1. Reverse the Polarity! Mike Kuniavsky

2. This Morning  Usability today  Reverse the polarity!

3. Ye Olde Usabilitye  Software  Human Factors  Experimental Psychology  Computer science  Universities  Labs

4. Then, the Web happened  Technology + The Bubble = craziness!  Changed user research and user- centered design forever

5. After the Web  Web = awareness + $  A fusion of old industries –Design –Information Science –HCI –Marketing  A tectonic shift  Creates crisis of purpose

6. And here we are  A lot of usability testing  Taught in design schools  Techniques shift from one to many –Psychology to anthropology/marketing research –Modules to environments –Abilities to expectations –Laws to solutions –Supply to demand  A new way of thinking about development, about people, about companies  What do we call it?  How do we adapt?

7. The Problem, part 1 Help! This is broken! The client We’ll help you! The consultant Hooray! You did exactly what we asked!

8. The Problem, part 2  6 months later  12 months later  18 months later

9. What to do? Hmmm… !

10. What to do? Reverse the polarity! Use user research methods to understand companies

11. Discovery, the Adaptive Path recipe  Start with traditional sales and consulting methodologies  Add structure and process  Incorporate user research and information architecture methods Makes:  a thorough understanding of company expectations, needs, capabilities and desires  more relevant, more actionable user research  context

12. What we’re looking for  Understand the company –Structure –Priorities –Concepts –Terminology  Understand the product –What roles does it play in the organization  Understand the project –Scope –Process –Players  Understand the context

13. Techniques used  Structured stakeholder interviews  Focus groups  Artifact review

14. End products  Tangible –Controlled vocabulary –User profiles/personas –Formal documentation: MRD, PRD, Project Brief, etc.  Organizational –Company mental model –Prioritization  Informal –Makes people think –Makes you listen –Creates a relationship with participants –Communicates value of UCD

15. Stakeholder Interviews  Stakeholders: people who are affected by the performance of the product –Executives –Product/project managers –Customer service personnel  Formal discussion guide  Typically 10, as many as 20-30  60 minutes long

16. Stakeholder Interviews: Example  Children’s educational products company  Goal: restructure site  Major Findings –Brand drives all decisions at all levels –Site does not have to make money to be successful  Other findings –Kids submarkets: 3-6, 6-9, 9-12 (only girls) –Product lines large and unstable –One product chosen every back-to-school season as hero product

17. Focus Groups  Goals: to get expectations, perceptions, opinions, priorities, anecdotes  Less influential stakeholders  3-5 groups total  90 minutes long

18. Focus Groups: Example  Perceptions –Staff has never created children’s content –The calendar is a huge amount of work every month  Opinions –Not enough of the company’s innovation is communicated –Site is confusing even to employees –Not representing the brand well  Priorities –New user acquisition not as important as current user relationship –Can’t lose the teachers –Don’t anger Wal-Mart

19. Artifact Review  Ask for everything  Skim 90%  Read documents that summarize knowledge  Examples –PowerPoints –Product specs –Requirements documents –Consultant research –Server log analysis

20. Artifact review: Example  Internal child research team knows their stuff  Games are huge  No coherent content strategy  Much content accessed less than 5 times a month

21. Conclusions  What we do with it: –What user research to do –How to present results  Make users and companies successful

22. Thanks! Pub: Morgan Kaufmann ISBN: 1558609237 mikek@adaptivepath.com