Re: [IxDA Discuss] ID vs email address
Email certainly seems to be an easy way to solve the memory issue. If you do go down the route of using email, then you could think about allowing users to create email aliases - all of which would work as a login ID. This would help solve the which email did I use problem, although would reduce security. Alternatively, if you go down the username route then allow users to use an email address as their username. This then makes it the user's choice whether to use email as a login ID. Mat Atkinson http://www.proofhq.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37879 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Accordion Interaction
Here's a couple of examples ... A lightweight accordion that is built with scriptaculous and works properly in every browser: http://www.aughenbaugh.us/accordion2/Index.html This example is vertical and used to navigate the site: http://www.gallery.ca/caught/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37559 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Internationalization Guideline Resource
Thank you Yohan, Janna for the references. Have a good day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37880 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Exposed: A Design Research Conference
Apologies for any cross posting: IxDA Members who are ready to brave another conference will likely be interested in a Design Research event we are holding here at Arizona State University on March 6th and 7th. The info follows: EXPOSED: A Design Research Exchange http://www.exposed09.com Dates: March 6th-7th Location: Tempe, Arizona Description: What mysteries lie beneath the surface of Design Research practice? What catalyzing forces will shift future paradigms of Design Research? Exposed: a Design Research Exchange will be an event dedicated to exploring these questions through a highly interactive agenda including workshops, panels, invited guests, and participant-generated content. Seasoned professionals to aspiring students are invited to join in this exploration of the current state and future of design research while filling their toolboxes, making contacts, and traversing disciplinary boundaries. Exposed participants include individuals from organizations such as Intel, Smart Design, Herman Miller, frog design, Gravity Tank, Brooks Stevens Inc, Adaptive Path, Lextant Flamingo International, ReD Associates, Arizona State University and more. I hope to see many of you there! Best Regards, Greg Burkett Co-chair M.S. Design Candidate InnovationSpace Assistant Arizona State University gregsburk...@gmail.com 412.558.0941 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
Hi All, Even in this recession time, I have been given a decent budget for my user experience team. I have planned to invest in usability tools/ products (assets) for our team. E.g. Eye tracker. Could anyone suggest the other tools/products (software or hardware assets) that I could look into? cheers, Rony Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What do you think should be the 3 primary roles/objectives of an interaction designer?
Marcus, Your post mentions which roles for interaction designers but most of what I could think of fit best in a skills category. These are my top three: 1. Designing interactions best suited to the needs of the user 2. Having strong wireframing and documentation skills 3. Genius presentation abilities Samantha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38049 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Tag clouds (and tagging)
Thanks all. Lots of good stuff here, both in comments and direction. When I have something cogent, will share it. Hope to see you in Vancouver later in the week. mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37950 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] say no to genius design
On Jan 31, 2009, at 5:32 PM, Daniel Szuc wrote: Hi Andrei: I did read the article and Jared's point as you put in quotes makes good sense to me. Unless I missed your point? I must have missed something. My apologies for the remark. I couldn't find the start of the thread, and as such, thought you were misinterpreting Jared's article. My Apple Mail was simply splitting the thread however, and I found my error. Again, my mistake. -- Andrei Herasimchuk Principal, Involution Studios innovating the digital world e. and...@involutionstudios.com c. +1 408 306 6422 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
On Feb 2, 2009, at 7:04 AM, Rony Philip wrote: Even in this recession time, I have been given a decent budget for my user experience team. I have planned to invest in usability tools/ products (assets) for our team. E.g. Eye tracker. One of these days, I'm going to make a Just Say No to Eye Trackers t- shirt. How about a Ouija Board? They run about 1/3000 the price and produce just as good predictions of what works and what doesn't. (Hell, for that price, buy two.) :) Jared p.s. Better not just buy two Ouija boards. What if they don't agree? You need to buy 3, so that you can see which two are close to being the same answer. Now, this is getting expensive, not to mention the cost of the staff needed to run them. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Tag clouds (and tagging)
Speaking as someone who's worked with online taxonomies since 1991, and been trained in systematics since the eighties, I'd like to point out that there cannot be a debate between taxonomy and folksonomy. One is a specific version of the other. The debate is between pre-determined taxonomies and community-determined taxonomies, which are called folksonomies. And both can be used to enhance each other powerfully. bests, Alex O'Neal -- The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is now. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
I'll completely second Nik's recommendation for Morae or Silverback. Things are tight for our budget, so our hopes for Morae were transferred to settling on Silverback. I prefer Morae's full feature set, but Silverback still helps us get the job done and has been a huge benefit to our entire organization. Another solid recommendation would be OptimalSort for online card sorts. Small expense, but another huge help for our team and even the marketing dept. There are so many great tools out there, but possibly save some money on the tools and invest in training/conferences for your team. We've redirected some of our limited budget to increase the training for the team. It's been a great success and definitely had an enormous impact. It seems we can get creative with tools and products, but the number of outstanding conferences we wish to attend definitely added up the fastest. Good luck! Erin erin walsh | product developer | For Rent Media Solutions™ 150 granby street, 16th floor | norfolk, va 23510 p:757.351.8444 | f:757.961.4827 erin.wa...@forrent.com| www.FRMediaSolutions.com You Have Multiple Marketing Needs... We Have Multiple Solutions! Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
Seems like you are being a bit harsh Jared -- the equipment/tools do not generate the predictions and bad predictions are often due to poor choice of tasks, small samples, or lack of background in analysis and interpretation methods. I would suggest getting the new Pulse pen by Livescribe (www.livescribe.com) that allows you to tape record as your take notes. The software highlights the association between your audio and your notes so you can do things like have a symbol for good quote and then click on the symbol to play the exact quote and not the paraphrase that so often happens when someone talks quickly. It is $179 at Target in the USA. At out last user conference, I had a user draw a sketch using the pen and narrating as he drew and it was extremely useful. Other suggestions might be subscriptions to remote collaboration tools like GoToMeeting, a good digital camera, and one of the new miniature and relatively inexpensive video systems that run for about an hour or so and have only a few buttons. A good tripod can be useful for documenting your work nicely. Chauncey On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 12:27 PM, Jared Spool jsp...@uie.com wrote: On Feb 2, 2009, at 7:04 AM, Rony Philip wrote: Even in this recession time, I have been given a decent budget for my user experience team. I have planned to invest in usability tools/ products (assets) for our team. E.g. Eye tracker. One of these days, I'm going to make a Just Say No to Eye Trackers t-shirt. How about a Ouija Board? They run about 1/3000 the price and produce just as good predictions of what works and what doesn't. (Hell, for that price, buy two.) :) Jared p.s. Better not just buy two Ouija boards. What if they don't agree? You need to buy 3, so that you can see which two are close to being the same answer. Now, this is getting expensive, not to mention the cost of the staff needed to run them. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
I'm with Jared on this one...and Ouija boards are much more flexible, too. You can use them for information on absolutely anything! Eye trackers rely on a central unproven theory that eyes track to the point of main interest. A moment's thought about your own behaviors will show you that's not an entirely true statement. People ignore things, are distracted by things, apparently grok an entire page in a single glance, focus their gaze at one point on a screen while their attention is elsewhere on it., and more. Of all the things you can buy, for pity's sake don't waste it on eye-tracking devices. Is how you spend this money dictated by management? If not, you might want to give serious thought to training (bring a seminar in-house) or conference attendance to build your team's capabilities. Ask them what software/hardware they'd like to have -- they know what they're lacking in a way we can't begin to. Oh, there's a radical thought, ask the users. kt Katie Albers Founder Principal Consultant FirstThought User Experience Strategy Project Management 310 356 7550 ka...@firstthought.com On Feb 2, 2009, at 9:27 AM, Jared Spool wrote: On Feb 2, 2009, at 7:04 AM, Rony Philip wrote: Even in this recession time, I have been given a decent budget for my user experience team. I have planned to invest in usability tools/ products (assets) for our team. E.g. Eye tracker. One of these days, I'm going to make a Just Say No to Eye Trackers t-shirt. How about a Ouija Board? They run about 1/3000 the price and produce just as good predictions of what works and what doesn't. (Hell, for that price, buy two.) :) Jared p.s. Better not just buy two Ouija boards. What if they don't agree? You need to buy 3, so that you can see which two are close to being the same answer. Now, this is getting expensive, not to mention the cost of the staff needed to run them. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Any thoughts on promo codes in an ecommerce experience?
I'm curious if anybody has some thoughts on the addition to promo codes to ecommerce pages of a site. Our client will have a lot of email and direct mail campaigns that lead users to input promo codes to get specific localized savings. We want to make it easy for these users to access and include the codes for savings. One thought is if we make the promo code entry global and overly pervasive, users without promo codes may feel left out and defer their purchase until they can find one? (not sure if this is even an issue). A couple of options we can take: 1) Include the ability to add promo codes on a hidden page associated to the DM or Email 2) Include the ability to add promo codes on all product pages next to a summary configurator 3) Include the ability to add promo codes only on a promo code page associated to a special pricing page 4) Include the ability to add promo codes only on the checkout experience I'm sure there are a few other options as well as combining some of the options but those are the first ones that come to mind. Any/All feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance! -- Adrian Chong www.adrianchong.com/blog Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
There are so many other things I would spend money on before spending it on an eye-tracker: More staff or interns Better incentives for participants More test sessions! Some deeper research project that would be strategic Space to do other methods in besides testing Portable equipment like audio recorders Unless you already have all of these things you could possibly want... :) Dana :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: Dana Chisnell desk: 415.392.0776 mobile: 415.519.1148 dana AT usabilityworks DOT net www.usabilityworks.net http://usabilitytestinghowto.blogspot.com/ On Feb 2, 2009, at 7:04 AM, Rony Philip wrote: Hi All, Even in this recession time, I have been given a decent budget for my user experience team. I have planned to invest in usability tools/ products (assets) for our team. E.g. Eye tracker. Could anyone suggest the other tools/products (software or hardware assets) that I could look into? cheers, Rony Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
I will buy a bunch of those shirts! It will be a different audience to give something to than those that now have a copy of the 'Inmates'. Mark On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 12:27 PM, Jared Spool jsp...@uie.com wrote: One of these days, I'm going to make a Just Say No to Eye Trackers t-shirt. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Any thoughts on promo codes in an ecommerce experience?
I think it's pretty standard to have promo code fields on the globally available checkout/cart pages (or elsewhere in the purchase path) for ecommerce sites, and the workaround alternatives that you suggest seem unnecessary to me. That said, it's probably wise to include the field for the promo code in a single spot (preferably in the checkout path rather than on the product detail page), because including it in multiple places may confuse customers and make them think they need to enter it multiple times, or that they can enter more than one code per purchase in order to get multiple discounts. As a frequent online shopper, if I'm visiting a site for the first time and I see a promo code field, I might do a quick Web search to see if I can find a coupon or discount code for that site, but I'm unlikely to be deterred from purchasing if I can't. I am a fan of sites that include text under the promo code field to say something like, Don't have a promo code? Click here to get one, which leads to a popup that offers a code with a small incentive for opting in for a newsletter, or something similar. That's a good way to increase the odds of the purchase being completed *and* adding email subscribers, though if the code is offered on the spot, it can also lead to lots of invalid emails ending up in the database. But there are ways around that, too. 2009/2/2 Adrian Chong chongadr...@gmail.com: I'm curious if anybody has some thoughts on the addition to promo codes to ecommerce pages of a site. Our client will have a lot of email and direct mail campaigns that lead users to input promo codes to get specific localized savings. We want to make it easy for these users to access and include the codes for savings. One thought is if we make the promo code entry global and overly pervasive, users without promo codes may feel left out and defer their purchase until they can find one? (not sure if this is even an issue). A couple of options we can take: 1) Include the ability to add promo codes on a hidden page associated to the DM or Email 2) Include the ability to add promo codes on all product pages next to a summary configurator 3) Include the ability to add promo codes only on a promo code page associated to a special pricing page 4) Include the ability to add promo codes only on the checkout experience I'm sure there are a few other options as well as combining some of the options but those are the first ones that come to mind. Any/All feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance! -- Adrian Chong www.adrianchong.com/blog Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
One of these days, I'm going to make a Just Say No to Eye Trackers t-shirt. Now, now, Jared. You know they can be useful—they're just widely misinterpreted as providing meaningful information all by themselves. Eye-tracking results have to be put into perspective by about 100 other things (metrics, goals, click paths, etc). Without those things, all you have are pretty pictures. -r- Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
Eye-tracking results have to be put into perspective by about 100 other things (metrics, goals, click paths, etc). Without those things, all you have are pretty pictures. A clarification: That said, eye-tracking gear is so way more expensive than it's worth, so even if you use the results properly, you're spending way more money than you should on usability tests and analysis. -r- Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
I am being given the opportunity to visit a client of our software to do some user research. I have never been on site with any of our clients before. At this client we have 3 user groups two who do different tasks and one super user who can do everything plus config. I only have five maybe six hours depending on flights being on time etc. We have full access to both groups all day but I would like to send them some sort of schedule so they are not just sitting around waiting on us. Goals: 1. Understand the users and how they use the software. 2. Uncover any pain points. 3. Bring back recommendations for changes. Right now my plan is to do a contextual inquiry and watch one member of each group work through their tasks using the software. Then move to either an interview or a focus group of what they think about the software. As far as time most of it will be spent with the individual users and not the super user. This is the first time the company has sent anyone to do something like this.I am hoping it goes well and we can bring back good information so we can do some more of these visits. Advice is appreciated! Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
That said, eye-tracking gear is so way more expensive than it's worth, so even if you use the results properly, you're spending way more money than you should on usability tests and analysis. I'm so glad you said that. I made that argument to our usability research group recently, arguing there were a lot more ways we could improve method and analysis that didn't require the same financial outlay. I think they were disappointed, because mental rigor is so much less cool than an on-site eye tracking lab ;-) bests, Alex O'Neal -- The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is now. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Would love some examples of Q-sorting studies
I am preparing a presentation and Q-sorting for the STC Summit and would love to to get some examples of when you have used Q-sorting to learn about workflow or user priorities in an application context. I will, of course, credit all sources. -- Mary Deaton Deaton Interactive Design STC UUX Manager Yes we can. Yes we did. Yes we will Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
Jamie, I think this is a super plan. You might want to come up with 2-4 Big Questions that you want to observe for during the individual sessions. This doesn't seem like very much, but the point is to observe as much as possible rather than interviewing. Specifics usually reveal themselves along the way during the session. You could also consider asking the participants for artifacts that relate to what you want to find out, like reports or forms that are inputs to their tasks or reports, emails, or whatever that might be outputs of their tasks. Think about looking at how your product fits into their overall work. Get someone to help you take notes, if at all possible. Running these kinds of sessions and observing closely takes a lot of concentration and effort. If you have someone else to jot down notes, it can really free you up to ask follow-up questions and just be present. Consider taking digital photographs of your users' work spaces and any forms or other artifacts that they use that you can't take copies away with you. Also consider recording the sessions on digital audio, even if you do have a note taker. Closing the day with a group discussion is a great idea. Again, I recommend having 1 or 2 topics that you want to talk about as a group, remembering that each person will take a minute or two to answer the question or contribute to the discussion about each topic you ask about. What are you going to do with the data you collect? Dana :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: Dana Chisnell desk: 415.392.0776 mobile: 415.519.1148 dana AT usabilityworks DOT net www.usabilityworks.net http://usabilitytestinghowto.blogspot.com/ On Feb 2, 2009, at 11:06 AM, Jamie McAtee wrote: I am being given the opportunity to visit a client of our software to do some user research. I have never been on site with any of our clients before. At this client we have 3 user groups two who do different tasks and one super user who can do everything plus config. I only have five maybe six hours depending on flights being on time etc. We have full access to both groups all day but I would like to send them some sort of schedule so they are not just sitting around waiting on us. Goals: 1. Understand the users and how they use the software. 2. Uncover any pain points. 3. Bring back recommendations for changes. Right now my plan is to do a contextual inquiry and watch one member of each group work through their tasks using the software. Then move to either an interview or a focus group of what they think about the software. As far as time most of it will be spent with the individual users and not the super user. This is the first time the company has sent anyone to do something like this.I am hoping it goes well and we can bring back good information so we can do some more of these visits. Advice is appreciated! Reply to this thread at ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38073 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
I have found it is generally better to open the day with a group meeting. No matter how much explaining you do ahead of time, you will still likely be scheduled to meet with the wrong folks. The group meeting will allow the managers to have their say and give them a forum to tell you many things. You can then use that to start asking specific task questions. Usually during the course of these questions, they will say Well, Sue does that. Great time to say, I'd love to spend some time with Sue later today then to see how she does it. I have found that during the course of this opening meeting, names of individuals get brought up as the person who does X. This is the best way for you to then select whom you want to meet with and learn more about task x. Of course, as the prior posted mentioned. Preparation is the most important thing to do. Know what you want to observe, know how many events you want to observe, have research questions you want answered. Prepare a study guide During the course of the day, you will be presented with more opportunities then you have time to follow-up on. You need to have spent time developing your study guide so you can make on-the-fly decisions on how to best use your time. Even if your research techniques are all about not interfering with the user and letting it naturally flow. If you have not made decisions about what you want to learn, then you will not learn anything. This is more practical then ideal. Ideally you would have lots of time to spend with everyone, so you will be able to learn all you can. Practically, you have a very limited amount of time to spend with a limited number of folks. So you have to plan on how to use it wisely. Get clearance before you even bring out any recording devices. Many companies do not like it. Good luck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38073 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
@Elizabeth I was planning on talking to the user after I spend some time observing them. I am not sure how many people they will really free up for us so if we have a number of people in that group I might do a focus group instead. @Dana What we are trying to do is understand our user base more and take that to propose changes to the software. We know there are some issues and others that seem like issues but may not be. I have been through the full work flow with the business analyst for this product so I know the way we think they do things but I am not sure if this is the right model. Thanks for the suggestions I am working on the plan right now and your ideas really help. @Nicholas I was thinking of doing a meeting in the morning to explain who we are and why we are here. I hadn't thought of using it to figure out exactly who to target but that is a good idea. I am planning on asking if I can record the sessions in some manner so I can share them with the rest of the UI team and others people who work on this product. Thanks everyone for your great feedback. If anyone else has thoughts or experiences please share. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38073 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
To add to the great advice above: - Make sure the people you'll be observing are prepared for you to be there. They SHOULD NOT clear their schedules to be with you. They should have real, regular work to get done while you're with them and you need to set that expectation ahead of time. - An hour or two for each observation should be a good amount of time, but make sure that you're observing enough of the important stuff. The important stuff is the same as the Big Questions Dana talks about. - I second Nicholas's idea of starting the day with a group meeting, but don't let this go too long. Maybe half an hour, maybe. One thing I've done in the past is give people some homework at this meeting. You can hand out disposable cameras for people to take photos of their work spaces (if this is alright with the organization), or ask people to think about the last time they did that really important activity and write a quick paragraph about it so that you can take it away afterward. - Remember to relax, and don't make promises about things you might be able to fix. - Will you have anybody from your organization and/or the client's organization to do the observations with you? My best Contextual Inquiry research has ended with a client doing the big presentation to their own people. In my experience, clients buy into this type of user research almost immediately. Invite clients and coworkers to the observations if possible, and if not, have them help you with the analysis afterward. If even *that * is not possible, then make sure that your analysis and modeling are big and visible, so people are interested in what you've done. - Do your initial analysis *immediately*. Even if you take copious notes, the things people said are going to bleed together. I would type up or formalize your notes on the plane ride home. That's all I've got off the top of my head. Me and a coworker presented a paper at Agile 2008 about this topic, and I think there's a lot more in there about my experience doing a quick Contextual Inquiry. Here's the link to the paper: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=4599535isnumber=4599440 Good luck! Josh On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 2:59 PM, Nicholas Iozzo i...@humansize.com wrote: I have found it is generally better to open the day with a group meeting. No matter how much explaining you do ahead of time, you will still likely be scheduled to meet with the wrong folks. The group meeting will allow the managers to have their say and give them a forum to tell you many things. You can then use that to start asking specific task questions. Usually during the course of these questions, they will say Well, Sue does that. Great time to say, I'd love to spend some time with Sue later today then to see how she does it. I have found that during the course of this opening meeting, names of individuals get brought up as the person who does X. This is the best way for you to then select whom you want to meet with and learn more about task x. Of course, as the prior posted mentioned. Preparation is the most important thing to do. Know what you want to observe, know how many events you want to observe, have research questions you want answered. Prepare a study guide During the course of the day, you will be presented with more opportunities then you have time to follow-up on. You need to have spent time developing your study guide so you can make on-the-fly decisions on how to best use your time. Even if your research techniques are all about not interfering with the user and letting it naturally flow. If you have not made decisions about what you want to learn, then you will not learn anything. This is more practical then ideal. Ideally you would have lots of time to spend with everyone, so you will be able to learn all you can. Practically, you have a very limited amount of time to spend with a limited number of folks. So you have to plan on how to use it wisely. Get clearance before you even bring out any recording devices. Many companies do not like it. Good luck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38073 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help -- http://josh.ev9.org/weblog Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines
Re: [IxDA Discuss] interactive interiors: further info
Nehal, Yes sorry it's been a hectic week. I have replied off list. It looked very comprehensive and a very interesting proposal. Reminded me a lot of the work I used to see from Interaction Ivrea (now Domus). Sorry again for delay in replying. Nik Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
I feel compelled to reiterate my note-taking plea here: Don't do it! Note-taking splits your attention and tends to change the behavior of the subject. It's aurally, visually and actively intrusive. Note-taking is evil. Use a tape recorder or a web cam or a small video camera you can mount on the cubicle wall and aim, or similar (depending on what behaviors you're particularly studying) but if at all possible, don't take notes. Much of what you would take notes on can be translated into sound simply by asking questions. Then schedule time between sessions when you can jot down your notes and aides de memoir. I realize that contemporary note-taking is in some cases simply unavoidable, but make sure that you really need to do it in this case before automatically incorporating it. kt Katie Albers Founder Principal Consultant FirstThought User Experience Strategy Project Management 310 356 7550 ka...@firstthought.com On Feb 2, 2009, at 1:54 PM, Josh Evnin wrote: To add to the great advice above: - Make sure the people you'll be observing are prepared for you to be there. They SHOULD NOT clear their schedules to be with you. They should have real, regular work to get done while you're with them and you need to set that expectation ahead of time. - An hour or two for each observation should be a good amount of time, but make sure that you're observing enough of the important stuff. The important stuff is the same as the Big Questions Dana talks about. - I second Nicholas's idea of starting the day with a group meeting, but don't let this go too long. Maybe half an hour, maybe. One thing I've done in the past is give people some homework at this meeting. You can hand out disposable cameras for people to take photos of their work spaces (if this is alright with the organization), or ask people to think about the last time they did that really important activity and write a quick paragraph about it so that you can take it away afterward. - Remember to relax, and don't make promises about things you might be able to fix. - Will you have anybody from your organization and/or the client's organization to do the observations with you? My best Contextual Inquiry research has ended with a client doing the big presentation to their own people. In my experience, clients buy into this type of user research almost immediately. Invite clients and coworkers to the observations if possible, and if not, have them help you with the analysis afterward. If even *that * is not possible, then make sure that your analysis and modeling are big and visible, so people are interested in what you've done. - Do your initial analysis *immediately*. Even if you take copious notes, the things people said are going to bleed together. I would type up or formalize your notes on the plane ride home. That's all I've got off the top of my head. Me and a coworker presented a paper at Agile 2008 about this topic, and I think there's a lot more in there about my experience doing a quick Contextual Inquiry. Here's the link to the paper: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=/stamp/stamp.jsp? arnumber=4599535isnumber=4599440 Good luck! Josh On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 2:59 PM, Nicholas Iozzo i...@humansize.com wrote: I have found it is generally better to open the day with a group meeting. No matter how much explaining you do ahead of time, you will still likely be scheduled to meet with the wrong folks. The group meeting will allow the managers to have their say and give them a forum to tell you many things. You can then use that to start asking specific task questions. Usually during the course of these questions, they will say Well, Sue does that. Great time to say, I'd love to spend some time with Sue later today then to see how she does it. I have found that during the course of this opening meeting, names of individuals get brought up as the person who does X. This is the best way for you to then select whom you want to meet with and learn more about task x. Of course, as the prior posted mentioned. Preparation is the most important thing to do. Know what you want to observe, know how many events you want to observe, have research questions you want answered. Prepare a study guide During the course of the day, you will be presented with more opportunities then you have time to follow-up on. You need to have spent time developing your study guide so you can make on-the-fly decisions on how to best use your time. Even if your research techniques are all about not interfering with the user and letting it naturally flow. If you have not made decisions about what you want to learn, then you will not learn anything. This is more practical then ideal. Ideally you would have lots of time to spend with everyone, so you will be able to learn all you can. Practically, you have a very limited
[IxDA Discuss] JOB: NYC: *ASAP* freelance BUSINESS ANALYST / functional spec writer, UX-recruiter (JWG)
Here's the details of the role, from the client, which is an interactive fashion website in Manhattan: We need an IA/documentation person. We've already done the wireframes, etc, but now need someone to come in and detail out the functional specs. We don't need a conceptual person, but a documentation person or Business Analyst. starts ASAP lasts for up to 2 months onsite in NYC email me if you're game! please refer your favorite BA friend too :) joanne (at) joanneweavergroup (dot) com joa...@joanneweavergroup.com Thanks Joanne www.joanneweavergroup.com UX + Creative Talent Acquisition Joanne Weaver President The Joanne Weaver Group UX + Creative Talent Acquisition http://www.joanneweavergroup.com http://www.joanneweavergroup.com +1 917 623 9369 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] ID vs email address
Allowing but not requiring email address as username seems like a very good solution to me; it's unfortunately not an option in the project that I'm working on, but I did advocate for it initially before getting vetoed. I know I've seen examples of it in the wild, but I couldn't come up with many when I was making my case. Does anyone know of any large-scale sites that permit both user-created username and email address as usernames? 2009/2/2 Mat Atkinson mat.atkin...@proofhq.com: Email certainly seems to be an easy way to solve the memory issue. If you do go down the route of using email, then you could think about allowing users to create email aliases - all of which would work as a login ID. This would help solve the which email did I use problem, although would reduce security. Alternatively, if you go down the username route then allow users to use an email address as their username. This then makes it the user's choice whether to use email as a login ID. Mat Atkinson http://www.proofhq.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37879 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
Hi Rony, How about Morae or Silverback? Nik -Original Message- From: discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com [mailto:discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Rony Philip Sent: 02 February 2009 15:04 To: disc...@ixda.org Subject: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products Hi All, Even in this recession time, I have been given a decent budget for my user experience team. I have planned to invest in usability tools/ products (assets) for our team. E.g. Eye tracker. Could anyone suggest the other tools/products (software or hardware assets) that I could look into? cheers, Rony Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help This e-mail has been scanned for all viruses by Star. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
Curious as to how long you are planning for the individual interviews. This may determine you're follow up activity. I think the approach of watching them in their environment and taking notes first hand is great. You should be able to fulfill most of your goals with just that one activity, but with the time constraints i can see how you'd want to find out more info. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38073 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
Hi Rony: To follow on and support Dana's post ... Invest the budget back into your people and process (rather than the hardware alone) * Training and conferences (to name a few ... ) - http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/conference/2009/ - http://www.uie.com/events/ - http://interaction09.ixda.org/ - http://www.adaptivepath.com/events/ * A space to run research (not a lab) and that can also double as a place to train and show of all your project work * A UX Sales Pack and stories to help you pass on the knowledge in your organisation * An UX Intranet or knowledge base for your team to share * A simple design process to help you and your team learn, design and test with your user base. Have fun! rgds, Dan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38056 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
On Feb 2, 2009, at 11:06 AM, Jamie McAtee wrote: This is the first time the company has sent anyone to do something like this.I am hoping it goes well and we can bring back good information so we can do some more of these visits. Advice is appreciated! You've gotten a lot of good advice here. Here's some additional resources we've put together at UIE on this topic: Field Research Fundamentals: An Interview with Kate Gomoll http://is.gd/i9Gy (Article) Spoolcast: An Interview with Kate Gomoll on Field Studies http://is.gd/i9GE (Podcast) The Field Study Handbook http://is.gd/i9GN (Report available for purchase) Hope that helps, Jared Jared M. Spool User Interface Engineering 510 Turnpike St., Suite 102, North Andover, MA 01845 e: jsp...@uie.com p: +1 978 327 5561 http://uie.com Blog: http://uie.com/brainsparks Twitter: jmspool UIE Web App Summit, 4/19-4/22: http://webappsummit.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
On Feb 2, 2009, at 2:12 PM, Katie Albers wrote: I feel compelled to reiterate my note-taking plea here: Don't do it! Note-taking splits your attention and tends to change the behavior of the subject. It's aurally, visually and actively intrusive. Note-taking is evil. Use a tape recorder or a web cam or a small video camera you can mount on the cubicle wall and aim, or similar (depending on what behaviors you're particularly studying) but if at all possible, don't take notes. Much of what you would take notes on can be translated into sound simply by asking questions. Then schedule time between sessions when you can jot down your notes and aides de memoir. I realize that contemporary note-taking is in some cases simply unavoidable, but make sure that you really need to do it in this case before automatically incorporating it. I'd argue that note taking is very valuable and, when properly done, very important to both the observer and the participant. (As an aside: In this case, the subject is not the person you're observing, it's the software you're studying. The formal name in phenomenalogical ethnographic studies is informant, but many of us just use participant. Or their first name, which feels less impersonal.) Trying to remember everything you see, especially in an 5 to 6 hour session, also splits your attention. Tape recorders, web cams, and video cameras change the participants behaviors as much, if not more, than note taking. When I'm doing field studies, I prefer to take a small audio recorder. (I'm in love with the Olympus LS-10, though we often use bulkier Marantz PMD-660s.) However, I still take my trusted Moleskine large- size reporter's notebook, for which I take most of my notes. I would not take notes on a laptop or palm-sized keyboard. If you've never taken notes in a live interview before, I recommend you practice it. It's a learned skill and practicing definitely improves it. Rehearsing your site visit by watching fellow colleagues, taking notes, then writing up your daily summary -- repeating that process a couple of times -- is a great way to work the kinks out and get some practice. Jared Jared M. Spool User Interface Engineering 510 Turnpike St., Suite 102, North Andover, MA 01845 e: jsp...@uie.com p: +1 978 327 5561 http://uie.com Blog: http://uie.com/brainsparks Twitter: jmspool UIE Web App Summit, 4/19-4/22: http://webappsummit.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
I think hidden cameras are a little on the evil side... I just read a Koan about a Zen master that was dying and he gave his pupil his writing and the pupil tossed it into the fire. I think incognito when nobody knows your coming is the best approach. Your cover is already blown people are going to be playing the part. On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 4:00 PM, Will Evans w...@semanticfoundry.com wrote: I love you guys and your polemics - what ever happened to it depends... Now it's Note taking is evil and Eye tracking is voodoo. RED, ACD, GDD, UCD: It all reminds me of the religious arguments people used to get into between kung-fu, aikido, aikijujitsu, shotokan, judo, wingchun, as to which style was the best/most effective/most versatile. only neophiles got in to those arguments. the masters never did :-) New Practitioners used so spend as much time discussing their art/style and often more time discussing, than doing. We had an old saying: Shut up and practice. Same with [insert TLA Silver bullet methodology here] - the process that can be spoken is not the ultimate process. Those who speak, do not know, and those who know, do not speak - the master shows by doing, all else is void and emptiness. ~ will Where you innovate, how you innovate, and what you innovate are design problems Will Evans | User Experience Architect tel: +1.617.281.1281 | w...@semanticfoundry.com http://blog.semanticfoundry.com aim: semanticwill gtalk: semanticwill twitter: semanticwill On Feb 2, 2009, at 3:48 PM, Jared Spool wrote: On Feb 2, 2009, at 2:12 PM, Katie Albers wrote: I feel compelled to reiterate my note-taking plea here: Don't do it! Note-taking splits your attention and tends to change the behavior of the subject. It's aurally, visually and actively intrusive. Note-taking is evil. Use a tape recorder or a web cam or a small video camera you can mount on the cubicle wall and aim, or similar (depending on what behaviors you're particularly studying) but if at all possible, don't take notes. Much of what you would take notes on can be translated into sound simply by asking questions. Then schedule time between sessions when you can jot down your notes and aides de memoir. I realize that contemporary note-taking is in some cases simply unavoidable, but make sure that you really need to do it in this case before automatically incorporating it. I'd argue that note taking is very valuable and, when properly done, very important to both the observer and the participant. (As an aside: In this case, the subject is not the person you're observing, it's the software you're studying. The formal name in phenomenalogical ethnographic studies is informant, but many of us just use participant. Or their first name, which feels less impersonal.) Trying to remember everything you see, especially in an 5 to 6 hour session, also splits your attention. Tape recorders, web cams, and video cameras change the participants behaviors as much, if not more, than note taking. When I'm doing field studies, I prefer to take a small audio recorder. (I'm in love with the Olympus LS-10, though we often use bulkier Marantz PMD-660s.) However, I still take my trusted Moleskine large-size reporter's notebook, for which I take most of my notes. I would not take notes on a laptop or palm-sized keyboard. If you've never taken notes in a live interview before, I recommend you practice it. It's a learned skill and practicing definitely improves it. Rehearsing your site visit by watching fellow colleagues, taking notes, then writing up your daily summary -- repeating that process a couple of times -- is a great way to work the kinks out and get some practice. Jared Jared M. Spool User Interface Engineering 510 Turnpike St., Suite 102, North Andover, MA 01845 e: jsp...@uie.com p: +1 978 327 5561 http://uie.com Blog: http://uie.com/brainsparks Twitter: jmspool UIE Web App Summit, 4/19-4/22: http://webappsummit.com Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
I'd completely agree w/Jared's comments below. Good note taking is very, very important. So important in fact that we developed our own framework to track everything in. Record anytime you can. I use a small Leica to photograph any time I can. On Feb 2, 2009, at 3:48 PM, Jared Spool wrote: Trying to remember everything you see, especially in an 5 to 6 hour session, also splits your attention. Tape recorders, web cams, and video cameras change the participants behaviors as much, if not more, than note taking. When I'm doing field studies, I prefer to take a small audio recorder. (I'm in love with the Olympus LS-10, though we often use bulkier Marantz PMD-660s.) However, I still take my trusted Moleskine large-size reporter's notebook, for which I take most of my notes. I would not take notes on a laptop or palm-sized keyboard. Cheers! Todd Zaki Warfel President, Design Researcher Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully. -- Contact Info Voice: (215) 825-7423 Email: t...@messagefirst.com AIM:twar...@mac.com Blog: http://toddwarfel.com Twitter:zakiwarfel -- In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not. Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
First of all, let me admit that I never take written notes. Never have. Not in classes and not in my practice. It isn't that I'm bad at it (apparently I take excellent notes) but my neurological makeup makes it a very bad idea; I learn almost entirely through my senses, especially my ears. My statement on note-taking springs from two causes: (1) on the few occasions where I've been forced to take notes, I literally had no idea, later, what had happened. The paper was undoubtedly much the wiser, I couldn't put anything on it in a context that made it make sense to me...and I spent years working with professionals on how to get over this limitation and my brain still works that way...change didn't work (and I can't imagine why anyone thought it would). On the other hand, I have a stunningly good memory. But I rarely encounter anyone who is willing to consider that there may be other ways of creating a record. In any case, Jared, please let me beg off another try at incorporating note-taking again. It's like asking a deaf person to listen more carefully. (2) I find that note taking is a default that works against any further examination of alternative methods of recording one's reactions, on the spot observations, questions, etc. Often those are better recorded through another means, but people don't look for any other means because they'll just take notes. In any case, it's always another distraction, and how many do you want to tolerate? As far as terminology, this is one of those cases when I consider the user's actual behavior to be the subject of the trial, although obviously their behavior is in reference to the trial of the software. Therefore, although I call the manipulators in a one-on-one software test testers in order to emphasize their agency; I refer to them in a contextual enquiry as subjects because it's their reality I want to get into, not the software's. I can readily see arguments in opposition, but these terms have always worked for me. I tend to make my statement's definitive and contrary simply because that tends to encourage active consideration, even if it comes in the form of serious and substantial disagreement. And as far as Will's question: yes, it depends...but that means you have to consider alternatives. I admit I find it somewhat entertaining that anyone would consider either Jared or me as neophytes -- and I'm very flattered by the grouping: I have less experience than Jared and I've been at it 15 years. I think I'll take it as a compliment though...It's a long time since I've been called neo-anything :) kt Katie Albers Founder Principal Consultant FirstThought User Experience Strategy Project Management 310 356 7550 ka...@firstthought.com On Feb 2, 2009, at 3:48 PM, Jared Spool wrote: On Feb 2, 2009, at 2:12 PM, Katie Albers wrote: I feel compelled to reiterate my note-taking plea here: Don't do it! Note-taking splits your attention and tends to change the behavior of the subject. It's aurally, visually and actively intrusive. Note-taking is evil. Use a tape recorder or a web cam or a small video camera you can mount on the cubicle wall and aim, or similar (depending on what behaviors you're particularly studying) but if at all possible, don't take notes. Much of what you would take notes on can be translated into sound simply by asking questions. Then schedule time between sessions when you can jot down your notes and aides de memoir. I realize that contemporary note-taking is in some cases simply unavoidable, but make sure that you really need to do it in this case before automatically incorporating it. I'd argue that note taking is very valuable and, when properly done, very important to both the observer and the participant. (As an aside: In this case, the subject is not the person you're observing, it's the software you're studying. The formal name in phenomenalogical ethnographic studies is informant, but many of us just use participant. Or their first name, which feels less impersonal.) Trying to remember everything you see, especially in an 5 to 6 hour session, also splits your attention. Tape recorders, web cams, and video cameras change the participants behaviors as much, if not more, than note taking. When I'm doing field studies, I prefer to take a small audio recorder. (I'm in love with the Olympus LS-10, though we often use bulkier Marantz PMD-660s.) However, I still take my trusted Moleskine large-size reporter's notebook, for which I take most of my notes. I would not take notes on a laptop or palm-sized keyboard. If you've never taken notes in a live interview before, I recommend you practice it. It's a learned skill and practicing definitely improves it. Rehearsing your site visit by watching fellow colleagues, taking notes, then writing up your daily summary -- repeating that process a couple of times --
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
On Feb 2, 2009, at 4:40 PM, Katie Albers wrote: (1) on the few occasions where I've been forced to take notes, I literally had no idea, later, what had happened. The paper was undoubtedly much the wiser, I couldn't put anything on it in a context that made it make sense to me...and I spent years working with professionals on how to get over this limitation and my brain still works that way...change didn't work (and I can't imagine why anyone thought it would). On the other hand, I have a stunningly good memory. But I rarely encounter anyone who is willing to consider that there may be other ways of creating a record. In any case, Jared, please let me beg off another try at incorporating note- taking again. It's like asking a deaf person to listen more carefully. Katie, with all due respect, I could care less whether *you* take notes or not. If note taking doesn't work for you, then don't do it. (Though, if you're recording the session, don't you take notes off the recordings? What do you do with them if you're not taking notes off of them?) However, there is a long gap between you deciding note taking doesn't work for *you* and declaring them evil and suggesting that nobody should ever do it. Having spent many hours in my career training researchers to take good notes, I can tell you that (a) good note taking is not a natural talent, it's a learned skill, (b) most people don't learn in school how to take good research notes (or even passable ones), and (c) it takes practice to become proficient at it. That said, I still prefer it to retrospectively trying to glean useful information from recordings post facto. It doubles the research time (at a minimum -- in fact, it could be longer for some types of studies), it loses context, and it boring as all get out. There is nothing that can turn a great, exciting, fun research project into something completely dreadful as transcribing notes off of recordings. (2) I find that note taking is a default that works against any further examination of alternative methods of recording one's reactions, on the spot observations, questions, etc. Often those are better recorded through another means, but people don't look for any other means because they'll just take notes. In any case, it's always another distraction, and how many do you want to tolerate? Again, this is just a lack of training. Good researchers and journalists learn to take notes while being introspective and interrogative. This isn't rocket science, but it isn't natural either. It takes learning a skill and practicing it. What you're describing is poor note taking practice. It takes no skills to do a crappy job at anything you put your mind to. (Damn. I say this so often that I've decided to call it Spool's First Law of Competency.) As far as terminology, this is one of those cases when I consider the user's actual behavior to be the subject of the trial, although obviously their behavior is in reference to the trial of the software. Therefore, although I call the manipulators in a one-on- one software test testers in order to emphasize their agency; I refer to them in a contextual enquiry as subjects because it's their reality I want to get into, not the software's. I can readily see arguments in opposition, but these terms have always worked for me. For someone who is concerned about the behavior changing effects of note taking, have you ever noticed how people respond when they discover you've referred to them as a subject? They get a real glassy-eyed Am-I-A-Rat-In-A-Maze look. It's very dehumanizing, in my opinion. It's not at all empowering. In user research, I'd be happy to see the word subject just banished from the vocabulary. (Testers is another one I wouldn't mind seeing go by the way side.) Partner, participant, and collaborators are all better terms. That's my $0.02. Jared Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Preparing a presentation on Fireworks
I'm getting back into public speaking and giving a short presentation next month on my design process in Fireworks, so I thought I'd collect some questions from the list in advance. I'll be sticking to prototyping rather than my design process as a whole, but will be covering my typical workflow for both rough wireframes and high fidelity/visually polished designs. Anyone in the bay area is welcome to attend: http://www.meetup.com/Fire-On-The-Bay/calendar/9583191/ So, any questions you'd like to see me try to demo (whether specifically about FW or not)? - - Al Abut - - interaction designer, crimefighter http://alabut.com http://twitter.com/alabut - - Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What do you think should be the 3 primary roles/objectives of an interaction designer?
1. Synthesis capacity (to analyze and conceptualize). 2. Visual or aesthetic sensitivity (to imagine and wireframe). 3. Understanding of the environment (to keep in mind the limitations and possibilities). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38049 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What do you think should be the 3 primary roles/objectives of an interaction designer?
1. User Advocate. 2. User Advocate. 3. User Advocate. Seriously though. Someone who can create the most innovative and beautiful wireframes and prototypes etc. is not as useful as someone who promotes the end user's views to the larger project team. A second key role is to interact and often translate between marketing and development. A good interaction designer needs to be able to speak both marketese and developerese. He/she needs to be able to create wireframes, prototypes and specs need to be meaningful to both marketing and developers. Third role is to own the design and make sure it meets internal stakeholder and end user needs. By this I don't mean I own it therefore what I say goes. I mean that the interaction designer is the central resource for the interaction design -- taking feedback from marketing and development to ensure the design meets business needs and works within technical constraints etc. etc. Heather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38049 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
If your team has not invested in Axure yet, now is a good time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38056 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products
I'd recommend looking at Morae by TechSmith: http://www.techsmith.com/morae.asp Hal Gill, CEA FGM, Inc. www.fgm.com On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 10:04 AM, Rony Philip philipr...@gmail.com wrote: Hi All, Even in this recession time, I have been given a decent budget for my user experience team. I have planned to invest in usability tools/ products (assets) for our team. E.g. Eye tracker. Could anyone suggest the other tools/products (software or hardware assets) that I could look into? cheers, Rony Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Drawbacks of using Flex for data processingapplication?
This has been a really good thread as an Adobe employee. Very good insights into both pros and cons. If you guys want to talk about Flex or what we've got planned with Flash Catalyst, a few of us from Adobe are going to be at IxDA in Vancouver and we'd be happy to chat. If you want to set something up, send me an email. =Ryan r...@adobe.com http://blog.digitalbackcountry.com/ Platform Evangelist Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
[IxDA Discuss] Web site workflows and the IA
I am looking for examples of Web site workflows that shows the role of the Information Architect Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?
Technology can fail in a myriad of ways. Without note taking, you risk losing the information you spend hours planning to collect. I *always* recommend taking notes (in any form). I take copious notes. I create a document to help me take notes for each participant which includes the questions I need answered and plenty of space for the notes. Depending on the situation, I also create forms to track common events between participants. I then shred, recycle the paper, and plant another tree in my yard for good measure. ;) Carol --- Carol J. Smith Principal Consultant, Midwest Research, LLC http://www.mw-research.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/caroljsmith UPA 2009 International Conference: 8-12 June, 2009 http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/conference/2009/ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] What do you think should be the 3 primary roles/objectives of an interaction designer?
Thanks all for your feedback. I purposely left my original question very vague so as not to lead responses, but I'm particularly interested in the split between what I tend to describe as technical skills ( wireframing, workshops, user research and testing, etc. ) and the other stuff ( evangelizing IxD within the organisation, stakeholder education, strategic consulting, etc.). I'm sure there are many valid reasons that split would change depending on the IxDer you speak to. I guess I was really just fishing for a fresh perspective from outside of my own little bubble. Heather, your second and third key roles hit a particular note for me. My list already mentioned user advocacy (whew!) and promoting the role of IxD within the organisation, but I can certainly identify with the translation and balancing act responsibilities. What tools do you find most successful for bringing marketing and developers toward a common ground? Thanks again, Marcus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38049 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Telling Interactive Stories - At NYCUPA Event
Thanks for the plug for us content strategists, Chris. I don't disagree with you--it can only help all of us who work in the interactive space, no matter how we self-define, to talk more about how we construct narratives. Speaking from a personal perspective, though, I'd like to see the reverse happen: for content people to be acknowledged not just as the providers of the raw material for the real designers, and not just as wordsmiths and/or data manipulators%u2014but as user experience professionals with the very expertise you discuss, whose visual and structural capacity brings them to this work, and whose collaboration on design exponentially improves the interactive experience. And just so you don't think I'm being entirely altruistic here (ha!), please feel free to see my blog post about Andrew's presentation at http://elenamelendy.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37828 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Telling Interactive Stories - At NYCUPA Event
I have to agree with Beetlejuice on this one. In both points. Especially the one about game design. GD is my own background and everything we do in our games is about building a narative with the user. Personal stories, scripted stories, even abstract games like bejeweled are all about something someone can be proud of and boast about. In other words, a story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37828 Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .. http://www.ixda.org/help
Re: [IxDA Discuss] [Iai-Members] Introducing Quince: A UX Patterns Explorer
I find this REALLY impressive work on many levels Thanx for sharing! In particular it is a great example of RIA design (yes, peeps you have to download a new plug-in, so what!?!) . -- dave On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 7:28 PM, J. Ambrose Little ambro...@gmail.comwrote: Hi folks! I thought you'd like to know about a new (free) tool that Infragistics just released. We call it Quince, and it's a RIA UX patterns explorer. You can read my in-depth intro http://snipurl.com/quince-intro that covers what you can do and some of the thinking behind it, if you like, or just jump right in and try Quince now http://quince.infragistics.com . You need Silverlight, but it's an easy install on both Windows and Mac--just follow the link to install. I use it mostly in Safari on my Mac and Chrome on Vista, but it should work in Firefox and IE, too. ;) Quince Community - You Guys and Gals I've seen a fair amount of conversation on this list, and a ton of good advice being bandied around (accordions, tag clouds, and much more). Problem is, it just gets lost and you end up having to repeat yourself. A nice thing about Quince is that you can use it as a reference point for advice--you can communicate best practices through patterns and simply point people in that direction. (And of course you get all the other nice things design patterns do for you.) Quince offers a number of different kinds of community participation where you can show your stuff and also learn from others: - Use the I Use This on the pattern viewer to simply indicate you use it (and thereby suggest it is worth using for others). - Suggest improvements to the patterns--we thought this was better than ad-hoc, wiki style to help ensure quality. - Share examples of patterns--simply upload a screenshot with a short description and citation. - And finally, the big momma of participation :), propose patterns to the community! We intend to continue to build out the library ourselves with new patterns we find and that build upon these, moving up the interaction chain from the lower level ones that often map to widgets/controls, to more composite experience-level patterns. There are some like this already there, but there is a lot of room to expand! This is why we chose UX pattern explorer instead of just UI--to emphasize the holistic storytelling approach, i.e., patterns that compose any number of discrete interactions with UIs and widgets to achieve a particular goal. Another benefit I hope folks will see from Quince is that it can help to get developers and designers speaking the same language. For instance, we, Infragistics, are pretty well known in the .NET developer community, and we're telling them all about this tool, too, and hoping/expecting they'll use it themselves. (The reception on twitter and blogs even just today has been enthusiastic.) Design patterns are something already familiar to devs and architects, so if folks in these IxD/IA/UX communities come together with the dev communities in Quince, we can continue to help bridge the gap that way. In any case, I hope you find you can use the tool in your own work to discover, find, and use patterns to improve your own designs, and of course any participation would be a benefit to everyone using it. Nota Bene: As you'll see in the Sources section in the patterns, we owe a debt of gratitude to others who have pioneered in this area, particularly Yahoo's library (Christian Crumlish et al) and Jennifer Tidwell's Designing Interfaces, among others. If you're reading, thanks! (We'd love to have you on the Quince Patterns Council.) Even though we have endeavored to provide original content for the patterns, certainly their work informed us, guided us, and provided a solid foundation to jumpstart this community. (We did keep the same pattern names because we felt creating new ones would counteract part of the purpose of patterns--providing common vocabulary.) Cordially, Ambrose Little Quince PM and IxD Infragistics, Inc. P.S. We do have feeds inside the app for various Quince content-related stuff, but if you want to stay on top of new developments, design rationale thoughts, announcements, and such regarding Quince (and other UX schtuff), our new UX team blog, Round Edges http://blogs.infragistics.com/blogs/ux, is the place to track. (Bear with us as the forums and blogs receive a facelift.) ___ IA Institute members mailing list Post to this list: iai-memb...@lists.iainstitute.org List information (including archives and unsubscribing: http://lists.iainstitute.org/listinfo.cgi/iai-members-iainstitute.org Check out IAI's IA Summit Workshop March 18, 2009 Beyond Findability: Reframing IA Practice Strategy for Turbulent Times https://www.asis.org/Conferences/IA09/seminars/Wed_Beyond_Findability.html -- Dave Malouf http://davemalouf.com/
