UserResearch

By Arthur Hayden
 A history of User Experience and
the research behind it
EBSCO Information Services – July 2015
My name is Arthur Hayden. I am an intern for the User Research group at EBSCO
Information Services in Ipswich, MA. To gain a better understanding of our department
and the field of user experience design as a whole, I have created this presentation.
Thank you to the rest of the User Research team for giving me this opportunity.
 Definitions History Techniques Leaders Conclusion
Definitions of some A breakdown of Details about some Bios and assorted Takeaways from the
of the key terms and major historical of the most wisdom from a few presentation,
phrases pertaining to events and common of today’s top User acknowledgements,
User Research developments for techniques used in Research minds Q&A
our field User Research

UX Design
The process of enhancing user satisfaction
by improving the usability, accessibility, and
pleasure provided in the interaction
between the user and the product.
User Research (UR)
Any number of investigative techniques
used to add context and insight to the
design process. The term User Testing is also
often used as these techniques are used on
“finished” products.
Definitions
Key terms and phrases
User Experience (UX)
All aspects of the user’s interaction with a
product, service, or company that make up
the user’s perceptions of the whole.
Usability
The effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction
with which specified users achieve specified
goals in particular environments.
Simplified by Jakob Nielsen:
“How easy and pleasant [the product] is to use.”
 History of User Experience/Research
UX through the ages

Circa 1430 – Da Vinci’s Kitchen Nightmare

In an early example of UX design,

Leonardo created working conveyor belts,
a giant oven, and a primitive sprinkler
system for a feast hosted by the Duke of
Milan. All of these innovations failed, but
only because of poor execution: a good
lesson!
Early to Mid 1900s – Efficiency in Engineering
Mechanical engineers such as Fredrick
Winslow Taylor and Henry Ford created
a framework for the relationship
between workers and their tools: early
examples of documented research on
the relationship between users and
their tools/products.
 1955 – Dreyfuss Designing for People

Henry Dreyfuss, an industrial

designer, authors Designing for
People, elaborating on some of
the key principles of usability for
consumer products.

1966 – Disney Designs for Happiness

Walt Disney emphasizes the use

of the latest technologies to
improve people’s lives, inspiring
many user experience designers
today. Design for utility AND joy!
1995 – The First UX Professional 2007 – The Birth of the iPhone
Don Norman, of the Nielsen
Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone, which proves far
Norman Group, joined Apple in
easier and more fun to use than any other
1995 as a “User Experience
cellphone on the market at the time. Apple’s
Architect”, taking the place of
success through superior user experience
what many consider to be the
instantly made UX (and, therefore, user
first dedicated UX position.
research) more important for tech companies.

2015 – Responsive Web Design

As smartphones become even more

influential in our lives, tech products and
websites are facing the challenge of
transitioning to mobile devices. Google
and other tech giants have all emphasized
the growing importance of RWD.
 Common User Research Techniques
Different ways we collect data

Contextual Inquiry
Non-Directed Interviews Researchers observe what people do as
Researchers set up some rough they go about their day, utilizing the
guidelines and converse with their product. This strategy focuses on users’
audience, generally letting the actual activities to get as accurate data
audience control the conversation. as possible from users.

Questionnaires Card Sorting

Researchers invite people to say who This is a reliable, inexpensive method for
they are, what they do, and where finding patterns in how users would expect to
they go. Generally speaking, this is the find content or functionality. Works by forcing
easiest method of gathering raw data. participants to classify things on the fly.
 Thought Leaders
What the best, contemporary UX minds are saying

Jakob Nielsen Janice Fraser Richard Anderson

HCI specialist: co- Interaction designer Longtime UX
founder of NNG; and experienced start- consultant; started the
extensive experience up consultant; co- Experience Center at
with pioneer tech founder of Adaptive Viant; worked for the
companies; godfather Path; CEO of LUXr UX department of
of usability Yahoo!

The field of User Experience/Design is a vast and expanded landscape and it would be impossible to summarize all contemporary
developments and schools of thought through three individuals; however, these three User Experience professionals have very
different backgrounds and present three unique perspectives into the most important features of User Experience and where they
believe User Research is headed.
 Jakob Nielsen
Human-Computer Interaction Specialist, Michael Jordan of tech usability

User Research and Usability Design are Essential

With the number of websites increasing at an exponential rate, those that
do not meet basic usability standards will lose customers to competitors.
Additionally, intranets with poor usability significantly hinder employee
productivity.

Prioritize Testing Over Surveying

While it is easier – and oftentimes very useful – to simply ask users
questions about your products, this is no substitute for watching what users
actually do with the product. What users say can be misleading, even if they
firmly believe in what they tell you. Simple observation eliminates bias.

Jakob’s Law of the Web User Experience

“Users spend most of their time on other websites.”
Users form their expectations for your site/product based on what’s
commonly done elsewhere. If you deviate from that norm, the innovation
must offer significant improvement or users will leave.
 Janice Fraser
Interaction designer, start-up wizard

Two Types of Research Methods

Fraser breaks down the types of user research methods into two groups.
She also talks about the plethora of new tools available for product testing
such as Usertesting.com.

More
Creates participants
Empathy

Produces
qualitative data
Generative Testing Analytically
focused
Generate new
ideas
Quantitative
Few, long
data
conversations
 Richard Anderson
User Experience Expert, Organizational Strategy Consultant, has
exactly one usable headshot on the internet

Anderson has 20+ years of experience working with different companies to move user
experience into a position of greater influence. He has written and published numerous
articles and teachers numerous courses across the country.

A few of the key arguments that he makes on User Experience:

Should we call it Is Usability Design-led vs.

User Research?
The term can imply that our department
only does research with users when in
reailty we also study people who are not
yet users of EBSCO products. Anderson
argues that this phrase can prevent UX
teams from being involved early in the
design process.
Yahoo! merged their UX research group
and the market research group to form
the Customer Insights department.
outdated?
Some UX experts believe that
modern computing is minimizing
the importance of usability
studies. Anderson argues that
more emphasis should be placed
on ”social user research” which
relies on huge amounts of what he
calls ”casual data” from Twitter,
Facebook, etc...
Research-led
Anderson talks about UX
researchers in two different
categories: those who design with
people and those who design for
people. He doesn’t say that one
mindset is necessarily better than
the other, only that transitioning
between the two entails major
cultural change for the company.
 Conclusion
What have we learned

Definitions User Research in Action

• UX encompasses everything Usability Testing of Fruit
• User Research investigates UX
• Usability is a part of UX

Techniques
• Interviews & questionnaires are easy
History • Contextual inquiry generally provides
deeper insight Thought Leaders
• UX is still relatively new
• Lessons from Da Vinci • Growing number of testing resources
• Nielsen: Use usability!
• Apple was important • Fraser: Generative vs. Testing
• Anderson: Culture matters
THANK YOU!