Learning new ways to conduct intranet usability

1. Learning new ways to conduct intranet usability Presented by Bridget Zappa Dec. 14, 2004

3. The problem/challenge • To become knowledgeable enough about usability • To actually conduct a usability study • To step back and identify new learnings not discovered through research

4. Research question Can conducting an intranet usability study according to industry best practices result in new process recommendations?

5. Results can be important for: • Anyone with intranet or other web responsibilities • Any web user

6. The usability methodology • In-person observations • Focus groups

7. The observation process • Gold standard of usability • One-on-one process • Participant completes web tasks • Researcher records observations

8. The focus group • Focus is verbiage • Small groups of five employees • Top- and second-level content • What works and what doesn’t

9. The sample • 39,000 employees worldwide • 15,000 in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area • Six main employee groups • 10 employees from each group • Total sample: 60 employees

10. Paper survey questions • Were the goals of the study clear prior to the observation? • Were the content items you were asked to locate clearly described? • What is your degree of familiarity with the intranet?

11. Participant satisfaction with the experience • 82.5 percent said they haven’t participated in a similar study before • 90 percent said they would participate in a similar study again

12. Assessment of the observation process 65 percent said the web tasks, as part of the observations, were very or somewhat typical of their web habits

13. Assessment of the focus group process 95 percent said the web content they were asked to discuss was clearly described

14. Perceived value of the study 82.5 percent said they believe it likely that the results would influence future employee web design at NWA

15. New learning, process recommendations • Capitalize on connections with communication colleagues, leaders • Schedule observations and focus groups closely • Conduct study at participants’ work locations • Consider use of recording devices • Enlist assistant

16. Answer? Can conducting an intranet usability study according to industry best practices result in new process recommendations? Yes

17. In summary… • Set out to identify new recommendations • Did this via usability study and survey • Learned the importance of support and logistics

18. What’s next? • Make adjustments to NWA intranet • Based on results of this research, formalize a usability process • Communicate it to others • Be ready to do it again

19. Thank you. Questions?