This presentation was given at Drupal Design Camp Boston on 6/14/09 as well as Bar Camp NH on 9/26/09.

1. Understanding the Value of User Research,
Usability Testing, & Information Architecture
Kyle Soucy, Founding Principal
Usable Interface www.usableinterface.com

2. The Ockham's Razor Principle of
Content Management Systems
“Given two functionally equivalent content
management systems, the simplest one should
be selected.”
- Dries Buytaert
Original creator and project lead of Drupal

3. Are YOU responsible
for this?

4. Don’t believe me?
Ask them!

5. Don’t assume that people
think the way that you do.

6. If you don’t care
about people, you can’t
create a
usable
product!

7. When people interact
with a product they’re
interacting
with YOU.

8. Why Usability is
Important?
• Nowadays, it’s survival of the easiest!
• Reduced support costs
• Can’t afford to NOT get it right the FIRST
time.
• Higher revenues through increased sales

9. Common Usability
Problems
• Lack of objective (no clear call to action)
• Vague/misleading labels and navigation
• Poor functionality (broken links, scripting
errors, etc.)
• Too many features...

10. Source: Human Factors International, Inc.

11. How do we prevent this?

12. User-Centered Design
(UCD)
"Human-centered design is characterized by: the
active involvement of users and a clear
understanding of user and task requirements; an
appropriate allocation of function between users
and technology; the iteration of design solutions;
multi-disciplinary design." - ISO 13407

13. Usability
"[Usability refers to] the extent to which a
product can be used by specified users to
achieve specified goals with effectiveness,
efficiency and satisfaction in a specified
context of user." - ISO 9241-11

14. Usability Methods
User Research Focus Groups
Heuristic Evaluations Log File Analysis
Surveys Eye Tracking
Card Sorting Usability Testing

15. User Research

16. User Research is NOT
Market Research

17. Qualitative vs.
Quantitative Research

18. Why can’t I
just use a focus
group?

19. Purpose of User Research
Making sure the product provides
what the customer needs and wants.
Quality Assurance
✓ Does the the feature work?
Usability Testing
✓ Can it be used easily?
User Research
✓ Is the feature even needed?

20. Value of User Research
Making sure all your resources are being used effectively.
RESOURCES: INVESTMENT: OUTCOME:
Design Confidence that
Engineering
you are building a
product that is
Marketing/Sales
wanted, needed
Support and will be used by
Etc. your customers.

21. User Research
Methods
• In-depth Interviews
• Contextual Inquiries
• Field Studies
• Diary Studies

22. Personas
Source:Viget Labs

23. Usability Testing

24. What is Usability Testing?
Observing real customers
as they actually use your product.
Image source: facit digital

25. Usability Testing
Process
• Define what you are testing
• Define who you are testing
• Define the tasks you are testing
• Recruit users
• Prepare the prototypes
• Conduct dry-run
• Facilitate tests
• Conduct Analysis

27. Usability Labs
Source: Kent State University

28. Who should you test?
• Create a recruiting screener
• Include existing users as well as the people
you are trying to target
• Make sure to cover all user groups
• Get buy-in from project stakeholders

29. How many users do
you need to test?
Source: Jakob Nielsen

30. Budget Allocation
What NOT to do...
1 Round of Testing

31. Budget Allocation
What you SHOULD do...
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
Design Design
Iteration Iteration

32. Remote vs. In-Person
Testing
Vs.

33. When should you test?
The earlier,
the better...

34. Low vs. High-Fidelity
Prototypes

35. UCD on a Small Budget
• Don’t record tests on video
• Don’t use a lab
• Use surrogate users
• Don’t write reports

36. Real-Life Example
Vs.

38. Information
Architecture

39. What is Information
Architecture?
Organizing, labeling, and classifying content
so it can be easily retrieved.
Image source: facit digital

40. How to Create an
Effective IA
You must understand:
• Business Objectives
• Content
• User Objectives
• Context of Use

41. IA Methods
• Card Sorting
• Free Listing
• Mental Models
• Affinity Diagramming
• Search Log Analysis

42. Good Resources
• Usability.gov
• BoxesandArrows.com
• UXmatters.com
• UPAssoc.org
• NNGroup.com
• UIE.com

43. Summary
• First step to user-centered design is to
realize your end users are not YOU
• Include your users in the design process
• Usability testing is not a validation test
• Testing earlier pays off more

44. Thank you!
www.usableinterface.com