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Personas and user testing

Personas and user testing. MS3308. Strategy Plane. Project objective User needs (desires and wants). 2. User Needs Who are the users?. Begin usability and user research Segmentation Demographics Psychographics Define the user group User profiles Develop personas.

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Personas and user testing

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  1. Personas and user testing MS3308

  2. Strategy Plane • Project objective • User needs (desires and wants)

  3. 2. User NeedsWho are the users? • Begin usability and user research • Segmentation • Demographics • Psychographics • Define the user group • User profiles • Develop personas

  4. 2. User NeedsSegmentation

  5. 2. User Needs Demographics

  6. Demographics: • Gender • Age • Education level • Marital status • Income…

  7. 2. User Needs Psychographics

  8. Psychographics attitudes and perceptions about the world e.g. towards using technology

  9. 2. User Needs Personas How To Use Personas In User Experience Design

  10. ‘Before embarking on any intranet or website design project, it is important to understand the needs of your users. It is then possible to identify the features and functionality that will make the intranet or website a success, and how the design can support users with different goals and levels of skill. • Personas act as stand-ins for real users’ • http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_personas/index.html

  11. What are personas? • ‘Personas are archetypal users of an intranet or website that represent the needs of larger groups of users, in terms of their goals and personal characteristics. They act as ‘stand-ins’ for real users and help guide decisions about functionality and design. • Personas identify the user motivations, expectations and goals responsible for driving online behaviour, and bring users to life by giving them names, personalities and often a photo. • Although personas are fictitious, they are based on knowledge of real users. Some form of user research is conducted before they are written to ensure they represent end users rather than the opinion of the person writing the personas.’ • http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_personas/index.html

  12. More information and an example of a persona • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/personas.shtml

  13. Personas – some links • http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_personas/index.html • http://www.uie.com/articles/successful_persona_projects

  14. They may contain: • Photo • Name – see p118 Unger • Age • Location • Occupation • Biography • Optional: personal quote

  15. What they do (actions and behaviours) • Expectations • Goals and motivations • (See Saffer p207)

  16. User Testing Plan • Webcredible Web Usability Guide: • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/web-usability-guide.shtml

  17. There are four essential activities in a UCD project: http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/web-usability-guide.shtml

  18. http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/web-usability-guide.shtmlhttp://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/web-usability-guide.shtml

  19. Focus Groups • What are they? • ...an invited group of intended/actual users of a site (i.e. participants) to share their thoughts, feelings, attitudes and ideas on a certain subject. • When to use • …most often used as an input to design. They generally produce non-statistical data and are a good means of getting information about a domain (e.g. what peoples’ tasks involve). • Issues • …necessary to have an experienced moderator and analyst for a focus group to be effective • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/focus-groups.shtml.

  20. Focus Groups – how to run them • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/focus-groups.shtml

  21. Usability Testing • What is it? • …sessions evaluate a site by collecting data from people as they use it. A person is invited to attend a session in which they’re asked to perform a series of tasks while a moderator takes note of any difficulties they encounter. • Users can be asked to follow the think-aloud protocol which asks them to verbalise what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. • You can also time users to see how long it takes them to complete tasks, which is a good measure of efficiency (although you should bear in mind that using the ‘think aloud’ protocol will slow users down considerably). • Two specialists’ time is normally required per session – 1 to moderate, 1 to note problems. • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/web-usability-guide.shtml

  22. When to use • …can be used as an input to design or at the end of a project. …an excellent way finding out what the most likely usability problems with a site are likely to be. • …usually generates non-statistical data, although sometimes it can also be used to generate statistical data. • Issues • Usability testing requires some form of design to be available to test – even if it is only on paper. Testing works best if it focuses either on gathering non-statistical feedback on a design through ‘talk aloud’ or statistical measures. • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/web-usability-guide.shtml

  23. Card Sorting • What is it? • …a method for suggesting intuitive structures/categories. A participant is presented with an unsorted pack of index cards. Each card has a statement written on it that relates to a page of the site. • The participant is asked to sort these cards into groups and then to name these groups. The results of multiple individual sorts are then combined and analysed statistically. • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/web-usability-guide.shtml

  24. http://www.webcredible.co.uk/search/card+sorting • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/services/card-sorting.shtml • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/ucd/methods-card-sorting.shtml

  25. When to use? • Card sorting is usually used as an input to design. It’s an excellent way of suggesting good categories for a site’s content and deriving its information architecture (i.e. its site map). • Card sorting generates statistical data, in the form of a site map. • Issues • Providing participants with a trial run on some easy cards (e.g. sports, animals, etc.) can reassure them about what they’re expected to do and result in a more productive session. • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/web-usability-guide.shtml

  26. Participatory Design • What is it? • Participatory design does not just ask users opinions on design issues, but actively involves them in the design and decision-making processes. • When to use? • Participatory design is usually used within a mini-project to generate prototypes that feed into an overall project’s design process. • An example would be a participatory design workshop in which developers, designers and users work together to design an initial prototype. This initial prototype would then feed into a more traditional design process. • Projects that only utilise participatory design are very rare. • Issues • Participatory design sessions can be very fluid and require an experienced moderator with thorough knowledge of the domain to guide them. • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/web-usability-guide.shtml

  27. Questionnaires • What are they? • Questionnaires are a means of asking users for their responses to a pre-defined set of questions and are a good way of generating statistical data. • When to use • Questionnaires are usually employed when a design team: Can only gain remote access to users of a site Is seeking a larger sample size than can be realistically achieved through direct contact • Questionnaires are usually administered through e-mail or post. • Issues • Questionnaires allow statistical analysis of results, which can increase a study’s credibility through its scientific appearance. This makes it all the more important that the questionnaire is well-designed and asks non-biased questions. • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/web-usability-guide.shtml

  28. Interviews • What are they? • An interview usually involves one interviewer speaking to one participant at a time. • The advantages of an interview are that participants’ unique points of view can be explored in detail. Any misunderstandings between the interviewer and participants are likely to be quickly identified and addressed. • The output of an interview is almost exclusively non-statistical. It’s critical that reports of interviews are carefully analysed by experienced practitioners. • When to use? • Interviews are usually employed early in the design process in order to gain a more detailed understanding of a domain/area of activity or specific requirements. • Issues • Interviewing places a high premium on the experience and skill of the interviewer and analyst. • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/web-usability-guide.shtml

  29. Conclusion • This has been an introduction to the major user-centred design methods. Remember that although each can be extremely valuable, using them in the right way for the right reasons and at the right time is critical. • Exactly which method to use, and when and how to use it, will differ from project to project. • http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/web-usability-guide.shtml

  30. Web surveys • http://www.userfocus.co.uk/articles/websurveys.html • http://www.userfocus.co.uk/articles/surveys.html

  31. Strategy Plane What evidence do we need? • Project objectives described and illustrated • References to design influences • Communication of idea to audience • How will the product be tested and by whom? • Detailed profile of user group?

  32. Create persona/s for your project • Create a user test plan identifying what approaches will be most appropriate and when they will be implemented

  33. Other References • Brown, D. (2007) Communicating design, Berkley, CA: New Riders • Garrett, J (2010) The elements of user experience: user-centered design for the web and beyond. Berkley, CA: New Riders Press. • Kuniavsky, M. (2010) Smart things: ubiquitous computing user experience design,  Burlington, CA:Morgan Kaufmann  • Saffer, D. (2010) Designing for interaction (2nd edn), New Riders: Berkley CA • Unger, R. and Chandler, C. (2009) A project guide to UX design, New Riders: Berkley CA

  34. Personas • http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_personas/index.html • Webcredible: • Personas • http://www.webcredible.co.uk • http://www.userfocus.co.uk

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