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Project Name: StumbleUpon Redesign ProposalTeam: John Ford, Chelsey Glasson, Maggie Shatt, Mark Moledor & Suneetha Sivasankaran

StumbleUpon Redesign Research Activity 3: Focus Group

Introduction

StumbleUpon is a discovery engine (a form of web search engine) that finds and recommends web content to its users. Its features allow users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos that are personalized to their tastes and interests using peer-sourcing and social networking principles. The “Meet a Stumbler” feature allows users to find new contacts to add to their StumbleUpon network by matching them with algorithmically determined like-minded people. This is one of the features that sets StumbleUpon apart from standard social networking sites and it could be pivotal in its survival as a hybrid search and social networking site.

We find the social networking features on StumbleUpon confusing and difficult to navigate. Our goal is to improve the quality of the “Meet a Stumbler” feature and related social networking attributes. A successful redesign of this section will provide an increase in user engagement and interactivity on StumbleUpon.

We conducted three user requirement research activities to determine how users interact with the social networking feature, to measure user satisfaction with its current design and functionality, and to brainstorm areas for improvement. Using the findings from our interviews and surveys, we identified the main components that users would like to see when using the “Meet a Stumbler” feature. Most of these are components of the user profile page; therefore the redesign of this page was the center of our third research method: a focus group.

Conducting the Focus Group

The profile page is the cornerstone of social networking on StumbleUpon. Accordingly, the main discussion of our focus group revolved around three proposed prototypes of the profile page that integrated the most important elements identified by survey participants: interests, favorites and reviews. We also took into account, based on survey results, that aside from friends, most users prefer to connect with people with similar interests and the most common activity is reading content posted by other users.

Our focus group goals were to:

Gauge users’ reactions to the three proposed redesigns of the profile page, specifically concepts, functionality and placement of features

Collect reflective feedback through users sketching their own prototype

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Project Name: StumbleUpon Redesign ProposalTeam: John Ford, Chelsey Glasson, Maggie Shatt, Mark Moledor & Suneetha Sivasankaran

We recruited six focus group participants who met our user profile in that they had to be internet users, social networking savvy and familiar with StumbleUpon. They were recruited through personal and professional connections and were incentivized with food. The focus group was held on Sunday, February 13th, in an office conference room in downtown Seattle.

After determining what role each member of our group would play (i.e., facilitator, note-taker, videographer), we created the below outline to achieve our goals within 90-minutes.

Introductions Group Discussion Individual Paper Prototyping Wrap-up

The introductions included questions about each person’s typical social networking experience and served as an exercise to warm-up and get participants thinking about the topic. This led to the group discussion in which we presented the participants with three prototypes of the profile page and the current StumbleUpon profile page. Each design was followed by a set of follow-up questions to gauge their reactions and thoughts and to measure their perception toward the interface.

Next, we asked each participant to sketch their ideal profile page. We provided the participants with markers and large sheets of paper and also had white boards and markers available. This gave us the opportunity to observe how users approach their own design and allowed for reflection and further discovery through reviews of each design.

Finally, we wrapped-up the session with final thoughts and questions. See appendix A for the focus group presentation, including the three prototypes presented.

Data Collection

The focus group allowed us to collect multiple points of view in a short time and gather qualitative and quantitative data. Presenting the participants with multiple design considerations facilitated discussion about various social networking tools and what the participants would desire from StumbleUpon in order to increase socializing and interactivity.

Prototype A

Prototype A offers dynamic interaction by implementing a cover-flow style main interface. Additionally, the prototype expands upon StumbleUpon’s usage of the “Badge” moniker to award “Interest Icons” as a means of providing incentive.

Key Findings

Participants responded favorably to the cover-flow design because of the increased size of the website screenshots and its likeness to “thumbing through a magazine.”

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Project Name: StumbleUpon Redesign ProposalTeam: John Ford, Chelsey Glasson, Maggie Shatt, Mark Moledor & Suneetha Sivasankaran

The awards concept was received favorably as a means of establishing a Stumbler’s credibility and promoting interaction among Stumblers.

The comment feed received positive feedback as a means of establishing dialogue over sites of mutual interest.

Participants also appreciated that the prototype eliminated the number of clicks required to access certain information.

In summary, participants gave the highest overall, positive feedback in response to Prototype A. Not only did they feel it offered a cleaner, easier-to-use interface than the current design, but they also felt if offered an overall pleasing experience.

Quotes

“I like this because it’s like flipping through a magazine. The current version feels like a book in which you have a lot of content you are forced to read to figure out what you actually want”

“Like Xbox, people would compete to earn the badges.” “There is more information on one page, so there is no need to click several times to get

what you want.”

Prototype B

Prototype B offers a weighted visual representation of a fellow Stumbler’s favorite websites (similar to a tag cloud experience but using images instead of words). In other words, the more a favorite website is in alignment with your shared interests, the larger the thumbnail of a Stumbler’s profile. Also, detailed profile information is offered in a panel located on the right-hand side of a profile page and can also be accessed by hovering over a user’s profile picture, which remains centered within the thumbnail cloud.

Key Findings

Participants liked the idea of having the option to view a weighted representation of fellow Stumbler’s favorite websites in relation to their interests, but didn’t want this as a default view.

They felt the screen looked too cluttered and that it might be difficult to view its content on certain devices.

Several said the thumbnail cloud was too unpredictable and might be difficult to navigate.

In summary, participants shared the highest number of reservations and negative comments in response to Prototype B. This may be because the prototype did not to fit their mental model for what a profile page should look like. Interestingly, the prototype inspired a lot of creative thinking among participants, resulting in several helpful suggestions concerning terminology and potential features.

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Project Name: StumbleUpon Redesign ProposalTeam: John Ford, Chelsey Glasson, Maggie Shatt, Mark Moledor & Suneetha Sivasankaran

Quotes

“I like this prototype but wouldn’t be able to get my mom to use it.” “I wonder if this page could get cluttered. Lack of consistency could get confusing.”

Prototype C

Prototype C offers an incremental redesign of the current site in which a user’s profile information is arranged according to the level of importance each feature received in our user survey. The bulk of the user’s profile information is located on the left column allowing higher page placement of a user’s favorites. Additionally, the search field and Stumble buttons are placed directly above the user’s favorites.

Key Findings

Participants liked the clean look and felt that the site was well organized and user-friendly. One participant did not like the Following section in the right column, as she felt that

information did not add to her understanding about the user. Some participants felt the right and left-hand columns could be combined. One participant’s

preference was that this information should be on the right side of a profile in order to deviate from standards of other social networking sites.

In summary, participants liked the overall look and feel of Prototype C and felt that it was more user-friendly than the current site and had a natural flow of information. Much of the participant feedback during discussion of this prototype centered on the concept of making this page a social networking dashboard with feeds from other social networks and trending topics.

Quotes

“This flows better—current site is more broken up.”

Survey Results

After discussing each prototype, we asked the participants to rank their perception of each. On a scale of 1 to 7 with 1 being “didn’t like” and 7 being “liked a lot”. Prototype A garnered the highest cumulative score and had the highest average of 6.

Participant Sketches

We are still in the process of analyzing the profile page sketches participants made after reviewing and discussing Prototypes A, B and C. So far, it appears that the sketches confirm feedback received

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Project Name: StumbleUpon Redesign ProposalTeam: John Ford, Chelsey Glasson, Maggie Shatt, Mark Moledor & Suneetha Sivasankaran

while reviewing the prototypes, as most of them integrate the most popular aspects of the prototypes.

Conclusions

By conducting a focus group, we gained insight into the value the user profile page brings to the StumbleUpon community and what changes to the page would increase user engagement and interactivity. Ultimately our findings reveal that users prefer Prototype A, with some modifications. Our focus group also revealed several additional unanticipated, but beneficial, insights concerning StumbleUpon (See appendix C).

Some lessons learned in conducting the focus group include:

We would have benefited from showing the current site prior to the prototypes as the current site was referenced frequently while discussing the prototypes.

Instead of having participants rank the likeness of each prototype directly after discussing it, it would have been more beneficial to have participants rank them all at once at the end of the focus group to allow for comparisons and, possibly, a more accurate representation of participant attitude toward each.

It is important to allow enough time for a moderator to become familiar with the product being reviewed during a focus group. It became necessary for the designers to interpret some aspects of the prototypes that the moderator couldn’t speak to because the prototypes were not completed until the night before the focus group.

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Project Name: StumbleUpon Redesign ProposalTeam: John Ford, Chelsey Glasson, Maggie Shatt, Mark Moledor & Suneetha Sivasankaran

Appendix A: Focus Group Presentation

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Project Name: StumbleUpon Redesign ProposalTeam: John Ford, Chelsey Glasson, Maggie Shatt, Mark Moledor & Suneetha Sivasankaran

Appendix A: Focus Group Presentation (continued)

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Project Name: StumbleUpon Redesign ProposalTeam: John Ford, Chelsey Glasson, Maggie Shatt, Mark Moledor & Suneetha Sivasankaran

Appendix A: Focus Group Presentation (continued)

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Project Name: StumbleUpon Redesign ProposalTeam: John Ford, Chelsey Glasson, Maggie Shatt, Mark Moledor & Suneetha Sivasankaran

Appendix A: Focus Group Presentation (continued)

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Project Name: StumbleUpon Redesign ProposalTeam: John Ford, Chelsey Glasson, Maggie Shatt, Mark Moledor & Suneetha Sivasankaran

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Project Name: StumbleUpon Redesign ProposalTeam: John Ford, Chelsey Glasson, Maggie Shatt, Mark Moledor & Suneetha Sivasankaran

Appendix B: Participant Sketches

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Project Name: StumbleUpon Redesign ProposalTeam: John Ford, Chelsey Glasson, Maggie Shatt, Mark Moledor & Suneetha Sivasankaran

Appendix C: Additional Focus Group Insights

Additional insights gained from the focus group include:

Participants wanted information in one or fewer pages.

Participants wanted similar information to be chunked together.

Participants expressed the need for “less is more” – less complexity, better organization.

Participants expressed interest in further integrating StumbleUpon with other existing social networking sites.

Participants wanted more dynamic, personal means of interaction.

Participants wanted personalized terminology (e.g. “My Discoveries” was preferred to “Discoveries”; and “Follow Me” was preferred to “Follow”).

Participants like having more dynamic ways of interacting with the site but not at the expense of cleanliness.

Mouse-overs and expanding buttons/functions were accepted and liked.

Larger website thumbnails are desirable.

Participants wanted ways to “rate” sites.

Participants liked having a “Comment Feeds”.

Participants would like to see what is “trending” across StumbleUpon.

Participants wanted to save sites as an accompaniment to storing them in “Favorites”.