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Liberating apps for Publishers. Immersion Interviews with: Social Media enthusiasts About: building a mobile application Via: Beta Publisher Platform November 2011. Service Providers: Amanda McNeil mcneil.marie@gmail.com and Jeff Barr jeffbarr@uw.edu
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Liberating apps for Publishers. Immersion Interviews with: Social Media enthusiasts About:building a mobile application Via: Beta Publisher Platform November 2011 Service Providers: Amanda McNeil mcneil.marie@gmail.comand Jeff Barrjeffbarr@uw.edu Stakeholders: Brenda Walker brenda@actlocalmedia.comand Steve Dossicksteve@actlocalmedia.com
Objectives, Method, and Participants • Background • Act Local created software that enables the end user to intuitively and easily build and maintain applications for use in mobile phones, tablets, e-readers and desktops. The cofounders are looking to gauge the functionality and ease of use for first time users when creating an application from start to finish. Their first target market is published authors and they are looking to expand to additional markets in 2012 including politics (issues and causes), corporate training, and online retail and will use the study’s findings to improve their current and subsequent applications. • This is the 1st Immersion study conducted for Act Local’s platform. • Research Questions • What points of friction/obstacles do the candidates experience when creating an application? • What is the candidates’ perception of the overall process? • Does the candidate have a clear understanding of what the end product will be? • Immersions Method Participants were individually interviewed remotely using GoToMeeting and Skype. They were given control of the UX proctor’s machine to go through the process of creating an application at www.actlocalmedia.com. • Incentive. Interview subjects were thanked with $25 Amazon gift certificates, delivered electronically to their email address, as well the option to keep the application, free of charge, for one year. • Other files accompanying this report:Session recordings, Session Notes, and Script.
Suggested Improvements • Use a flow graphic on the home page to show what the app does. • Show how each piece of data (blog, Flickr, Twitter, and so forth) contributes to the final app. • Allow pasting of an Amazon URL for import. • Initiate the process of generating a preview earlier in the process (perhaps during “Choose Plan”). • Revise the preview page to make it clear that the thumbnails are clickable.
Act Local Home Page Disconnect between the name “Act Local” and the product since it doesn’t specifically target local markets. Bill 60M When asked “Who is Act Local” most people reiterated exact phrases from the copy and didn’t put it into their own words. One user mentioned the copy was “vague.” Katie 6M
Home Page - Suggestion Author Facebook Twitter Calendar Flickr Blog Podcast Meetup Book Amazon Act Local App The home page could be enhanced by adding a graphic to show how content flows from originator to social media sites to the app to the audience. Audience
About Page 5 out of 7 users did not have a clear understanding of the product/capabilities after viewing this page. Rheame 10M, Jennifer 8M, Bill 15M, Katie 11M, Danni 10M No one utilized the “screenshot” section (scrolling or enlarging). Consider making this more prominent on the page and adding more pictures of the finished product. 7 out of 7 users thought the “Features & Specs” section housed valuable information. Consider making this more prominent on the page. JoJo 4M, Madi 6M, Rheame 4M, Jennifer 7M, Bill 6M, Katie 9M, Danni 8M Overall value of the copy – 3.7
BlogAnalysis Was impressed the tool was able to find the blog feed of a self-issued blog Katie 13M “What do you feel about offering the complimentary e-book?” 2 users liked that it was offered JoJo 8M, Madi 11M 2 users thought it was unnecessary Rheame 12M, Bill 17M 1 user would download depending on mood/time Jennifer 11M 2 users want more info on how the book would pertain to them Katie 13M, Danni 16M 1 user mentioned that it was weird that either you build the app or you get a free book. Katie 13M Are these mutually exclusive options?
App Layout 4 out of 6 users thought the page had positive value JoJo 10M, Madi 12M, Rheame 14M, Danni 17M Wants to be able to customize and tailor the app so his doesn’t look the exact same as Kurt Vonnegut. Bill 21M Wants to see many layouts to see what content can be included in each page. Katie 14M Everyone’s different so they will want their screen to look different Rheame 13M. Hope they will offer different colors and fonts. JoJo 23M
Enable Social Media 6 out of 6 users thought linking to social media pages was valuable JoJo 12M, Madi 13M, Rheame 14M, Bill 31M, Katie 20M, Danni 20M Would like the option of linking additional social media sites (specifically LinkedIn) Bill 31M Questions: Can more than 1 Facebook or Twitter feed be linked? Katie 21M Will there be an option to filter posts so only relevant information was populated into the app? Bill 47M If a user doesn’t have a Facebook/Twitter feed, would this page still appear on the app? Katie 21M
Bio and Headshot 6 out of 6 users thought including a Headshot and Bio was valuable JoJo 13M, Madi 16M, Rheame 18M, Bill 32M, Katie 22M, Danni 21M Assumed she would have had the option of linking her social media profile pictures for the headshot and the bios from these pages would have automatically been aggregated. Katie 24M
Linking a book Main suggestion – Merge “Add A Book” and “Import via Amazon.com” tabs. 6 out of 6 users searched via Amazon.com JoJo 14M, Madi 17M, Rheame 19M, Bill 38M, Katie 26M, Danni 23M The Amazon.com tab would have been easier if the user was given the option of searching by URL. As one user put it, it would be hard navigating through the list of populated books when searching common book title names. Katie 27M Include descriptions in each text field.
Wizard Complete 3 out of 6 people do not feel like they were given the necessary information to hit “I’m ready! Publish!” Bill 44M, Katie 29M, Danni 25M “I’m Ready! Publish!” makes it sound like there isn’t a monetary component to publishing. “What action would you perform?” 3 people said “I’m Ready! Publish!” JoJo 15M, Madi 17M, Rheame 21M 1 person would have quit already Bill 21M 1 person would like to see the preview before considering publishing Katie 29M 1 person wouldn’t know what to expect when hitting “I’m Ready! Publish!” Danni 25M
Add More Content 5 out of 6 users would use this section to add more content. JoJo 16M, Madi 21M, Rheame 26M, Bill 50M, Katie 29M Liked how you could choose specific photo albums through Flickr. Katie 29M
Left Hand Navigation Bar 0 out of 6 users used the left navigation bar on their own accord since they were conditioned to look for a blue button in the middle of the page. Suggestion - Include some of the left hand navigation features into the set-up process; ie: video, podcast, appearances, mailing list, push notifications. Once pointed out, 5 out of 6 users said they would use the tool bar to either add additional content or edit existing content. JoJo 17M, Madi 21M, Rheame 26M, Bill 51M, Katie 30M
Preview App Have the curser change shape so the users knows the icons can be enlarged. Katie 24M Or consider showing the thumbnails in a scrollable list with a preselected preview image to the side. 0 out of 6 users clicked on the icons. 5 out of 6 users had positive reactions to the generated preview’s look and feel JoJo 20M, Madi 24M, Rheame 29M, Katie 24M, Danni 31M
Purchasing a Plan Wants more info about metrics and analytics and what software is used to populate data. Katie 31M Thought the app was free, at some level. Bill 52M Might be advisable to change the “Start Free Trial” copy since a trail period is not offered.
Overall Feedback “What, if anything, should I go back to the team and tell them to improve?” Include more colors and wallpapers when creating the layout JoJo 20M Brand the site properly (doesn’t deal with acting locally) Bill 62M Incorporate additional visuals so it is clear what the user is creating Danni 33M 5 out of 6 users rated the site’s navigation as “positive” JoJo 19M, Madi 23M, Rheame 29M, Katie 28M, Danni 30M 1 out of 6 users rated the site’s navigation as “indifferent” Bill 61M Friction points when completing the task: Didn’t have a clear understand of what they were creating and what the end result. Bill 63M and Danni 33M
Additional Suggestions for Improved Navigation Instead of prompting the user to publish the app, first have them preview what they will be purchasing. At each stage of the wizard, show the appropriate section of the app, with sample data filled in. Keep top navigation constant through the subsequent screens when building the app. Consider speeding up the preview process
Recording Setup GTM Format Video File Windows Video File g2mtranscoder Dropbox WAV Audio File KdenliveVideo Editor Windows Video File