HCDE 417 - Usability research techniques, Spring 2011

1. HCDE 417 - Usability research techniques, Spring 2011 By: Khadija Qader Instructor: Judy Ramey

2. statement • HCDE 417 class on Usability Research Techniques introduced me to usability research methods used in the product-development process such as contextual inquiry, surveys and interviews, focus groups, user profiling, usability testing, cognitive walkthroughs, heuristics, etc. • This class taught me about the relationship between usability research techniques and interaction design. I learned to differentiate between a good and a bad design. The overarching goals of interaction design are to focus on usability goals and user experience goals. I kept referring back to the heuristics and usability principles that form the foundation of this field. • I learned to understand and conceptualize interaction which involved making conceptual models either based on activities or on objects, and how to integrate interface paradigms and metaphors when needed in design. • I worked on understanding users which required me to analyze what constitutes human cognition, and how users as well as designers can apply knowledge from the physical world to the digital world. I was taught how to incorporate mental models and external cognition as conceptual frameworks for a good design. • The process of learning about what, why and when to evaluate was taught to me practically in the two main projects of this class. Evaluation process is iterative – it is done before designing the product as well as after the design is complete. • I learned how identifying needs and establishing requirements is a major part of any project because it sets the course for how the project will progress and where it should stop (test criteria). It’s important to identify the needs clearly by asking what, how and why we are making this design. Answers to those questions, helps in defining the scope of the project by writing down the requirements. I realized that gathering data takes a long time. Afterwards, I can interpret and analyze the data gathered which requires al lot of research as well. I then describe the user tasks by scenarios and use cases. • Testing and modeling users is a very important user research technique. I learned how to define the goals and explore all the possible questions that needs to be asked from the user in the (usually) limited time provided. I learned how to identify the practical issues like designing typical tasks, selecting typical tasks, preparing the test conditions and planning how to run the tests. Dealing with ethical issues as well analyzing/evaluating the data collected is huge task in itself. Sometimes in user testing we use experiments on users with variables and different conditions to test out an hypothesis and sometimes we use predictive models like Fitts’s Law to conduct our usability test. • I learned how to use user-centered approaches to interaction design like how it’s useful to apply ethnography research on users in design and invite users to participate in the design. I learned to understand how interfaces affect users and how to deal with user frustration. • At the end of the class, after completing two usability research projects, I realized that a wide range of diverse usability research techniques are available but it takes a lot of experience to figure out which technique is suitable to which product.

3. artifact #1 – pandora radio usability research • Pandora Radio is a type of Internet radio service that specializes in music recommendation. • We are conducted this research for three reasons: • -Explore how users perceive interacting with Pandora • -Explore the users’ experience while using Pandora • -Identify any issues users may have while using Pandora • We conducted the research by doing a diary study (made up of annotated photographs) on a pilot test subject. We incorporated a pre-diary study interview as well as a post-diary study interview in the research. • At the end of the project, we realized that we should have defined subject groups by categories like age, profession/occupation, gender, location and use. Categorizing our subjects would have made it easier for us to figure out the existence of any potential patterns exhibited by certain categories of people.

4. artifact #2 – creating a user persona for a typical UW student • I would start off my defining what information I need to gather. • I want to know how people, specifically UW students use Google sites. I want to find out the benefits/drawbacks of Google sites especially for students. • I would take interviews of participants. I will conduct an open-ended interview with open questions because this interview is an initial part of the project and I am exploring the project’s depth. I will not use compound sentences so as to prevent confusion. I will use simple English without any technical terms and keep the questions neutral so as to get the real feelings of the participants. • I would first take answers to demographic questions like: • · Is the participant male/female? • · What’s his/her age? • · Is he/she an in-state or out-of-state student? • · What’s his/her major? • · Does the participant work? • · How busy is the participant’s usual day? •  I would then ask questions like: • · What do you use Google sites for? • · Do you find Google sites easy or hard to use? • · Where do you most commonly use Google sites? • · What device do you access Google sites with? • · How often do you use Google sites? • · Do  you use Google sites for work or class or research? • I will recruit participants by asking friends on Facebook or via text messages whether they have ever used Google sites and if they have, then will they participate in a 30 minutes interview with me for a class project. • I will then take interviews either face to face in a casual public setting like library or if my friend is busy then I might conduct a phone interview. The smallest number of participants I will use is three so that I do not get a potential tie in the responses of the participants when they express their opinions or likes/dislikes in the interview.

5. artifact #3 – Google Sites usability research Google Sites is a place where people have a website where they can upload files, manage project calendar and delegate tasks to team members. It is a very useful tool for group projects. We had started off this class with a usability research project on Google Sites. My team and I worked diligently in figuring out when and how people use Google Sites. We learned a lot in this project like making an extensive persona, writing down interview findings from multiple participants, writing scenario cognitive walkthroughs (where we walkthrough the scenario ourselves to see how the tasks can be written out for the participant), writing a usability test kit booklet with four tasks and a user survey questionnaire.

6. artifact #4 – Discussing Usability research on FaceBook • Product: • Facebook – a social network. Some studies have been done that say Facebook takes up a lot of people’s time; it depreciates a person’s feeling of self-worth; and that it is making people rely more on communicating via technology instead of focusing on spending real time with friends and family. A lot of back and forth has gone on Facebook’s pros and cons. • Study: • I would use a combination of Usability Testing and Field Studies to conduct a usability research on Facebook. I would have gone with just the former technique if I did not doubt that people will not give accurate answers. Hence, I would also use Field Studies in this research. • Tradeoffs: • Pros: • · Usability Testing – Surveys, questionnaires and interviews will let us know how users feel about Facebook and all its features, interface, benefits and negative points. • · Field Studies – Actual observation of users who have claim to use Facebook a lot or are suspected of being addicted to Facebook can be done to get real information of how people use Facebook and confirm/denounce negative points about Facebook (like it wastes their time, etc.). • Cons: • · Usability Testing – Users can lie about the positive and negative points about Facebook since Facebook usage reveals a lot about a person’s habits too. • · Field Studies – People may not behave as they usually do when they know someone is watching them. We would have to conduct a kind of secret observation or set up an environment where users forget they are being watched and behave naturally.