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Stop Listening To Your Customers

Nate BoltNate BoltBolt|Bolt|PetersPeters@boltron@boltron

Mark TrammellMark TrammellTwitterTwitter@trammell@trammell

#StopLing

What are ways companies listen to

customers?

60 years agoo hai, faye

user researcb tools

20 years ago

19951995

Bad Listening

1)Hypothetical Questions2)A False Premise

Reduce friction.Reduce friction.

flickr/eschipulflickr/eschipul

Good Research

Investigate current behavior

Dead Tomato Society

Plain, Spicy, Extra Chunky

"It used to be that the way to find out what people

wanted to eat was to ask them."

Good Research

1) Contextual2) Time-aware3) Behavioral

More Bad Listening

Don’t bore people with your survey.

Sprint to afunctional prototype

A functional prototype can be a static site, low fidelity mock, paper prototype,

index cards,…

…but use real data.

Iterate

#NewTwitter#NewTwitter

flickr/monatbrooksEmphasize the Emphasize the

moment.moment.flickr/mtbphoto

Task analysis in four simple steps

1. Define the audience and their

goals. Create tasks that address

those goals. Get the right people.

Watch them try to perform the tasks.

- Kuniavsky, Observing the User

Experience

I love the usability setup @trammell and I use at @twitter. $70 software and no 2-way mirror! cc: @silverbackapp—

@kvanscha

I love the usability setup @trammell and I use at @twitter. $70 software and no 2-way mirror! cc: @silverbackapp—

@kvanscha

Friends&

Familyawkwardfamilyphotos.com

awkwardfamilyphotos.com

If you click on a Tweet, you'll see it's quite neat. I'm a poet, and I don't even know it. #NewTwitter — @k

Good Research

1) Sprint to the testable.2) Iterate.

People lie lessat home

Since 2007

Can tools make us better researchers?

What we did for Rdio

•GoToMeeting: 5 users (moderated)

•UserTesting.com: 10 users (self-moderated)

•Usabilla: 50 users (automated)

•Ethnio: 468 recruits

What we did for Volkswagen,

Esurance, and a Large Retailer

•$50 Webcam

• Free Ustream account

•Observed mobile users in-store and in a lab

Good Research

1) Mix online tools2) Stream research live

When you *really* don ’t have to listen to

your customers

deadly sins

7

Lust

Gluttony

Greed

Sloth

Wrath

Envy

Pride

For the rest of us,we have to avoid the big myth

The Myth:Geniuses have genius

ideas that turn into genius products.

The Truth:Great Ideas come from Other Great Ideas

More Truth:Imaginative research facilitates invention.

"Sometimes, you gotta fart before you

poop."—@hotdogsladies

What helicopters do in action movies

Some thoughts on metrics

"Sometimes you can observe a lot by watching."

— Yogi Berra, catcher

Research customers the right way

•expand notion of what research is•build•behavior•time-aware

Thank You.

sxsw.com/feedback

Questions?

@boltron @trammelltwitter.comboltpeters.com

Questions about the

#QuickBar?