By Ben Wallace @BenWallace

Tuesday, March 20, 2012 Prepared for

Twin Cities Content Strategy Meetup

User Testing and Content Strategy

Agenda Intro How I got into Usability What is UX, Usability and Usability Testing? How Usability Testing can inform Content Strategy Case Studies Usability Resources Discussion

(not) @BenWallace ...that, and the handle was already taken.

"I don't Twitter," Wallace said at Quicken Loans Arena. "If you want to talk to me, you got to come see me. That's why I don't need Twitter." - Detroit Free Press

Intro

*

* Not a licensed usability specialist

Many Local UX and Usability Experts   Eaton Golden

(Emily Eaton, John Golden, Mahtab Rezai, +)

  Evantage (Fred Beecher+)

  Straight Line Theory

  Fredrickson Communications (John Wooden+ )

  Katie Ware (Campbell Mithun)

  Kristi Olson (Deluxe)

  Susan Dray & David Siegel

  Lyle Kantrovich (Vivid Mojo)

  Libby Cecci

  “DeeDee” DeMulling (Oprum Insight)

  Garrick Van Buren

  Carlos Abler

  Peter Barry

  Jennifer Bombach

  Dan Hill (Sensory Logic)

  Corporate (e.g. US Bank, Target, Medtronic)

  U of M Usability Services

  HFI

  Perficient

  …..and many I’m sure I’ve overlooked (sorry)

How I got into Usability Testing   Market Sensing a constant in brand/mktg strategic planning

  Org/Brand Strategy > Audit touchpoints > Interview stakeholders   Voice of the Customer (VOC)

  at heart of strategy   then, used for contextual feedback and direction on designs

  Brand Strategy mapped to Stakeholder Profiles and Experience across Touchpoints   User Personas; Demographic and Psychographic profiles; Styleboards   Interviews to identify impressions, position, differentiators,

  Started doing Interactive Design in 1995   First interactive tools and Web design efforts   Helped build out internal interactive services   Evolving Web best practices   User Task Scenarios

How I got into Usability Testing   Project: Corporate Intranet

  Content Strategy   Information Architecture (Site Map)   User Interface (Wireframes)   Search Strategy   Business Process Facilitation (e.g. Benefits Enrollment)

  Methods   Benchmarking   Site Analytics (including search log analysis)   Card Sorting   Wireframe Paper Prototype Testing   Survey

  Sample Results: Lifted by 10%+ (n=11,778)   “Enrolling online was easy to do”   “I had all the information I needed to make my enrollment

decisions”

Easy

Info

How I got into Usability Testing   Professional Organization Involvement   UPA- MN

  Events   Board of Directors

  UPA-International   Project: UPA Brand Strategy   UPA Conference   Influencers

  Lyle Kantrovich   Steve Krug (Don’t Make Me Think)   Susan Dray   Ginny Redish   Jared Spool

How I got into Usability Testing   Factored into Web site Consulting Projects   Hired to facilitate usability testing

What Is Usability?

What is Usability?   Usability is concerned with product

digital or interface’s ability to support a users desired task vs. holistic experience

  User Experience (UX)   CHI: “In summary, we recommend the term

user experience to be scoped to products, systems, services, and objects that a person interacts with through a user interface.”

  “…HCI researchers and practitioners have become well aware of the limitations of the traditional usability framework, which focuses primarily on user cognition and user performance in human-technology interactions. In contrast, UX highlights non-utilitarian aspects of such interactions, shifting the focus to user affect, sensation, and the meaning as well as value of such interactions in everyday life.

  ISO 9241-11: Guidance on Usability (1998) Usability: the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.

What is Usability? Where brand intent and user intent meet, with minimal

user effort.

  User:   Task completion

  Brand:   Objectives (often to support user task)   Action Targets (conversions)   Business Processes   Brand Experience

What is Usability Testing?   Evaluation Subset of Usability/ UX

(Research, Evaluation, Design, Management )   Defined user validation of intuitive, effective function   Subjective feedback on interface and ability to complete   Heuristic Usability Evaluation vs. User Validation   Not QA testing, performance, stress, security, etc.

“…only the process that employs participants who are representative of the target population to evaluate the degree to which a product meets specific usability criteria (Barnum, 2002). Other practitioners use the term more globally to refer to any technique used to evaluate how easy a product or system is to use.”- TEST AND DATA SERVICES PTY (LTD)

Methods and Tools   Observation

  Side-by-side   Remote   1-way glass

  Facilitated   Scenarios   Prompting

  Software Tools   Screen Capture

  Morae (from TechSmith)   Silverback

  Eye Tracking

Testing Process   Develop testing plan

  Goals/ objectives   User profiles and tasks   Method, scripts, tools, etc.

  Recruit representative participants   Create test materials (prototypes)   Brief participants   Facilitate evaluation   User questionnaire   Review findings / implications with team   Refine test materials for next stage   Revisit once implemented

Sessions   Typical Formats

  Paper Prototypes/ Wireframes   High Fidelity Prototypes   Live Sites/ Software/ Products

  Observation and Facilitated Feedback around a Product/ interface   Talk out loud   Share open ended scenario

(need, interest, search terms, where to look)   Initial Reactions   General Feel   Expectations   Where would you go? Why?   Anything Missing? Not important? Confusing?   Walk through task scenarios

  Survey

When to do Usability Testing?   Early and Often (Agile, iterative)   Various Stages

  Existing site   IA  Wireframes  Design paper  Design functional   Live

How Can User Testing Inform Content?

How Can User Testing Inform Content?   Information + Functionality

  Relevance / Interest/ Appeal   Right information, missing information,

additions, cuts   Overall presentation

  Terms   Topics   Natural language   Navigation Labeling (UI)   Keywords (SEO)

  Grouping / Logic/ Navigation/ Sorts   Information Architecture (IA) - macro view

and Web Site Maps   Logical groupings and nesting (plus lateral

links, nav/sort options)

  Emphasis and Design   Priority, order, number   Format (size, color) ~Design (UI)   Accessibility*

  Persona Insights   Mindset, emotional triggers, passions,

affiliations, preferences, character   Context/ Task Insights

  Steps, thought processes   Stories   Frame of reference   ~ Empathy

  Competitive Comparison   Web experience   Key differentiators

  Validate as True to Brand Expectations/ Reality   Confirmation of brand expectations   Reinforces aspects of product/svc. UX

Cases

Prototype Live Site

Prototype Live Site

Other User Insight Methods

Other User Insight Sources…   Web

  Site Analytics   Search Analytics   Social Sensing   Eye Tracking/ Heat Maps (F pattern)  A/B and Multivariate Testing

  Sales/ CSR/ Call Centers/ Channel Partners   Interviews   Surveys   Observation/ Ethnographic Research   Camera Studies

Usability Resources (a sampling)

Resources – People / Sites/ Books   Jacob Nielsen

  www.UseIt.com + Alertbox   Jared Spool

  www.uie.com   Steve Krug

  www.sensible.com   Ginny Redish

  www.redish.net   Susan Weinschenk

  www.whatmakesthemclick.net

  www.boxesandarrows.com   www.Uxmatters.com

Usability Resources – Groups and Orgs   UX Meetups   UPA-MN   UPA Inernational   HFES   IXDA   SIG-CHI (ACM)   STC

Discussion   Others’ experiences with usability testing?

Ben Wallace, President - Brand & Marketing Strategist Link Positive, Inc. www.LinkPositive.com

612.747.3457 (mobile/txt) http://www.linkedin.com/in/linkpositive

@BenWallace

Thank You!