How do you really know what your users want? How do you ensure your designs work for your prospects and customers? How can you be confident that your design changes improve your site? There are those that believe that user research must be a complex and scientific process that takes a lot of time, money, and resources. However, in the real world, most designers and developers don't have the luxury to spend weeks and months on their user research. It's possible to get useful results without the time-consuming expense of traditional user research methods. In this presentation, Christine Perfetti will share proven strategies and techniques for successfully integrating UX research into your process. You'll learn how to answer essential design questions using methods that take only a day—and sometimes only 10 minutes!

1. Rethinking UX Research
Best Practices for Evaluating and Improving Your Web
Sites
@cperfetti

4. Why UX research?
Doug Dietz
Principal Designer,
GE Healthcare

7. What prevents your team from running UX
research studies?
Not enough time
Not enough staffSlows the team down
Little buy-in from management
Unsure where to start
Too scientific
Unsure where to find users

9. MAKE A BUSINESS IMPACT

10. Involve stakeholders at the beginning

12. It’s about quality, not quantity
Your choice of research project matters
Identify a champion
Focus on quick wins

13. Review the web analytics

14. Data sources
• Visitor traffic and server logs
• Conversion funnels
• Search engine logs

21. 800,000 of Microsoft’s
pages have never been
loaded from the server

22. Web analytics are a great starting point
Web analytics highlight potential problem areas
Tell us what is happening on the site
Don’t tell us why users behave in a certain way

23. Web analytics have limitations

24. Balance quantitative with qualitative research

33. IMPROVE DESIGNS

34. A usability test involves putting your
users in front of your product and
observing what they do

35. Usability tests can be done anywhere

38. Running a test session
• Greet the user
• Explain to user how the test will work
• Give the users tasks to complete
• General Q&A
• Debrief with observers

39. Look for indicators of user failure
Back button
Pogosticking
Search
FAQs

40. Tests can be fast
5 Second Tests: Quick technique for measuring web site content
pages
• Takes less than 10 minutes to run
• Measures if content pages quickly communicate their purpose

41. Sharing your pictures online
• You want to post pictures online from your last
vacation
• You are concerned that the upload process will be
difficult
• How confident are you that you can easily and
quickly upload photos?

44. Sharing your pictures online
• You want to post pictures online from your last
vacation
• You are concerned that the upload process will be
difficult
• How confident are you that you can easily and
quickly upload photos?

47. Sharing your pictures online
• You want to post pictures online from your last
vacation
• You are concerned that the upload process will be
difficult
• How confident are you that you can easily and
quickly upload photos?

50. BUILD EMPATHY

51. Start with the problem, not the solution

52. Ethnography
It’s lean: Fast, cheap, and informal

53. • You are the apprentice
• Focus on the person
• Focus on the present and past
• Avoid leading questions
• Ask open-ended questions
Ethnography tips

54. LEARN QUICKLY

56. “We’re building a what with what?”Heather O’Neill, Above the Fold
http://www.abovethefolddesign.com/blog/2010/08/24/from-paper-to-prototype/

57. ENCOURAGE COLLABORATION

61. WHAT IS THE END GOAL?

62. Can we come back
tomorrow?

63. • Pick a project that makes an impact
• Start small
• Conduct quick tests
• Involve the entire team
• Start today!
Remember to ...

64. THANK YOU!