building a usability practice

Building a Usability Practice

Madison Experience Design Meetup6/15/15

Schedule

● Socializing/Mingling● Intros/Announcements

○ Jobs/Opportunities● Brief Presentation

○ Techniques○ Market Fit○ Deliverables

● Afterparty?

About Me

Brad Oregome@bradorego.com@bradorego

B.S. in Computer Science, B.A. in PsychologyDevelopment Lead, MobileIgniterMadXD Organizer

Dancer, Curler, Ultimate-er, Cyclist, Beer-batter pancake blogger

The “what”

Usability Research Techniques

Usability Studies

Goal: gathering qualitative data about a productThings to think about:● Think-Aloud, Paired/Partnered Interaction● Wizard of Oz, Conceptual Modeling● Critical Incidence

Drawbacks:● Costly! (time, resources)● Easy to miss the point if not designed well

Focus Group

Goal: Discovering higher-level perceptions about a problem spaceThings to think about:● Structured, Free-Association● Non-direction, Transition

Drawbacks:● Open to bias (by facilitator, cohort)● Almost never interacting with actual product

Ethnography

Goal: observing users in their (natural) habitatThings to think about:● Design Ethnography (remember: say, do, use)● In-situ usability studies

Drawbacks:● Almost impossible to do properly● Extremely Costly

Analytics

Goal: aggregate actual user interactions with the system to see trendsThings to think about:● How to analyze data● What to measure

Drawbacks:● Extremely difficult to do right● Have to infer causality

The “who”

Discovering Market Fit

What are your strengths?

Are there certain areas you have expertise in?...certain techniques?...certain industries?

Do you have specific interests…?

Who do you want to work with?

What are their needs?...financially?...politically?

Big companies? Small?

How do you reach them?

How do they acquire your services?...discover your practice?...know they need it?...leverage what you produce?

How do you empower them?

The outcome

Putting the “practice” in

Deliverables

Raw data● full video/audio● direct quotes● analytics data

Benefit: Let them see for themselvesGood for: product people

Deliverables

Processed Data● snippets/highlights● high-level summaries● infographics, data reports

Benefit: provide an overview without getting bogged down in dataGood for: management, executives, etc

Deliverables

Prepared● whitepapers● usability summary report● metrics suite

Benefit: show the value in your workGood for: the industry, potential clients

Summary

Building a Usability Practice

Goal: determine which services you wish to offer, at what levels of fidelity, and to whom

Benefits: the world needs more/better usability. Plus there’s money to be made out there

A brief plug - MobileUXLab

MobileIgniter is creating a usability practiceFocus on mobile apps/servicesLab itself is mobile - technology can come to you

Interested? Email brad@mobileigniter.com

Thanks!