Institutionalise UX – A User Research Focus

UX Craft Meetup – Cape Town

Dr Marco Pretorius@PretoriusMarco 23 July 2014

Introduction

Eye Tracking

Institutionalise User Experience

Usability Labs

User ResearchResults

*Image credits at the end of the presentation

“So what is it like to advocate

UX in a big organisation?”

Need Support

Need Composure

Excellent Support - But Not Enough

On Your Side…Or is She?

How to Convince this Guy?

How to Convince this Guy?????

Once a year tyranny

UX Maturity Models

• Assist professionals who wish to improve organisation’s performance of human-centred activities

• Organisations typically progress through a sequence of stages as their UX processes evolve and mature

• Nielsen model– Stage 1 - hostile to usability, developers do not consider users or their

needs– Stage 8 - user-driven, conducts user research to determine its overall

direction and priorities

• Schaffer model– Level 0 - clueless, unaware of usability as a formal discipline– Level 5 - usability is a routine practice, institutionalised

Questions

Do you have UX employees in your organisation?

IS UX Design recognised as a unique and valued skill?

Do you have executive support?

Do you have a usability/UX strategy?

Is UX a part of your development lifecycle (website)?

Is UX exposure / training available to UX employees?

Is UX exposure / training available to other employees?

Where to Find Help

A need to Institutionalise UX• A need to institutionalise UX in our environments

– How to institutionalise UX?• Methodology available at:

– http://uxstrategy.co.za/

Executive Champion - Someone with Power

UX Video!YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uZKzCgi2d4

User/Citizen Research

(Capability 1)

Usability Testing(Capability 4)

UX Architecture(Capability 2)

Design(Capability 3)

User Experienc

e

Western Cape Government:User Experience Unit

User Experience Methods

UX Architecture• Citizen/user

Personas• Sitemaps• Wireframes• Interface

process flows

Citizen/user Research• Focus groups• Interviews• Surveys• Data Analysis

(Google Analytics, Contact centre)

• UX trends research (mobile)

Evaluation of e-Government/ applications• Usability lab

testing• Heuristic

Evaluations• UX

Guidelines• Best Practice

Design• Web design

(CSS, PSDs)• Prototyping• Graphics• Infographics

Focus on the citizen/user

The Perfect Team?

© Western Cape Government 2013 |

What is the UX Toolkit About?

UX Toolkit

Templates

Learn About UX

UX Guideline

s

Online Branding

Usability Labs

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

UNISA

38

University of Leuven (Belgium)

Western Cape Government

Video Time!

Eye Tracking

• A technique to determine eye movement and eye fixation patterns of a person

• The human eye moves by alternating between• Saccades

• Quick movement of the eye • Move focus from one area to the next

• Fixation• Time spent looking at the newly found area

Video Time!

Usability studies

• Avoid blocks of text

Citizen Research

What are Other Governments Doing?

• Gov.UK– “Any thinking about a service,

whether online or offline, must start with the question: what is the user need?”

– “the need the user has of government, not the need of government to impart information to the user”

– “User researchers are involved at all phases of the project and work closely and collaboratively with designers and product owners.”

Cape Access e-Centres

What is Cape Access?

• An initiative that makes information and communication technology (ICT) more accessible to rural and underprivileged communities throughout the Western Cape

• Members get free:– Use of computers– Access to the internet– Access to e-mail– Printing (max of 10 pages per person per day)– Basic computer training– Accredited computer training– Access to government information and services– Access to job, business and research information

Western Cape

Participant (User) Profile

• 23 Participants4 Towns (Rural areas) Swellendam, Mossel Bay,

Bongolethu, Robertson

Language isiXhosa: 14Afrikaans: 8English: 1

Age Below 20: 421-25: 726-30: 631-40: 441-50: 2

How often do you use the Internet?

Once a week: 1 (blind)Once a day (+-1 hour): 8Several hours a day: 14

Which phone do you have? Smart phone: 18Basic/feature phone: 5

Video Time!

Majority of Participants had Smart Phones

What Phone are you Buying Next?

Smart Phone Why these phones?Samsung (12)

Nokia Lumia (5)

iPhone (2)

Blackberry (2)

Sony (1)

Not captured (1)

Picture quality

Bigger (size)

Big screen

Touchscreen

Wifi

Internet-> Access online better

Download apps

Fast

Not that expensive

Not a lot of Feature Phones

• Only 1 participant preferred a feature phone – because he only wants to SMS and make calls– Will these users ever use online services?

Cape Access Website is Responsive!

Language

• Key findings:– Older generation – need information in their own language

– Younger generation – want to use a website in English• NOT in their own language

Requires more research and testing!

E-Services

• e-Services identified for Cape Access:

– Apply online for Cape Access membership

– Apply online for the e-Learner and ICDL courses

– Book an “Internet” session online

What services can WCG provide to make an impact on citizens’ lives?

Accessibility

• Blind users who use the Cape Access centres– Centre staff help then to type CVs, send e-mails

We need to provide screen reader software at Cape Access e-Centres

- Research in progress

What do you do at Cape Access?

• Training (e-Learner, ICDL)• Google• Social media: Facebook,

Twitter• Search for jobs• Bursaries• Type CVs (templates)• Check e-mail• YouTube• Business templates

(invoices)

“I am here almost everyday!”

• Research– Adults– Children - schoolwork

• Projects for my children• Search for Accommodation• What I can do in the area• News• Print• Socialise

What do You Want to Do on the Website?

• Show what Cape Access is about and what it offers (services)• Say that it is free• Job listings• Events (what is happening today)• Galleries

– Graduations– People who work there

• Course duration• What times the centre is open• Contact information• “Show that all ages can come”• Information about the town and events in the town• CV template• Business templates• Fresh content

Conclusions – User Research Will Help Us

• Become user centric• User research will help you to institutionalise UX in your

environment• Improve UX Maturity Level:

– In order to move to Level 5 and 6 – user focus is required

UX is coming!

Image Citations and Thanks

• All Game of Thrones images are credited to HBO and the creators of the TV series:– Please visit

• @GameOfThrones• http://viewers-guide.hbo.com/ • http://www.hbo.com/

• Feijo’s UX Model– http://johnnyholland.org/2010/04/planning-your-ux-strategy/

• Users provided consent for any images/videos of usability studies

• Thank you to @OgilvyCT and @UXSouthAfrica for hosting the #UXCraft event

Tel: Fax:

www.westerncape.gov.za

Contact Us

Dr Marco PretoriusUser Experience Manager: e-Government for Citizens

Marco.pretorius@westerncape.gov.za

Twitter: @PretoriusMarco