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Introducing "CIDeR" (or why I don't like the term "usability testing")

Almost three years ago I wrote stop calling it usability testing, essentially making the argument that the term “usability testing” has a lot of baggage and gets mistaken for other things. I still don’t like using the term in most cases, and I’ll explain why. But in the intervening years I have come up with an alternative, which I’d like to share with you. Within the UX team here at NDM, I’ve been referring to user sessions as CIDeR (Collaborative Iterative Design Refinement) sessions. I’ve had some success in convincing my team-mates and the term is starting to permeate out into the business.

Why CIDeR?

Typically our users are involved in our design process by way of a series of one-on-one sessions where users are shown stimuli of some kind, to elicit feedback. The purpose is to guide the design process and allow decisions to be made (usually) regarding the user interface. Successive rounds are used to allow the design to evolve based on user feedback, in effect making users collaborators in the design process. Hence the name:

Collaborative – The user is an integral part of the process, as are our colleagues from other disciplines. This word also helps break down the ‘UX guy is expert’ and ‘participant is lab rat’ dynamic that can accumulate.

Iterative – The approach works best if it’s a process of constantly evolving the design or the idea. This word helps convey to the business that this isn’t a one shot deal, there will be several rounds of user involvement, with some thinking and designing in between.

Design – Typically the sessions are for the purpose of producing something tangible, whether it’s designing a website or a concept. This word grounds the name/description.

Refinement – We are working towards producing something. In conjunction with ‘iterative’ this word impresses upon people the fact this is a process, and in conjunction with ‘design’ it gives a sense of progress.

Oh, and of course there’s the added benefit of being able to say “let’s have some CIDeR and think it through” when the team reaches an impasse or isn’t sure how to proceed.

We involve users in our process in many other ways, from up-front ethnographic research through to large quantitative market research, and lots of things in between, but the bread and butter would be the CIDeR sessions. Hence it’s important for us to be clear what this work is and what it delivers—to our team but also to our business.

Why not “usability testing”?

There are four problems with the term usability testing as a label for the type of work done in a CIDeR session, some of which are refinements of the point I made last time:

Promises conclusive, definitive results – The term sounds too absolute. As you’d expect from “testing”, after all other types of testing deliver conclusiveness or they’re considered a failure.

Implies a focus on just the UI and usability – Much of what we do is more than usability of the user interface. We’re digging deeper, talking through preferences, perceptions. Part of this is due to the fact that for news products, the content is as much a part of the interface as the buttons, links, labels and code.

Suggests summative application – To many people, when you say “usability testing” they think that’s something to be done at the end, a validation exercise to make sure we can go live. This isn’t at all the case for most of the work our team does, which is more about exploration over time; a fluid process rather than check-list item.

Coloured by past experience – Any term that has been around for a while, and widely misunderstood or misused, will be horribly tainted by the experience stakeholders have had with things labelled with that term. This is certainly the case with “usability testing”. I often see this as a tendency towards quant; people expect task failure rate, ‘time on task’ and other rigid measurements and won’t give up on those kinds of outputs from our work. Again, these are rarely the things we are looking to obtain.

Don’t get me wrong, if you practice a method that does live up to all of these things, and you call it usability testing, good on you. Our team rarely does, so I don’t want to set an expectation in the minds of my stakeholders that that is what they’re going to get. We needed a new name.

How does CIDeR work with other techniques?

The CIDeR approach is qualitative and indicative, rather than conclusive. Which means that some findings (ie opinions, perceptions, propensity to buy/use) may not be representative of the larger population, and as such it is necessary to:

exercise care in taking these findings on board, using them in the right way, and

make use of quantitative methods, either before or after CIDeR, to determine the implications for the broader audience.

Sometimes a more formal method for involving users in the design process is used, which we do call "usability testing". A more rigorous approach is taken to assessing how easily users are able use a given design, typically later in the design process. Because this technique is dealing strictly with usability, it is acknowledged that relatively small sample sizes (~5) can be used to draw conclusions about the usability of the design for the entire audience.

Questioning regarding opinions or propensity to buy/use, however, do require larger sample sizes. So, alongside both the CIDeR and "usability testing" methods, quantitative research may also be employed, typically to gauge reactions to a product proposition or design. This focuses more on supporting decision making at a product level as opposed to the design or user interface level.

"Pour me a glass!" or "Ewww that's left a bitter taste"?

What do you think of the name CIDeR? Would you use it in place of the term usability testing? Why or why not? All feedback greatly appreciated.

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The Claw evolves

My colleague Angus Fraser recently gave The Claw a good workout on some mobile site testing in Brisbane. The screenshot below shows the output of the two webcams side-by-side, viewed in a neat piece of software called AMCap. The two AMCap windows, and the audio from one of the webcams, was recorded and broadcast to observers using GotoMeeting.

There's nothing like some real world feedback to improve a product, and Angus was most helpful in this regard. Besides the introduction of AMCap, Angus pointed out that the webcam mounting solution wasn't the best. The original screws from the webcam base were too short to make it all the way through the perspex and securely hold the webcam, even with the countersinking. So I've enhanced the design by using meatier screws (wood screws actually) that are longer than the original and with wider thread to really bite into the plastic of the webcam. Note this is a destructive enhancement, the new screws will wreck the hole for the original screws and you'll no longer be able to attach the webcam's circular desk stand.

The new screws also have bigger heads that a normal screwdriver will drive (not requiring a jeweller's screwdriver like the original screws). So not only are the webcams held nice and securely, but it's easier to undo and move them.

The other enhancement Angus suggested was to use 'velcro' on the handset, so it can be taken off the Claw for setup changes, but then securely re-attached. The 'velcro' strips are Command Picture Hanging Strips (annoyingly, they don't refer to them as 'velcro').

I also tied the two USB cables for the webcams together with cable ties, making them less messy when using the Claw.

The Claw is evolving!

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Dieter Rams: ten principles for good design

Back in the early 1980s, Dieter Rams was becoming increasingly concerned by the state of the world around him – “an impenetrable confusion of forms, colours and noises.” Aware that he was a significant contributor to that world, he asked himself an important question: is my design good design?

As good design cannot be measured in a finite way he set about expressing the ten most important principles for what he considered was good design. (Sometimes they are referred as the ‘Ten commandments’.)

Here they are.

Vitsœ’s designer, Dieter Rams. Photograph by Abisag Tüllmann

Good design is innovative

The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.

TP 1 radio/phono combination, 1959, by Dieter Rams for Braun

Good design makes a product useful

A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.

MPZ 21 multipress citrus juicer, 1972, by Dieter Rams and Jürgen Greubel for Braun

Good design is aesthetic

The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. But only well-executed objects can be beautiful.

RT 20 tischsuper radio, 1961, by Dieter Rams for Braun

Good design makes a product understandable

It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory.

T 1000 world receiver, 1963, by Dieter Rams for Braun

Good design is unobtrusive

Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.

Cylindric T 2 lighter, 1968, by Dieter Rams for Braun

Good design is honest

It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.

L 450 flat loudspeaker, TG 60 reel-to-reel tape recorder and TS 45 control unit, 1962-64, by Dieter Rams for Braun

Good design is long-lasting

It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today’s throwaway society.

Read about 620

620 Chair Programme, 1962, by Dieter Rams for Vitsœ

Things which are different in order simply to be different are seldom better, but that which is made to be better is almost always different.

Dieter Rams, 1993

My goal is to omit everything superfluous so that the essential is shown to best possible advantage.

Dieter Rams, 1980

Good design is thorough, down to the last detail

Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.

ET 66 calculator, 1987, by Dietrich Lubs for Braun

Good design is environmentally-friendly

Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimises physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.

Read about 606

606 Universal Shelving System, 1960, by Dieter Rams for Vitsœ

Good design is as little design as possible

Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials.

Back to purity, back to simplicity.

L 2 speaker, 1958, by Dieter Rams for Braun

Copyright and usage

All photographs copyright Vitsœ unless otherwise stated

 Vitsœ’s ethos

Back in 1959 Vitsœ’s proposition was to eschew fashion while creating products that would be the neutral canvas on which to paint your colourful life.

After half a century our resolve is stronger than ever: more of us must learn the art of living better with less that lasts longer.

Read more about our ethos

via vitsoe.com

Dieter Rams is the legendary and influential German industrial designer who did really pioneering work at Braun. He has been credited by Apple, amongst others, as a key influence in their design philosophy. He created 10 principles of what consistitutes good design. Every so often, it's worth looking at them again, as they are just as relevant today as they were 30 years ago....

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Google’s ethnographic studies on device use

In a long interview, Matias Duarte, Android’s head of user experience, explains how Google conducted deep user ethnographic studies to understand how people were using their smartphones and other devices.

http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/18/exclusive-matias-duarte-ice-cream-sandwich...

  via Experientia

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How to create a basic iPhone 4 prototype using Axure + WAMP + some other code

This tutorial is intended for you to create "web-app" like prototypes in (almost*) full screen mode.

Step 1

Create a file in Axure with what you would like to prototype using usual methods (320px by 480px).

Step 2

Generate the prototype making sure that just before you generate the prototype in the generation "settings" area you select "Mobile/Device" and then check "Include Viewport Tag".

Step 3

A little tricky bit... This hides the Safari browser chrome.NOTE: This only works if you save the web site to your iPhone's home screen. 

Add this code inside the <head></head> tags of each Axure html page you generate. 

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<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes" />

<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black-translucent" />

-------------

- you can chage black-translucent to default or black. 

Step 4

Place your files on a server. NOTE: if you don't have access to a server you can download and install WAMP http://www.wampserver.com/ for Windows or MAMP http://www.mamp.info/en/index.html for Mac to run it directly from your machine.

 To find your iPhone's IP address, go to settings: http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=496

To find your IP address go to: http://kb.iu.edu/data/aapa.html 

Step 5

Another tricky bit... 

To allow you IP address to access the site go to C:\wamp\alias open "phpmyadmin.conf"  

<Directory "c:/wamp/apps/phpmyadmin3.4.5/">

Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews

AllowOverride all 

Order Deny,Allow 

Allow from 10.11.12.13 (example -Relpace with yours)

Allow from 12.13.14.15 (example -Relpace with yours)

</Directory>

If you're not too worried about security you can use "Allow from all"

Step 6

Finally, browse to your site http://youripaddress/prototype.html, and save the prototype to your home screen http://lifehacker.com/5809338/add-web-site-bookmarks-to-your-iphones-homescreen 

Launch your prototype! Enjoy!

* The prototype will still show the "status" bar - this is where the battery icon sits. 

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Why are UX books so hit-and-miss?

The USiT team at News Digital Media in Sydney provides the meeting space for the increasingly popular UX Book Club Sydney. As I am part of the organisers (together with non-NDMer Ellen), I have always seen it as my task to read every UX book we discuss. That's quite a pile that's accumulated over the last couple of years.

I should probably warn you that some people might not agree with my next statement:

There are many more bad UX books out there than there are good ones.

There, I said it. 

Now, before you sharpen your knives, please understand that I have a pile of books here on my desk that I really enjoyed and that I have referenced many times. BUT there are so many more books I have that were boring / bad / delusional, and I thought it might be time to analyse why that is. So here is my take on it, and I'm not reflecting the opinion of the wider USiT team or the UX Book Club, it's really just me:

"I love anecdotes, and I want to share them"

Some books don't really have one idea, it's more a person believing they have lived through a lot, and they need some framework to put all those experiences in. Such books are a never-ending sequence of "When my great company did this..." or "The other day when I was really awesome, I did..." (I'm obvioulsy being tongue-in-cheek). The problem here is that the title of the book pretends these anecdotes would all serve the purpose of driving home a point, but mostly, they just don't. And because they are anecdotes, one really shouldn't come to conclusions. Particularly UX people who should know better.

"I had something to say in a blog post. Then someone suggested to write a book about it"

I think this might be one of the most common ones: after you've read the book, you put it down and you realise you could summarize it in a sentence or at least in a paragraph. This doesn't at all mean that this summary is bad - many great ideas were wrapped in such a book. But just as with a wrapped present, you really just want to have what's inside... and it's hard not to feel that you just wasted a lot of time for something you could have learned in 5 minutes.

"I come from a different background, and I bring a view to the table nobody has tried before me"

I have a particular book in mind for this one but won't name it because it would be unfair. Let's say, the author would have a strong hobby in something odd. And because it's so odd, the author believes that it gives him (yeah, he's male) a perspective that will change our UX landscape as we know it. So the author checks off every ... single ... UX principle... and puts his particular lense on it. Yes, boring, very! And hardly ever is there anything of note.

"What I have to say is that there is nothing to say"

 I have read at least 2 of this category this year. Instead of coming up with new findings and conclusions or great ideas and perspectives, the authors would keep saying that the field is developing and in a state of flux and that more research needs to be done to really know anything but why don't you have a look at a few random examples here.

  I'm sure there are more categories of bad books out there, feel free to leave them as comments. What disappoints me a little is that when I read through the reader reviews on Amazon, most people don't pick up on this. They praise almost every book to the highest degree and fail to be critical where it counts. No, I am not encouraging to be overly critical of every book but many UX book reviewers seem to not be aware that others buy these books on their recommendation.

And I would also appreciate it if publishers were a little bit more selective about whom they encourage to write yet another book about ground that has been covered many times before.

What do you think? Is this your perception of the UX book market as well?

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Beyond Task Completion: Flow in Design | UX Magazine

Being in a state of flow is a kind of Zen state that some people describe as "being in the zone." There can be a meditative quality to flow: deep breathing, concentration, relaxed but structured. Creative people often describe flow-like sensations after an intensive session of making something. People who play sports also say they're in the zone when they feel fit, practiced, challenged within their abilities, and confident.

I've been interested in the experience of the "flow state" for many years now, possibly because I'm a dedicated real time strategy and round based strategy gamer. Every night, I have to force myself to switch off games like Civilization V that manage again and again to make me forget how time is passing.  This article talks about the book "Flow: the psychology of optimal experiences" amongst other sources and then tries to form instructions for the UX world.  Unfortunately, having read the book myself (somewhat tedious, but good material for the UX Book Club here in Sydney), I believe that at least part of the article are misguided. The author Dana Chisnell analyses correctly that a flow experience increases focus, creativity, productivity and a whole range of other things, but she also interprets it the other way round: as soon as something makes you more productive or creative or increases your focus, it can put you into a flow state. A flow state, however, always has a certain engagement time minimum at its core - you need to work on something for a while to get to that state. A quick engagement with the rating system at Netflix has nothing to do with flow, that's 'simply' a good experience (I know, that's good enough, but it's just not flow, that's all I'm saying, hehe). Flow states happen when users engage with a tool, application, game or general activity for a prolonged period of time, and don't notice the time passing. Everything else moves into the background. Cskikszentmihalyi in his book states correctly that this can only happen when users are faced with a level of engagement that is just challenging enough so that users have to give it their full attention, and entertaining enough that they give this attention willingly. This can range from filling out an excel spreadsheet with hundreds of lines of calculations, over reading through Wikipedia articles for hours, to what I described in the beginning, not getting enough sleep because of Civilization V. 

I also don't want to be too critical: Dana Chisnell (author of the article) makes some great points around usability, and how the application of usability rules can make sure that a flow state is not being disturbed by unnecessary annoyances. The perfect flow state is achieved when tools that need to be used are forgotten, and users use them without even thinking about them. A good example that most of us can probably relate to is driving a car through a beautiful countryside - you will be completely taken by the enjoyment of the view, forgetting that part of that is you driving a car through it, with using steering wheel, gears, clutch etc.

So, to conclude my little rant: flow states are awesome, by all means, but make sure you distinguish between them and simply applying good usability. Good usability can contribute to achieving flow states more easily, but not every flow state is based on good usability, and not all good applications lead to the achievement of flow states. Factors of 'time of engagement' and 'level of task challenge' are much more important ingredients here.

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Axure RP Design Library

Download AXLIB: A robust design library of usable interaction patterns for Axure RP

  This is AXLIB, a library of common UI patterns intended to facilitate rapid prototyping using Axure RP. Managed as an open source project by Luke Perman, AXLIB is released under GNU General Public License v3. The aim of this project is to create a robust design library of common interaction patterns for use with Axure RP.

The library contains widgets for each of these categories:

01_Navigation

02_Search

03_Input

04_Feedback

05_Shopping

06_Personalisation

07_Content

08_Icons

09_Advertising

  Download the library here

Preview the library here

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5 Big Usability Mistakes Designers Make on Carousels - UX Movement

1. Auto-sliding after the user has already taken control 2. Displaying new items in a row one at a time 3. Showing item progress in a confusing way 4. Infinite sliding 5. Tiny click targets

via uxmovement.com

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Old Wine in New Bottles and New Wine in Old Bottles | UX Magazine

the building of bridges between theory and practice

via uxmag.com

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Putting the “Long” into Longitudinal: UX Lessons from Survey Research :: UXmatters

Longitudinal studies look at long-term user experience. Usually, that means over a few months or possibly a few years. But recently, at the European Survey Research Association Conference, I learned about some much longer-term studies that offer some lessons….

via uxmatters.com

- Spotted by USIT Design Research Lead Patrick Kennedy

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Creative Ways to Use Unmoderated User Research :: UXmatters

via uxmatters.com

Patrick Kennedy sez: Great article, not so much for the article itself, but for the discussion that takes place in the comments. Particular Christian Rohrer's comment regarding statistical inference in small sample size testing (ie "3 out of 4 people in my test did/said X!")

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UTS Alumni - Stay Connected - Giving to UTS - UTS Spotlight with ABC - The Digital Era

via alumni.uts.edu.au

How does the media identify and hold audiences in a fragmenting market? And how do you regulate in this global, multi-platform environment?

The Managing Director of the ABC, Mark Scott, will give his thoughts on the future of the media industry in the latest event in the UTSpotlight series.

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What marketing executives should know about user experience

http://www.cooper.com/journal/2011/08/what_marketers_should_know_abo.html#

"User experience design can drive users to be more engaged with brands, but behavior is as important as appearance. The visual interface design sets expectations about the experience, but the product's behavior delivers on that promise. And engagement starts with understanding your customers."

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New Facebook Timeline

http://gizmodo.com/5843354/facebook-timeline-review-this-is-the-greatest-thing-facebooks-ever-done

" This is the single greatest change that Facebook's ever pushed on us—and soon it'll be pushed to 750 million human beings around the planet. Facebook wants Timeline, which is going to completely replace the iconic Facebook Profile, to represent your entire life."

Really? Some people (like me, fer instance) may not want FB to "represent" my entire life.

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BBC unveils new homepage in beta

It's the first major change to the BBC homepage since 2008, with the focus shifting from news to the iPlayer The BBC has launched a new version of its homepage - with focus shifted from news to the iPlayer - in the first major change to the site since 2008.  (via theguardian)

Link to beta site  >  http://beta.bbc.co.uk/

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The S.M.A.R.T. User Experience Strategy

[...]There’s a fundamental problem with stating that your goal is to “create a good user experience.”

It’s not specific, directly measurable, actionable, relevant or trackable. Thus, it will create disagreement and disorganization, sending many projects into chaos. However, we can avoid this by using S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting criteria when defining user and business goals [...]

SPECIF

MEASURABLE

ACTIONABLE

RELEVANT

TRACKABLE

    (via smashingmagazine)