and would make you feel comfortable NEXT: besides you know everybody there and if you would not notice something about your date you know for sure you pal working the counter will notice and tell you.
- besides you know everybody there and if you would not notice something about your date you know for sure you pal working the counter will notice and tell you. NEXT: Or you can meet up in a place of their choosing where you may not be as comfortable in but you know your date will be and will open up much more. Tho make sure you are safe there
- Or you can meet up in a place of their choosing where you may not be as comfortable in but you know your date will be and will open up much more. Tho make sure you are safe there
- But i would argue that it’s all worth it because there are so many things that you can learn about the person in front of you when they are in a setting that is familiar to them you can see how they interact with others.
- More often than not they will challenge your preconceived notions about them and show you things that you were not expecting. NEXT: You also know that the moment the date is over your friends will want to know everything that happened
- You also know that the moment the date is over your friends will want to know everything that happened NEXT: and it does not hurt to try and take some pictures of it just for reference
- and it does not hurt to try and take some pictures of it just for reference NEXT: Sure some dates will go better than other and some partners will be much better
- Sure some dates will go better than other and some partners will be much better, some may be trying to pretend they are something they are not and online that may have worked but in person there is a better chance you will notice the smoke and mirrors. NEXT: Some may even bring their mom with them
- Some may even bring their mom with them
- And you may be asking..why did I got through all of this talk about love and emotions. There are many reasons but one of the main ones is that I wanted to set the mood for what’s to come.
- As I said before in the talk we are looking for those events, those elements that help us relate to the users. Small little gems that sometimes are the ones that inform big design decisions .. and sometimes they are just the ones that change you as a designer, as a researcher, as a human!
- Can you plan to get these type of take aways, not really. But somehow I never really walked away from a field study without at least one of them.
- And I want to share some of my favourite moments with you. each of them has been used over and over again by myself to motivate the team and engage the stakeholders, and they have been incredibly powerful and effective.
- One of our projects had to do with fire inspectors and technicians. For people that may have not come across them before these are teams of people that have to go around buildings and check every since part of the fire safety system (sprinkler, alarms , pull stations, fire panels, etc.) I was on location with inspectors and normally we would stay for a whole day in the same building but this time we had to drive between multiple sites because the inspections were quite short, the configuration was me in a rental car and two inspectors each in their truck. And since it was my first time in California and I was jetlagged … i just asked the inspectors to tell me the address for the next place, to put it in the GPS , there was no way i would manage to follow them.
- I think they took that as a challenge. Because as you can see in this picture ( that was surely not taken by the person driving on the interstate…and that person surely was not me. I’m a bad role model for kids i know… )
- this is how we drove. I was constantly flanked by the two cars. They made sure I stayed with them …
- I felt safe and protected and since that is part of our company motto that was the perfect feeling to have. It followed perfectly from the rest of the events of the day. Our users were making our customers and every body they interacted with feel respected and safe and protected. And my job was to make sure we make them feel like that in return.
- Fast forward some months change the project, this ne about inspection piping and water flows (i know i live the rockstar life). In this one a business decision has been made that the application should be on an iPad, and development was already starting. The team had to test how would inspectors deal with that. I was not supposed to be on location with them our product owner was just supposed to note if all inspectors could easily take notes on the ipad, if they had problems handling it, etc. And they're great with it, no complains, they're very careful with the device, in their pocket when not used etc. That should have been the end of that discussion. It surely would have been if I would not have been on location. because another thing i noticed was that when they pulled out their phones to do something with them they would be left on any piece of equipment closest to them. very often in harms way.
- So we wanted to see if the perceived value of an ipad mini that was not their own and just borrowed changed the behaviour that much. So the next day insted of giving the technicians the ipad we have then a notepad that had the exact shape and size as the ipad it was just , well, cheap.
- Now do you want to play a game of spot the notepad?
- We found an issue with the study an could fix it in time to have great results, and I can say that right now this project is developed for a phone rather then a tab. so it mattered.
- You think you know …but the users may have other ideas ..
- About a year ago I was working on a couple of projects with Scott Safety, they were one of our business units that manufactures firefighting gear. Back then Scott Safety which is an US business was part of JCI right now it may already be part of 3M as it has been sold as it’s been migrating for the past few months.
- The project I worked on was the Scott Sight, which is fireman mask that has a thermal imaging camera included in the mask. My team was tasked with creating the mobile application that will be sued to configure the camera. It was a great project and wonderful to work on. We had the mask for a while and used it. A story that is sad and that stayed with me. When I first got to the location where i was conducting the field studies for the mask app I knew what I wanted to ask the respondents and I knew what I wanted to find out. I wanted to find the good and the bad, I just wanted to understand. What I did not know was that about a week before I arrived an accident happened and they lost one of the firefighters. Now of course I cannot know if our products could have saved his life or not, if they could have helped…but maybe …
- It was in those moments that it became real to me. While sitting down and talking with senior. experienced firefighters and seeing their grief. Seeing the impact. That’s when I fully realised that this can be life and death. Sure on a logical level I always knew but this is when I felt it, I connected emotionally with it.
- And every time I told this story I got the same reaction, same deep connection. This was a project on which no one complained about working just a bit harder, just a bit longer. We all wanted to feel we are doing something about this.
- But I do not want to leave you with a sad story, would not be a very nice way to end a presentation full of love and emotions. So I will tell you one more. I was still in the US with the firefighters and we were having a group discussion with a couple of senior ones, they were people that have collaborated with Scott for a long time. Experienced ones. And one of them I knew was one of the first people to always test any new device, he was very good at giving feedback, not a fan of technology but with a healthy appreciation of it when it made sense and with no tolerance for useless bells and whistles. But he was extremely tech savy whe it came to firefighting devices.
- Now halfway trough the meeting someone comes in as asks him is he was time to teach a class next Wednesday. the “let me get check my calendar” was expected. what was not expected was him reaching in his pocket and pull out a lil battered paper planners, leaf trough it and see that he was indeed free. His reply “Yeah I’m free, let me pencil you in.” and he pulled out a pencil and did just that, he penciled him in. It was the first time seeing this idiom happen before my eyes.
- Know that the users will surprise you.
- I could talk so much more about this but the time is almost up …
- In ending all I can say is that I hope that this talk was a pleasant one , that you laughed and felt with me trough the user interactions I presented. But most of all I hope it made you love your users even more. Because I will stubbornly believe that every person in this room loves their users even just a teeny bit. They can be difficult and frustrating at times, doing research can be the hardest thing you ever did, and the most pleasant all in one. But at the end of the day you will learn and you will be surprised.