1. User Studies Basic principles, methods, and examples
Sari Kujala
Qure Project
Software Business and Engineering Institute (SoberIT)

2. Contents User studies: goal and principles
User study process: methods and templates
Analysing stakeholders
Planning
Studying users
Analysing and reporting
Presenting results
Effort estimations, lessons learned

3. User studies The goal is to gather USER NEEDS for product development
User need is manifested by the context of use, problems, and possibilities
Context of use means the characteristics of the intended users, users' present tasks, tools and environment
Understanding users’ goals is essential

4. Principles of user studies
Plan the focus and objectives for the visit
Watch, listen to, and talk with users in their own environment
Treat users as experts
Take the role of the apprentice. Your task is to confess your ignorance and ask stupid questions.

5. User studies: What to look for?
Background information
User’s goals and preferences
Current processes and problems
User’s knowledge, skills, & experiences
Context of using
Pros and cons of the current tools and processes

6. User study process Analysing stakeholders Planning Seeing users
Analysing and reporting
Presenting results

7. Analysing stakeholders
Utilising existing documents
Identifying stakeholders
Identifying user groups
Preliminary user description

8. Planning (Hackos and Redish, 1998)
Decide issues and objectives for the study
Select user study methods
Plan how data will be analysed and reported
Choose participating users
Choose locations where to go
Form a user study team and decide roles
Plan how the user visits will be recorded
Prepare materials for user visits
Plan a pleminary schedule

9. User study methods Observing and video-observing Interviewing
Contextual Inquiry
Artifact walkthrough
Thinking-aloud method
Simulations, role-play
Interactive feature conceptualization

10. Selecting user study methods

11. Observing
Users are observed in their own environment performing their tasks
Focus on gathering non-verbal information: routinised actions, detailed behaviour, environment
Can be time consuming, if not used together with other methods

12. Interviewing
Users are interviewed in their own environment using their language
Focus on verbal information: user goals, tasks and sequences in general level, domain specific information
Predefined interview themes are used flexibly
Efficient method, but detailed and nonverbal information may be lost

13. Contextual Inquiry (Holtzblatt and Byer, 1998)
Interviewing and observing is combined; users are watched, listen to, and talked with while they work in their own environment
Focus on uncovering detailed work practice and context of use

14. Artifact walkthrough
Users are asked for examples of artifacts: forms, reports, hand-written manuals, notes
The artifacts can help to understand
how tasks are done
what is difficult for users to do or remember
what kind of information flows there are from user to user

15. Thinking aloud-method
Focus on gathering non-verbal information: skills, selection rules and problem solving, beliefs
Users are asked to tell and show how they use a tool

16. Simulations
If it is not possible to disturb users in real situations, the use situation can be simulated
Or you can videorecord the situation and discuss with users afterwards

17. Interactive feature conceptualization
During an interview, tools, places, persons are written in sticky notes. In the end, user is asked to rearrange the notes in categories, the over all picture is drawn together with the interviewer using arrows etc.
Focus on visualisation of user information, the overall picture, checking the validity of interviews

18. Analysing and reporting
User profiles
Task sequences and hierarchies
Scenarios
User needs tables -> use cases
Affinity diagrams
Videoshots and photographs

19. Example: A user need table

20. Example: Use Case

21. Report contents Case summary Customer descriptions User descriptions
Context of use descriptions
User needs tables
Findings-tables

22. Presenting Presentations better way in sharing than a report alone
Videoshots and photographs were prefered
Presentations inspired salesmen to give more examples and information

23. Number of person hours spent on the user studies

24. Lessons learned from the cases
A small-scale user study pilot has been a good way of introducing user needs gathering to companies
Results visible: increased innovations and customer satisfaction
Motivating for people and organisation
Learning by doing
A multi-disciplinary team work was efficient