The importance of goals in design

1. The importance of goals in design Carl Myhill Head of User Experience GE Network Reliability Products & Services (NRPS) Usability Professionals Association Industry Event, Christchurch, New Zealand November 2004 Smallprint (added after the talk for the benefit of the reader) This talk was given at the first ever UPA Industry Event in this area – usability is a new thing here. Our intention was to show industry leaders that usability has an impact on the bottom line. Six of us presented for up to 10 minutes. In this slot, I used the ATM example (actually the cardboard box prototype itself, not the PowerPoint pictures of it herein) to illustrate how some usability people focus on goals, and how this relates to money and the bottom line. I made the presentation because I couldn’t face destroying the prototype without a few photos! Then I wanted to show how this is directly related to local businesses, so I picked websites from 2 companies within a 5 mile radius of the talk and showed how one dealt with goals really well, and made lots of sales from it, and the other did not. Finally, I was asked to talk about how GE values usability. So, I flashed on screen a couple of before and after screenshots and explained that we used goal-directed design to redesign this pretty major system. This part of the talk doesn’t stand well on it’s own after the event, the point was really to say, GE takes usability seriously and understands the positive bottom line impact.

2. Talk Agenda • ATM examples showing how interaction design can impact the bottom line – reducing losses • Web retail example showing how interaction design can impact the bottom line – sales • Some examples from GE NRPS

3. Why goals are important? – ATM examples • There are 2 different interaction sequences that you may meet when using an ATM. • Remember, when using an ATM, your primary goal is normally to obtain cash.

4. Example 1 – the common ATM interaction sequence (pretty standard in the UK and New Zealand) • Step 1. Welcome screen – please insert card

5. Example 1 – the common ATM interaction sequence (pretty standard in the UK and New Zealand) • Step 2. Card Inserted

6. Example 1 – the common ATM interaction sequence (pretty standard in the UK and New Zealand) • Step 3. Enter PIN

7. Example 1 – the common ATM interaction sequence (pretty standard in the UK and New Zealand) • Step 4. Select how much money you want?

8. Example 1 – the common ATM interaction sequence (pretty standard in the UK and New Zealand) • Step 5. Before your cash is dispensed, do you want anything else? • (in this example, we say no)

9. Example 1 – the common ATM interaction sequence (pretty standard in the UK and New Zealand) • Step 6. Please take your card

10. Example 1 – the common ATM interaction sequence (pretty standard in the UK and New Zealand) • Step 7. Your cash is being counted, please wait • (this is a handy pause to allow you to put your card back in your wallet) • Thanks to Alan Clarke for pointing out the possible purpose of this delay!

11. Example 1 – the common ATM interaction sequence (pretty standard in the UK and New Zealand) • Step 8. Please take your cash! • (Goal successfully accomplished – you have the cash) GOAL!!!!

12. Example 2 – uncommon ATM interaction sequence (sometimes seen in the USA, Reno airport had one as of November 2004) • Step 1. Welcome screen – please insert card

13. Example 2 – uncommon ATM interaction sequence (sometimes seen in the USA, Reno airport had one as of November 2004) • Step 2. Card Inserted

14. Example 2 – uncommon ATM interaction sequence (sometimes seen in the USA, Reno airport had one as of November 2004) • Step 3. Enter PIN

15. Example 2 – uncommon ATM interaction sequence (sometimes seen in the USA, Reno airport had one as of November 2004) • Step 4. Select how much money you want?

16. Example 2 – uncommon ATM interaction sequence (sometimes seen in the USA, Reno airport had one as of November 2004) • Step 5. Please take your cash! • (Goal successfully accomplished – you have the cash) GOAL!!!!

17. Example 2 – uncommon ATM interaction sequence (sometimes seen in the USA, Reno airport had one as of November 2004) • Step 6. Goal satisfied, you leave

18. Example 2 – uncommon ATM interaction sequence (sometimes seen in the USA, Reno airport had one as of November 2004) • Step 7. Please take card (returns the card) • (recent modifications of this design have added a flashing error message to ask the user not to forget to take their card!) • (although, having satisfied your goal of getting some cash, you may well have left by now)

19. Bottom Line – Card loss is invited • In the ATM transaction, the bank has a goal too – to avoid card loss. It’s a bigger liability than lost cash. • The second poor design invites card loss by failing to recognise user goals.

20. Bottom Line - Losing cards is expensive business, consider: • 2.3 billion ATM Withdrawals made in UK in 2003* • 2003 ATM Fraud costs UK £39m, “PINs kept with cards that are then lost or stolen accounts for a significant portion of these losses.”* • 2003 Credit Card Fraud costs UK £402m (£106m from lost/stolen cards)* • US figures harder to find, but 1999 lost cards were 18.6% of total fraud loss in US ($179m)*** Usability and the bottom line are not unrelated! *Source APACS, http://www.cardwatch.org.uk/pdf_files/cardfraudfacts2004.pdf **Source http://www.vnunet.com/news/1157757 ***http://www.finfacts.com/intcard.htm

21. Why are goals important in web retail? • Consider 2 Kiwi Businesses: • Ground Effect • Mainland Outdoor Shop • Primary Goal: UK customer wants to buy a product from these New Zealand companies – is it viable? (i.e. does it work out cheaper than buying stuff in the UK as rumours indicate?)

22. Example 1: Ground Effect mountain bike clothing vendor 1. Find the company on the internet. Typing ‘ground effect’ gets the first hit in google.com

23. Example 1: Ground Effect mountain bike clothing vendor 2. Intro page confirms I’m at the right place, I choose ‘Products’

24. Example 1: Ground Effect mountain bike clothing vendor 3. For this example, just pick the first product and click on the shopping basket.

25. Example 1: Ground Effect mountain bike clothing vendor 4. Selecting my delivery region instantly shows me the price in my currency, shipping details and costs – and the total purchase price GOAL!!!! Ground Effect understands the goal of their UK customer and have met those goals well.

26. 1. Find the company on the internet. It’s a complete disaster trying to find Mainland Outdoor Shop in Goggle. Once you know it is called ‘Mainland OutdoorS’ you seem to find it, but it’s entitled ‘R&R Sports’ – is that really Mainland?? Example 2: Mainland Outdoor Shop (Christchurch) – also sells to the UK direct

27. 2. Just a webpage with some photos on it – you can click on it though! Is this Mainland Outdoor Shop in Christchurch?? Example 2: Mainland Outdoor Shop (Christchurch) – also sells to the UK direct

28. 3. Well, these folks look Outdoor types but why is it called R&R Sports? Perhaps it is a holding company for Mainland. I’ll tour around to see if I can see any reference to Mainland Outdoor Shop Example 2: Mainland Outdoor Shop (Christchurch) – also sells to the UK direct

29. 4. About page doesn’t mention Mainland! Example 2: Mainland Outdoor Shop (Christchurch) – also sells to the UK direct

30. 5. Contacts page has an address for Mainland in Christchurch, so it seems I have found the right place at last. Example 2: Mainland Outdoor Shop (Christchurch) – also sells to the UK direct

31. 6. For this example, just pick the first product and click on it Example 2: Mainland Outdoor Shop (Christchurch) – also sells to the UK direct

32. 7. Slightly odd buttons seem to lead to the checkout... Example 2: Mainland Outdoor Shop (Christchurch) – also sells to the UK direct

33. 8. Price shown in NZ$. Can’t see how to investigate shipping and tax considerations. Example 2: Mainland Outdoor Shop (Christchurch) – also sells to the UK direct

34. 9. Price shown in NZ$. ‘Currencies’ box is available if you scroll down 3 pages but doesn’t offer £ as an option. Example 2: Mainland Outdoor Shop (Christchurch) – also sells to the UK direct

35. 10. Proceeding to the checkout to investigate shipping I must now sign in, or do something else as a new customer. Example 2: Mainland Outdoor Shop (Christchurch) – also sells to the UK direct

36. 11. As a new customer I now need to fill out a long form, even before I have got to the checkout. I still don’t know about shipping, tax or price in £. At this point I still don’t know if this whole purchase, from a country 17,000 miles away is viable. So I gave up after 11 steps. Example 2: Mainland Outdoor Shop (Christchurch) – also sells to the UK direct

37. Bottom Line – Designing for User Goals can increase your Sales • Evidence*: • Packages per month • Ground Effect UK sales: 173 – 216 Mainland UK sales: 3 – 4 • Note: 1. Ground Effect sold twice this amount to the UK prior to September 11th, after which time worldwide postage slowed down • Note 2. I believe that Mainland do not specifically target the UK market quite as actively as Ground Effect does, though they have a similarly attractive sales proposition to UK customers – cost competitive, unique products Usability and the bottom line are not unrelated! *Source: Staff at Ground Effect and Mainland, info gathered November 2004

38. GE Network Reliability Products and Services benefits from Goal-Directed Design • Software designed by GE NRPS also uses goal-focussed methods, though the complexity of the applications doesn’t make for neat examples. • The following slides give a visual indication of improvements we’ve made.

39. Smallworld Core Geographic Information System Product Before Re-design

40. Smallworld Core After Redesign – Sales re-invigorated!

41. Smallworld Core with Communications applications built on top. Again, Sales have been revitalised after goal-focussed design.

42. Conclusion • Designing the user experience, involving technique like goal-directed design, is not a “science project” – it adds value directly to the business bottom line in numerous ways, only 2 of which were covered in this short talk.