ux for business analysts
TRANSCRIPT
User Experience for Business Analysts
HiI’m Rick DzekmanA User Experience Consultant who’s worked on a wide range of projects from small apps to enterprise software
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1.What is UX?A brief intro to User Experience
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Source: Morville's Facets of User Experience Refined?
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“
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Something is usable if▸ A person of average (or even below
average) ability and experience▸ can figure out how to use the thing▸ to accomplish some desired goal▸ without it being more trouble than it’s worth
- Steve Krug
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▸ Findability / Discoverability are about how users navigate interfaces
▸ Often called “Information Architecture”▸ Includes navigation & search but also
screen organisation (tabs, toggles, etc.)
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▸ Ensuring that the most amount of people can access what we design & build
▸ Includes devices (mobile, desktop), interface (touch, mouse), connectivity (online / offline), and more
▸ Making sure that we don’t discriminate against people with accessible needs
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The other side of the value chain
▸ UX is not just about design▸ To make sure our designs bring value
they need to serve a useful purpose▸ Our target users need to want or need it▸ The entire solution needs credibility to
give our users confidence
Source: Morville's Facets of User Experience Refined?
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2.Requirements GatheringUX design also involves requirements
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Requirements in UX look a little different
▸ Make sure we are building the right thing▸ Don't ask users what they want - instead
use “contextual enquiry” to find out what their goals / problems are
▸ Understand:▹ Goals, Behaviours, Mental Models, Emotions,
Access Methods, Journeys
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Requirements & Goals12
Requirement: car must have a speedometer on the dashboard
Goal: get from point A to point B
A self driving car would address the end goal and may not need this requirement at allGoal: drive at a safe speed to avoid accidents/speeding fines
What if the car automatically knew the speed limit and automatically cruised at that speed unless the brake was applied?
Requirements & Behaviours13
Requirement: alarm must have a snooze option
Behaviour: perpetually hitting snooze till absolute last minute
If we designed an alarm to accommodate this behaviour, what might it look like?
Requirements & Emotion14
Requirement: show user’s current / active bank balance
Emotion: financial difficulty may cause anxiety about available funds to pay upcoming bills
We shouldn’t design a banking platform assuming all users are financially stable. How might we help people alleviate anxiety about not knowing where their money is going?
Requirements & Mental Models15
Business process: if a university student wants to take a semester off they need to apply for a leave of absence; if they don't enrol in units their enrolment is considered lapsed
Possible mental model: student believes they are enrolled at the university unless they drop out and that enrolment means enrolling in subjects. If they want to take a semester off they simply don't enrol in any classes. What could go wrong?
Defining Requirements as a User Journey
Gathering methods▸ Customer Interviews▸ Diary study▸ Observation
Presentation ▸ Personas▸ Journey Maps▸ User stories
Aim▸ Understand goals and behaviours▸ Empathise with users’ emotions▸ Understand their mental models
Purpose▸ Understand different perspectives▸ Consider more than just function▸ Go beyond business processes
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Activity #1Making a persona
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Persona for an eCommerce store
Use someone you know as an example (or yourself)Situation: Person wants to buy something▸ Book, item of clothing, gadget, appliance, etc.
Questions:▸ Do they know exactly what they want?▸ Why do they want to buy it? (gift, occasion, problem, hobby)▸ How long can/will they wait for delivery?▸ What's important? Brand, specific product ID, colour, etc?▸ How tech savvy are they?▸ How do they find the site?
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A Simple Persona Template19
Name
What they are looking for (one line)
A quick profile or stats, e.g:“Not tech savvy”“Cautious”“Time-poor”
Their story…● What are they buying? ● Why?● How did they get to this website?● What are they thinking about?● What’s their emotional state?● How do they expect things to work?● What matters to them about this particular
purchase? (familiar brand, colour, etc.)
Keep it short (2-3 paragraphs)
Persona Reflection
Based on this persona...
▸ How would you design the navigation or “Information Architecture”
▸ What should the checkout be like?▸ When listing products what key information would
we need to highlight to them?
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Requirements & UX - Key Takeaways
▸ Requirements you gather impact customers - real people who sit on the other side of a screen
▸ Using our systems & apps is a small part of end users’ lives and always a means to an end
▸ Emotions, behaviours, and mental models influence how people interact with a system
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3.Information ArchitectureIt’s not about the underlying data
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What is IA?
▸ Information Architecture is not Data Architecture
▸ In the world of UX it is about how our users find the information they need through what we design
▸ It includes navigation, search, content hierarchy, page layouts, and anything that impacts wayfinding
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Navigation, menus, and search
▸ Deep navigation vs wide navigation▹ Depth is how nested nav items are, and how
many nav items you need to go through to get to the thing you are looking for
▸ In the navigation below, where would you click to start an application for their services?
▸ Different people will try different menu options for the same goal; others will go straight to search
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About us New customers Existing customers How to apply FAQ
Taxonomy
▸ Client▹ Project
▹ Release▹ Component
▹ Tasks
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▸ Project▹ Epic
▹ User Story▹ Task
▹ Item
Consider the possible taxonomies we might have for a Project Management tool, e.g.:
Relational Architecture26
Consider how we might organise a media/content hub
▸ Content could be browsed by:▹ User, tag, category, date, type, search query, etc.
▸ Content may have comments▹ Users can see all their own comments▹ Content viewers can see all comments on content
▸ How do we surface new content? “Recommended” content, “similar” content, same tags?
Screen Layout & IA27
Each of these layout decisions influence wayfinding
Tabs
Progress bars
Some page title
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Modals / Dialogues x
Buttons >
Options
Information hiding behind ambiguous icons
Bread > Crumb > Trails
White Space
Why Information Architecture Matters28
▸ Our users have mental models of how information is organised - these models can change over time
▸ When we design navigation (and other wayfinding) we assume a particular mental model
▸ Our assumptions about where users will think to look are very often wrong
How to Design Information Architecture29
▸ Test before we commit to a data model that constricts our IA (and is expensive to change)
▸ Use research techniques like card sorting to work out users’ mental models ahead of time
▸ Test assumptions with Usability Tests / Tree Tests
4.Screen DesignA quick guide to what should be on a screen
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Screen Design: State31
▸ A screen should show the user the current “state” of the system
▸ Questions that could be answered with state:▹ Where Am I?▹ What actions have been performed so far?▹ What is the current status? (e.g. of actions)
▸ Imagine the user gets distracted for 10 minutes and comes back… “what was I doing again?”
Screen Design: Options32
▸ On any single screen the user needs to know what their options are
▸ What actions are allowed / possible?
▸ Where can I navigate to?
▸ What will happen if I select this option?
Screen Design: Feedback33
▸ If an action is performed the screen should give instant feedback to acknowledge the action
▸ This is especially important in interactive systems
▸ This feedback is how we tell the user:▹ “yes, pressing that button did indeed work. Not
only do you not need to press it again but it’s no longer possible to do so”
Screen Design: Response34
▸ Once the result of an action is (quickly) completed we need to let the user know the result
▸ What did the action do? What are the consequences? What does this mean for me?
▸ Were there any problems? Can the action be undone? Can I go back to the previous state?
Screen Design: Heuristic Evaluation35
▸ A good way to evaluate a screen (or a set of screens) is to use a heuristic evaluation
▸ Jakob Nielsen has an article called: ▹ “10 Heuristics for User Interface Design”
▸ Use these heuristics to evaluate designs
Screen Design as a BA36
▸ As a BA you often define the requirements for various screens / interfaces
▸ Sometimes you even wireframes / design them
▸ It’s easy to get lost in business / technical requirements and forget about end users
Activity #2Heuristic Evaluation
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Heuristic Evaluation Exercise38
▸ Take an App or Website you are familiar with
▸ Go to a random inner screen / page
▸ Evaluate the screen against the 10 heuristics
▸ How effective would this be for a first time user? What about a less tech-savvy one?
5.Usability TestingA primer on testing usability
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Usability Testing is not like UAT40
▸ Usability testing is used to see if an end user is capable of completing some task (or goal)
▸ No instructions are given to the user other than a specific task
▸ Help is given to users only if they get stuck and cannot complete the process (obviously this is considered a bad thing)
How Usability Testing Works (1)41
▸ Give users a specific task which has an end goal (e.g. find the location of your next exam)
▸ If possible try to find an actual end user, using their own behaviours and goals
▸ If you can't find actual end users try anyone who hasn't seen the system, do a “hallway usability test” where you ask the closest person near you, if you are really stuck ask a team member on the project
How Usability Testing Works (2)42
▸ Tests can be done on paper prototypes, wireframes, dev/test releases, or live in production
▸ During the session ask the participant to think out loud, let you know what's on their mind, ask you any questions they might have
▸ Try to record the session (screen capture + audio + (optional) webcam) to review later
▸ Find the biggest difficulties people had and try to come up with a solution to address them
Activity #3Usability Test
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Usability Testing Exercise - Pair Up!44
▸ One person will pick an app/site they are familiar with; give a task to the other person; then observe, prompt the person to think out loud, take notes
▸ Second person will use the app/site to complete a specific task on the phone
▸ Where do they go? What do they click? Why? What are they thinking/feeling? Did they succeed?
▸ Make the task have a specific end goal - “order an Uber”, “create a shopping list”, “find this video”, etc.
Usability Testing Outcomes45
▸ Who succeeded in their task?▸ What were the first steps they took?▸ What was easy? ▸ What was difficult?▸ What would be one thing you could change to
make this experience better?
6.Wrap-UpWhat to take away from this session
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Key Takeaways47
▸ When gathering requirements try to get input from your actual users through “contextual enquiry”
▸ Think about Information Architecture (and test it)
▸ Usability is perfected through testing - don’t just do UAT but try usability test with real users too
Recommended Reading48
▸ “Don't Make Me Think (Revisited)”▹ By Steve Krug
▸ “The Design of Everyday Things”▹ By Don Norman
▸ “The Elements of User Experience”▹ By Jesse James Garrett
▸ “A Project Guide to UX Design”▹ By Russ Unger and Carolyn Chandler
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THANKS!Any questions?You can find me at www.rickdzekman.com or on Twitter, LinkedIn, or SlideShare