People-Centered DesignCreating Cost-E!ective Websites
June 25, 2008Commonwealth Club, San Francisco
Katrina Alcorn, Hot StudioRenee Anderson, Hot Studio
IntroductionsKatrina Alcorn
Principal, User Experience & Content
Renee Anderson
Director of User Experience
Meet Hot Studio Hot Studio is a
research-based, people-centered design studio.
Whether it’s a logo, a book or a website:We design things people love to use.
WebsitesFrom branded experiences to highly complex intranets
WebsitesFrom ecommerce sites to ecommerce platforms
WebsitesFrom science curiosity to sales productivity
What we plan to cover
How do you design things people love to use?
• Bene!ts of research
• Overview of research methods
• Our approach to research
• How research inspired great design
Why do it?Bene!ts of research
Bene!ts of research
Bene!ts of research
Bene!ts of research
Bene!ts of research
The world of researchOverview of research methods
Overview of research methods
Fundamental questions of user research
• Who are your target audience(s)?
• What are their needs, wants, or aspirations?
• Which of these can you satisfy online?
Quantitative vs. qualitative methods• Quantitative Research = Information presented in numeric form.
Respondents answers are counted, summed, and typically presented in terms of percentages or averages.
• When should you use it? When you need to generalize about people’s speci!c responses.
• Qualitative Research = Exploration of people’s behaviors, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs. It allows us to reap rich insights about people’s underlying motivations, feelings, values, attitudes and perceptions.
• When should you use it? To gain deep understanding of the mindset of your target audience.
Contextual inquiryWhat is it?• Also called “ethnography,” “contextual
observation,” “"eld studies”• 1-2 moderators observe users in their home,
at work, or in another typical environment
What’s it good for?• When it’s critical to see precisely how a user
behaves in a natural setting
Associated costs• Do it yourself or hire an “observer”• Time for analyzing "ndings and writing
report
Contextual inquiry in the jungle (above) or at the Gap (below).
Surveys & questionnairesWhat are they?• Online or printed questions• Can include both multiple choice/numbers-
based answers as well as open-ended comments
What are they good for?• Getting feedback on what people think or do
(but not why)
Associated costs• Fees for survey and reporting tools• Time for analyzing the data• Thank you gift to participants
Except from Zoomerang questionnaire on SFMOMA project.
Caution: Can be really annoying if over-used! Also, hard to follow up.
Focus groupsWhat are they?• Form of qualitative research• One researcher to several respondents• Structured, group discussion
What are they good for?• Measuring general attitudes about a product
or concept• Generating ideas
Associated costs• Moderator fees• Time for analyzing data and writing report• Participant fees
Focus groups usually look like a lot of people sitting around a table talking. This is a focus group we conducted with eight art museum representatives from around the world.
Caution: Focus groups can easily be dominated by one member. What people say isn’t always what they do.
InterviewsWhat are they? • Usually one-on-one• May follow a structured discussion guide• Allows the researcher to observe non-verbal
communication closely
What are they good for?• Excellent way to get an in-depth understanding
of user needs• Ideal for sensitive topics
Associated costs• Do it yourself or hire a moderator• Thank you gift to participants• Possible audio/video recordings• Time for analyzing data and writing report Caution: If you don’t ask questions in
the right way, you may get misleading information.
Hot Studio interviewing stakeholder for umc.org redesign project.
Usability testingWhat are they?• One-on-one sessions, in person or remote, to
test prototype• Can be on paper or computer
What are they good for?• Re"ning an interface
Associated costs• Possible video/audio recordings• Facility rental• Moderator fees• Participant fees• Time for analyzing data and a written report
Scenes from the testing facility at Otivo, one of Hot’s testing partners
Customer relationship data What is it?• Data about how audience is
interacting with you or your site• Can come from web log "les,
customer support agents, and anyone who interacts with the end-user
What’s it good for?• Going beyond what people say
they’ll do, and learning what people really do
Associated costs• Fees for reporting tool• Data analysis
The quest for insightOur approach to research
When to use research
When to use research
surveys
ethnography
focus groups
interviews
customer data
usability testing
These insights often inspire new and creative design ideas.
Our research reveals many detailed !ndings.
Some of these "ndings lead to insights about what the target audience really needs.
How we use this information
From insight to inspirationHow research inspired great design
California Academy of Sciences (before)
California Academy of Sciences
What we learned• Site had to serve needs of everyone from kids to families to
single adults, teachers, donors and sta!• Environmental problems can be depressing – people want
actionable, inspirational steps• Sta! scientists have compelling stories to tell
CAS: New interactive home page
CAS: Science “heros” bring science to life
CAS: Animations create sense of whimsy
SFMOMA (before)
SFMOMA—What we learned
Many of the site users• Come from surprising variety of professions and
backgrounds• Are interested, but not necessarily educated, about
modern art• Are fairly passive about Web 2.0-type features• Don’t understand the di!erence between exhibitions and
collections
SFMOMA: Help people plan their visitInsight: Users don’t understand the di#erence between exhibitions and the permanent collection. They just want to !nd out “what’s going on.”
Design Idea: Create a one-stop section called “Exhibitions + Events.”
Old navigation separates exhibitions from the calendar.
This sketch of new navigation shows an “Exhibitions + Events” section.
SFMOMA: Be strategic about Web 2.0 features
Insight: Users expressed surprisingly little interest in Web 2.0 features. Any features we incorporate can’t rely too heavily on user participation and should help to make the artwork more accessible.
Design Idea: Bring in informal, outside voices and perspectives that can succeed with minimal user participation.
SFMOMA: Layer information for diverse usersInsight: General site visitors are looking for very di#erent information than scholars and academics.
Design Idea: Add detailed information in tabs and layers.
Open Architecture Network
Open Architecture Network
What we learned• System had to meet diverse needs of architects, funders,
displaced families, project managers, and more• Designers have a hunger to see design, get inspired• Project teams also need to promote work to general
public, show progress to funders• Project teams need place to share "les, comment on
work, and other tools for managing projects
OAN: Robust search tool
OAN: A forum to promote and discuss designs
OAN: Workspace for team collaboration
United Methodist Church Youth (before)
United Methodist Church Youth
What we learned• Negative perceptions of church include “It’s boring” and
“I don’t want to adopt pre-de"ned beliefs”• Teens don’t want to be “preached” at – they can handle
tough theological ideas• Reaching out to peers about religion can be risky• Teens are media savvy, distrustful of marketing, looking
for authenticity
UMC Youth: A place where teens can connect
UMC Youth: Providing a way to share their voice
UMC Youth: Share in a “non-churchy” way
Once Upon a School
Once Upon a School
What we learned• Achievement leaps when students gets 2-3 hours of
undivided attention• Teachers and parents need help• There are so many people – journalists, graduate
students, copywriters, software developers, retired professionals, and more – willing to give their time
• At 826 Valencia blogs successfully facilitate storytelling
OUAS: A place to tell stories and get inspired
OUAS: Connecting teachers with the community
OUAS: Inspiration through storytelling
Relative costs of user participation• Costs include:
• Initial price of technology
• Design, installation and maintenance
• Oversight, content creation and moderating
• Upgrades
• RSS + other syndicated content• Auto-generating alerts/emails to users• Institutional blogging / Twittering• Creating an institutional Flickr, Facebook or YouTube channel
• Rating• Tagging• Commenting
• Letting users add institutional content to personal site; or to Digg, del.ici.ous, Flickr
• Moderating discussions• Creating podcasts and webcasts• Implementing Google maps functionality
• Allowing users to add their own content to institution site (video, images ...)• Creating and maintaining a Wiki
• Creating and maintaining a virtual world (Second Life)
• Creating a fully-functional social networking site
• Designing for mobile• Flash interactivity• Dynamic page designs (using DHTML, AJAX, Flash, Flex)
Note: Many platforms have Web 2.0 features out of the box
Conclusions• Interactivity is not a one-size-!ts-all
• Research can help you be strategic about where you put design e#ort
• There are low-budget ways to do this
Thank you!
Katrina Alcorn, [email protected]
Renee Anderson, [email protected]
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