Collaborative usability

Making user research & prioritisation a shared experience

Neil AllisonUX Manager

May 2016

Hands up…

• If you’ve ever conducted a usability test

• If you’ve ever watched a usability test

• If all this is totally new to you

Usability testing

It’s easy, right?

What’s challenging

• Getting the go ahead to use your time on usability testing

• Getting colleagues to take on board what you uncover

• Getting fixes to problems implemented

(Why usability problems go unfixed: http://bit.ly/LvrGoq)

Why are we here?

• An easy-to-execute technique to get your stakeholders closer to your users

• A process that objectively prioritises the issues that you all see

• A showcase for the new Usability Testing Service

Usability testing service

• Pilot service in operation til August 2016– Help you plan research– Recruit participants – Run testing sessions & report– Run stakeholder events for

maximum impact

• Mobile, tablet & desktop recording

UX & usability consultancy services• Digital strategy: Work out what you’re trying to do

collaboratively & establish metrics

• Personas & experience mapping: Express your goals in a user-centred way that everyone understands

• Requirements checking & prototyping: Make sure you’re on the right path before investing heavily

• Training & mentoring: Empower your team to embed UX techniques into every project

Get in touch

Let’s discuss your requirementsusability@ed.ac.uk

So what do we do?

1. Get the right people in a room

2. Watch a small number of short sessions with users doing something

3. Prioritise the issues they see

4. Collaboratively consolidate their priority lists

5. Agree actions for usability issues

6. Repeat every few weeks

Who are the right people?

• Everyone with a stake in the product– No exceptions

http://bit.ly/1I1lZfQ

“Have you had your recommended dose

of research?”

What do we watch?

• Real users doing real tasks

• Facilitated usability testing sessions

• Agree the focus of testing within the team

“Research shows that teams make better services when everyone on a project team observes users first hand.”

http://bit.ly/1I1rlYI

How many do we watch?

“The most striking truth of the curve is that zero users give zero insights.”

• As many as you can fit into the time you have (so probably not very many)

http://bit.ly/1vQ7eHD

MYTH?

How do we prioritise?

“Running a usability test has been compared with taking a drink from a fire hydrant…”

• Rocket Surgery template:1. Individual notes while observing2. Distil to 3 issues after each participant

How do we consolidate?

“If you prioritise usability problems using 'gut feel' or intuition, you run the risk

of being exposed as a fraud…”

http://bit.ly/1I1mCWW

Now let’s try it together…

• 3 participants– 5-10 minute break between each to review notes and

prioritise top 3 issues

• On your table consolidate your issues into a master list– Use flowchart to propose severity

• Once round the room to feed issues & priority back to the EdWeb development team

Then what?

• Usability issues prioritised, not solutions

• Agree actions based on:– Is the solution “obvious”?– Is there an easy development solution?– Is there an alternative to development?

Minor issue for users

Major issue for

users

Easy solution available

No easy solution available

Prioritisation matrix

Top tips• Participants

– A pool of volunteers really helps recruitment– Krug – “Recruit loosely, grade on a curve”– Reminders the day before– Have an emergency stand-in prepared

• Do whatever it takes to get observers in the room– Start over lunch break– Supply refreshments– Bribery, favours, threats…

• Be well organised so you don’t waste anyone’s time– Test everything before hand

• Stick to the process and schedule (particularly in the final recap)– It’s easy to digress when you’ve all seen so much

• Encourage collective reflection on the session– Admitting usefulness is first step to getting observers to turn up next time– Have the next one scheduled ASAP

Everything you need

• Steve Krug’s Rocket Surgery resources:http://bit.ly/1I1muXo

• David Travis’ prioritisation flowcharthttp://bit.ly/1I1mCWW

Usability testing service

• Pilot service in operation til August 2016– Help you plan research– Recruit participants – Run testing sessions & report– Run stakeholder events for maximum impact

• Mobile, tablet & desktop recording

• Get in touch to discuss requirements– usability@ed.ac.uk

Thank you

Questions?

Neil.Allison@ed.ac.ukUX Manager

Twitter: @usabilityed