upa 2011

#UPA2011Designing for Social Change

June 22-24

Andrew Wirtanen@awirtanenUX Specialist, Atlantic BT

•Keynote•Design•Business•Research Methods

Keynote

Paul Adams Facebook | @padday

What is the average number of strong ties a person has?


How many people do Facebook users directly communicate with per week?

4(6 per month)


80% of phone calls are to the same 4 people.


•Physiological limit of people we can keep up-to-date with: 150•Average number of Facebook friends: 130-170


The Web hasn't changed the fundamentals of social science.


1.The web is being rebuilt around people.2.People live in networks.3.Networks determine how people are influenced.


1.The web is being rebuilt around people.

photos


2. People live in networks.

Groups form around:•Life stage•Hobbies•Shared experiences

On average, people have 4 groups.


3. Networks determine how people are influenced.


People look at the actions of others.

"People who sit next to heavier eaters eat more."


In the next 2-5 years entire business verticals will be disrupted by the social web.

Design

Alison Cox IBM Interactive

Designing Mobile Sites & Apps

•Decide what kind of app you want to create.•WAP Wireless App Protocol

•Hybrid App•Native App•MEAP Mobile Enterprise App Platform

•Hold a "Visioning Workshop" with the team.•Identify Personas, Priorities, Tasks, and Business Drivers.•Don't assume developing same features/function as the site.


•Wireframes•Start with one platform.•Develop a baseline estimate for # of screens.•Articulate all assumptions & change requests.•Tools mentioned: Axure, iRise, Visio, Balsamiq

•Design Implications•Will need more screens to accomplish same tasks as website.•Mobile devices have various resolutions.


•Mobile Design Tips:•Utilize all three modalities (visual, auditory, haptic). •Mental models may be influenced by pre-existing channels (e.g. website).•Design for task interruption.•Ensure consistency between platforms when possible (e.g. naming).•Understand differences between mobile platforms.•Space out buttons!

Susan Weinschenk @thebrainlady

Neuro Web Design

•Your brain receives ~40 million sensory inputs/second.

•You are only consciously aware of ~40 of them.

•All others are subconciously absorbed.


Three Parts of the Brain:

•New Brain•Old Brain

•"Will it kill me?" (Danger)•"Can I have sex with it?" (Sex)•"Can I eat it?" (Food)

•Mid-Brain


•Two tables with jams:•6 jars•24 jars•Which table had more purchases?

•The Old Brain wants control and can override the New Brain's immediate desires.

•Paradox: Options make us feel like we're in control, but too many can take the control away.


•People are social (mid-brain).

•Bystander Study Latane & Darley, 1968

•When surrounded by other people, we look to others to see what we should do.

•Other people's reviews matter more than experts. Chen, 2008

•Reciprocity: When Christmas cards are sent to strangers, they send them back. Kunz & Walcott, 1976


•Design Implications:•Limit choice, provide defaults.•Show reviews by friends.•Give information before the form.

•People will fill out the form more frequently due to Reciprocity.

•People will react to scarcity.•Stories are very powerful.•When using pictures, make sure faces are looking at you, or at the product.

Sharron Rush Knowbility | @sharrush

Top 5 Accessibility Mistakes

1.Lack of good ALT text on images.2.Poor structure/in-page navigation. Use semantic markup.3.Lack of Keyboard Access.4.No labels for form fields.5.Insufficient contrast. Install an accessibility toolbar!

How to find users for user research:•Google group for blind computer users•Loop 11 remote database•WebAIM on LinkedIn

Business

Investing in User Research: Deciding what Research to Perform (panel)

•Understand the client's goals.•What are you trying to answer?•What is going to be done with the results?•What will be most effective?

•Look for research already completed by other teams.•Utilize consultants if necessary.

Susan Dray @susandra

Getting resources to do more.

•Focus on risk rather than ROI.•Make UX risks explicit in research proposals.•Demonstrate how to manage risks with research.

•Prioritize challenges and make assumptions explicit.

•What is risk if assumptions are wrong?

•Be proactive.•Synthesize research & accumulate knowledge.•Anticipate research needs.•Work across organization to understand mindsets.

Research Methods

Can anyone learn to conduct usability testing? (panel)

•Consensus:

•Amateurs doing UT is ok, but leave nuclear power plant control panels to the professionals.

•It takes a while to become a good moderator.

•Amateurs doing UT should not cause problems because it should be a group process to determine what gets fixed.

Jeff Sauro @MsrUsability

•CUE studies show 20% agreement among UX reviewers.

•51% if reviewing the same users.•Agreement != Accuracy

•5 users are enough to find 85% of the problems, given a probablity of 31% of a user encountering a problem.

•If problems are less obvious, you need more users.

Karis & Virzi formerly of Verizon

Multiple research techniques are necessary. UT can't work by itself.

4 Classes of Techniques:1.How product is actually used. Web Analytics

2.How product is used in realistic context. Contextual Inquiry, Diary Studies, Ethnography

3.How user reacts. Usability Testing

4.How users feel. Surveys, Emails

Karis & Virzi formerly of Verizon

Case Studies:•DSL Setup (Verizon)•Superpages.com

Practical Advice:•Comparitive studies had more impact than any other research method.•"If you don't get email feedback on your site, you're crazy!"

Rolf Molich DialogDesign, UK

•Experienced usability professionals made fundamental mistakes in UT:

•Scripts were leading.•Reports were hard to understand.•The moderator and notetaker didn't coordinate notes.•No or few positive findings.•Moderator spent excessive time on unneccesary instructions/small talk.

Rolf Molich DialogDesign, UK

•"Total Waste of Time" (TWOT)•Forms•Demographic Information•Instructions (e.g. Think Aloud)

•We need to focus on quality.

UPA2012.orgLeadership

June 5-8

upa 2011

Design

andrew wirtanen

awirtanenux specialist

atlantic bt

social changejune

research methods