UX and Metrics – Measuring the Impact

25 Saturday Feb 2012

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Over on Usability.com there is an article about measuring the impact of a “findability” initiative: What’s in a Metric? Well, It Depends.

Ah, yes, the UX classic non-answer – it depends. And of course it does. The business is asking for a measurement of value, what are we getting for our investment in findability? This is a question we should all expect, and as budgets continue to be tight and business run leaner and leaner, it is one that is being asked in all areas of the business.

It is an interesting article and worth a read. It covers one perspective on how to look at this problem and what to think about when planning out your measurement strategy.

  • Whose perspective are you measuring?
  • What kind of thing are you measuring – actions or perceptions?
  • What else is happening at the same time that may confound your data?
  • What are the direct and indirect impacts of the design work and other changes in your site?

All valid questions and good consideration points. It is certainly on point regarding the context of the metrics you measure and interpret, as well as the difference between attitudinal and behavioral metrics. What do people actually do, and how do they feel about it?

In term of attitudes vs behaviors, it is important to remember that both are important to a brand’s overall success – attitudes are an essential component to overall loyalty, and  attitudes color the user’s perception of the efficacy of the site.

About controlling variables in the site – this means how you go about determining if your design change is the actual explanation for changes in measured behaviors.

Two ways to try and control that:

  1. Use A/B testing to run the new design and the old design simultaneously, that way the other variables impacts are minimized or negated.
  2. Take the design into a controlled usability test. It becomes a qualitative test at that point, but you can control the conditions of the test and isolate the design change.

In the real world, you may use a combination of both to assess the efficacy of your design enhancements, and as always, be mindful about how you measure and how you interpret your metrics.

We will always be asked to show proof. Is what we are doing valuable and getting results? We need to measure our work, and connect it back to what the business values – revenue, cost, reputation. Then we can stand up and say that our work is truly working for the organization. Not only is doing good design good for the users and the right thing to do – but it is good for the organization as well.

And you can take that to the bank.

SOPA dead in the water

20 Friday Jan 2012

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Washington Post (and many others) are reporting that the sponsor of the SOPA bill, Lamar Smith, will delay further action on pushing the bill forward. This comes after massive online protests, site blackouts, and defection of many of the original supporters.  Outrage, action, resolve = results. PIPA next?

Tablet shopping – mobile or not mobile?

19 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in e-commerce, user experience

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DMN is reporting on an Adobe digital marketing report that found that digital shopper using tablets spend 54% more per cart than smartphone users and 21% more than desktop users.

The article quotes John Mellor, Adobe/Omniture VP, as saying:

Retailers need to stop thinking of mobile as one big category that includes tablets and smartphones,” he said. “Having a one-size-fits-all approach to mobile is like saying you have one Internet strategy. Retailers would benefit by segmenting tablet users and smartphone users into different buckets.

This is certainly true, and if you segment the demographics of the tablet users, you’ll likely find that they are more affluent, earlier adopters, and therefore are likely to be bigger spenders regardless of access device. But I question the validity of putting tablets in the mobile category in the first place. Since it is an emerging device in the digital retail space (and smartphone shopping is not that well established either) and since most tablets can have a mobile plan associated with it for mobile use, it is tempting to look at it as a “mobile thing.”

However, just as John is saying to have a segmented, sophisticated approach to mobile, that goes for all shopping scenarios. And it’s not about device, it’s about context.

Context is King

Context of use is how we should be thinking about digital experiences, including shopping behaviors. The context is described by things such as the location, environment, social, and device aspects of the experience. By understanding the contexts in which our customers are engaging with the digital channel, we can craft experiences that meet their needs, respects their boundaries, and makes them happy.

For example, I have been working with an e-commerce client that sells home improvement and furnishings online. A recent analytic report showed that while their overall traffic remained stable over the past two years, their mobile traffic has steadily increased, clearly showing a shift of traffic from desktop to mobile. However, just over 50% of their traffic are tablet users.

What that tells me is that not only are users migrating some browsing time to mobile – they are shifting from traditional desktop/laptops to tablets. I am recommending that we do additional observational research to test my hypothesis, but I’m guessing that these folks are sitting on their couch with their iPad and spouse, talking about home improvement (or walking around the house with the iPad looking at products for each room). In this context, I would not treat tablet as a segment of “mobile” – if we look at the context of use, this would be more akin to a lighter, more couch-friendly laptop use, instead of a “mobile” context in which the user most likely away from home, in a store, on the go, waiting in line…

If we find that this is the case, then we should develop our strategies around how the tablet experience can support interesting engagements in this context. We should be thinking in terms of the context of use, and which devices come into play in each context.

For example, in the above scenario, what does a tablet experience in the home afford the customer that a laptop do not? How about this – walk around your house and use the iPad camera to take a picture (or a panoramic?) of the room, now be able to change the furniture, appliances, wall colors… in an immersive application, then save that off as a wish list and budget.

Now, of course you could do that with a laptop (get your camera, take a picture, upload it, then do it) or smartphone (if you want to pan around the room and resize a lot on the small screen) but on a tablet this can be an awesome experience. And this client would be taking advantage of, and layering interesting experience onto, behavior their customers are already doing.

So, bringing the tablet into the “home” context may be more relevant than into the “mobile” context. Now, I know that from an analytics perspective, tracking the device is doable, tracking the context is a much trickier proposition. But by combining analytics with qualitative research methods, we can begin to understand the customer situation much better – and be able to give them more of the brand experiences they will love.

Your customers are not as dumb as you think

06 Thursday Oct 2011

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In a fit of burrito and fresh-fried tortilla chips, I went to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. While waiting to be seated, I noticed this sign up on the wall of the entrance to the bar:

 

Okay, maybe I’m not thinking of this correctly, but if your Happy Hour prices are “all day, every day” isn’t that just your regular prices?

This reminds me of the “special pricing” that is always in effect for certain clothing stores. Nobody really believes they are getting a deal because they all know that no one pays the “originally marked price.”

So, if you are in charge of marketing, sales, product pricing, or just your neighborhood bar, don’t insult your customers and think you are convincing them they are getting a deal. Don’t bother trying to daze and confuse your customers with strange pricing and discounting schemes. It makes you look dishonest and more difficult to do business with.

Your customers want to like you, feel good about giving you their money and attention, and feel good about themselves for getting something they want at a fair value. Make it easy to like you. Make it simple to understand the price and value. And above all, treat your customers with respect, the kind of respect you would like to have. You are someone else’s customer, after all.

Google Priority Inbox – The Start of Something Fantastic?

01 Thursday Sep 2011

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Google has launched a new feature, Priority Inbox, that sorts your Gmail inbox according to what it deems your most important messages. The importance is based on things like how often you read messages with the same keywords, from the same senders, and whether you are the only recipient. You can teach it to refine the effectiveness by indicating if a message is important.

This is awesome. Thank you Google for a feature I have been wanting and thinking about for quite some time. Take my behaviors and turn them into something of use to me. Sift through the deluge of information that is coming my way to bubble up what I want to pay attention to. Beautiful.

According to TechCrunch’s review, there is a problem.

My biggest gripe so far is the fact that there’s no way to tell why a given message has been deemed important.

The why. Well now, that is an issue, isn’t it? Feedback to make the system smarter won’t work without the context of why. Is the worry that exposing the why will expose the algorithm and make the system susecptible to spammers and competitors?

Behaviors need to be contextualized for them to be truly understood. And that understanding is what can make these types of systems smart and useful.

Trust Networks – the Next Frontier

Now to really, really make this sing, I’d like to see this evolve to use not just social networks and frequency of communciations, but true trust networks. There are some people I really trust and want to make sure I am communicating with. Then there are others in my social circle that are not as important, information-wise. Allow me to prioritize my contacts into different levels of trust and let me see the truly most important information. Not just what they send, but what else they view and tweet and blog.

Then I’d really get some time back.

Fold? What world are you living in?

10 Friday Jun 2011

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There was a question and conversation in one of the user experience community sites over the past few days over whether or not it was important to consider the “fold” anymore. I had to do a double-take on it and check to see that I was not just looking at an old post.

The unequivocal answer is no. As it has been for some time. Of course, you say.

First, “the fold” has not had true meaning for a long time – it assumes a particular browser or set of browsers, maximized to the screen resolution, with default toolbar/menu/wrapper elements. All of these have been false assumptions to base design decisions on for years.

Second, the idea of pixel-level control over the presentation of content that is not contained in an RIA or other control is a fallacy. Variability in system configuration, settings, and so forth make it impossible to predict perfectly what the presentation will look like – all we know for sure is that it will not look like the design comp. Plus, if you are being a good design citizen and ensuring users can control font sizes and providing accessibility in your design, you know that variable presentation is a given. What does “the fold” mean to a screen reader?

Third, and most importantly today, the devices, “browsers,” and screens that your digital experience will be on are evolving and multiplying by leaps and bounds.

So, don’t worry about the fold. There is no fold. In fact, you could ask if there is even a design comp.

What do you have? A dynamic, morphing design that relies on the priority of information and interaction elements and the context in which it is being experienced. Your design strategy is to craft an experience that appropriately morphs itself based on it’s window of engagement. And that morphing must rely on user need priorities, device context, social context, environmental context, and privacy needs.

We, as designers of experiences that happen everywhere, must consider all the places and contexts in which these user experiences will happen. But we must not try and design for each one, we must instead design for them all. All at the same time. In a highly dynamic holistic design.

That is our new job. Sounds like fun to me.

What makes an interactive team? Now flavored for internal goodness

30 Saturday Apr 2011

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I got a question today about how to structure an interactive team from a friend who is working for a product company. They want to introduce an internal team to the organization that would be responsible for the “interactive” work. What were my thoughts and what would the team look like?

Generally speaking, I think the ideal team depends on the type of organization you are talking about, and their core business focus and competencies (or perhaps what you want your competencies to be). It is a different answer if you are a consumer product company, a digital media company, a services company, or as in the case of our company, a digital agency.

In my friend’s case, they are a product company. Them make consumer products, so their interactive needs are mostly sites, marketing, social, etc. In that case, I told him, I would ask yourself: do we need to incur the cost of having a full-blown interactive team that does everything soup to nuts, or should you hire an agency? I know, showing my bias, right? But there is good research and case studies that shows value in having only core competencies internal, and focusing on what you do best – creating great products. Using outside experts when you need to is better than trying to build an internal team that does something that is outside the organization’s core competencies.

I’m not sure that his company wouldn’t be better off having just a small team that can own the strategy and curation of the site content and customer relationships and hire out (either an agency or a small digital design shop) for major design and production work. Going that route, I would hire a Creative Director who fully understands and is expert at digital who will own overall experience and brand translation.

What about the rest of the team? You want to have a senior user experience designer and a production/junior designer that are utility players with expertise across visual design, user experience, interaction design, and mobile design. The senior user experience designer should be experienced in doing user research and persona development. However, I would recommend having the initial research and personas done by an outside research firm, but ongoing research, usability, and so forth should be done internally.

What else? An analyst that can do Search Engine Marketing and Optimization, look at social media data, and interpret the digital analytics. There is probably someone already in the company that is adept at looking at business metrics and operational data that would be a good partner for this analyst for both to develop a more holistic view of both internal and external worlds. In a smaller company, this may even be the same person.

There should be a Brand / Marketing Manager for strategy, social strategy, and who has a copywriter for brand messaging and editorial work. Again, this may already be in the organization in the product marketing department. If so, you should make sure they have experience in writing for digital.

One other role that may be good to have in-house is a front-end development expert for any adjustments and web/mobile/tablet development. However, the interaction designers may have that skill and be able to do that work if the site has a good content management system and a solid template system in place.

With this all said, I would still say most companies should focus their time and money on their core business and not try and do everything internally – because hiring and managing your own staff is a long-term investment. Find a great partner that understands your business and let experts set you up for success. Then hand the keys and responsibility over to your smaller internal team to make that work and sing.

LookTel, a mobile solution enhancing life for people with disabilities

16 Wednesday Mar 2011

Posted by in accessibility, user experience

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Here is another example where digital mobile technology is creating real-world solutions for people with disabilities. LookTel is an innovative mobile solution that, according to the website…

… provides a full suite of accessibility and assistance solutions for visually impaired users. LookTel combines real-time object recognition that lets users identify specific objects.

It can, in real-time (no need to take a picture and process it) read the object and read it to users. The first application reads money denominations, future applications will read packaged goods, medication labels, and the like. Super awesome.

This is the type of thing that I believe will allow digital mobile technology make a difference in people’s lives. It also shows why I’m so frustrated when I hear the argument that mobile technology will create a widening gap for disabled populations. That view is just so vary narrow on what problems technology can be applied to solve.

Think bigger people, there is a world of needs we can be addressing if we look beyond the “mobile campaign” and game apps.

Top 5 Trends We Will See In Social Media In 2011 – The Non-Social Strategist View

01 Tuesday Mar 2011

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I was forwarded a posting by a not-to-be-named “Social Expert” about the Top 5 Trends for social media in 2011 and my reaction was that it sounded a lot like the top trends from last year. Perhaps he just copied and pasted the list and wanted to see if anyone noticed…

So, instead of just complaining, I came up with my own list. Here’s my list of the Top 5 Trends That Will Shape Social Media in 2011.

#5 : Evolution Beyond Campaigns

Companies will  move more aggressively away from thinking of social media as a campaign and messaging platform towards thinking of it as an essential, external customer engagement space. Think Twelpforce on a broader level. And hard look will be made on how social media channels fit into overall customer support and loyalty efforts – not just customer awareness efforts.

#4 : Make Me An Offer We Can’t Refuse

Social deal sharing and deal-making will grow enormously as Groupon and similar services gain major traction. The ability to “name your price” goes from just one person negotiating with Shatner for airline tickets to group negotiation on almost anything. Want to sell me that car today? How about 5 at $20K off each? For some products, instant group purchasing at point of sale will be possible – how many people want to buy this Burberry Pea Coat with me, right now, for the best price we can negotiate?

#3 : Curating for Love and Money

Social media is so much about curating – showing you have the pulse of the topics you care about, the latest trends, fashion, news, technologies, research, ideas… and you are the first to share them out to your friends and followers. This curation will get more explicit play and recognition systems supporting them – moving from just retweets, comments, and leaderboards to more structured credibility systems and credits-earning for real-world products/services. This curation will also drive the disruption of content publishers trying to drive audiences into their sites from the home page and around the site after viewing content – the deep link continues to win…

#2 : Microfinance Enters the Fray

Credit and micropayment services like Facebook Credits will become more ubiquitous and integral to the social media ecosystem. Consumers will also be able to earn credits through sharing and other social behaviors, not just by purchasing them. Social media platforms are going to look to this model to try and increase the monetization of the platform, and ways that brands can play in that microfinance space will evolve. I should be able to buy the hot new EA Xbox game through the EA Facebook Shopping tab using Facebook Credits, right? Additionally, currency exchange will need to be established so consumers can use points earned from tweeting to buy Facebook games, for example.

#1 : The Backlash Will Not Be Televised

The consumer backlash against the marketing and advertising being dumped into social networks will continue and gain serious steam. Social networking and communications feel more like “mine” than almost any digital information/communication, especially for the masses for whom social media is their primary digital communication platform. That feeling of ownership brings protectiveness. The continued increase in use of social networks by brands that are just broadcasting and talking at consumers will prompt a visceral rejection from consumers. We will see more controls given to users to control who can see and intrude on their social activities. Additionally, trust networks creation and management will be more explicitly built into the social media ecosystem to provide more levels of control to users.

Okay, so all you other experts and armchair social media mavens, where am I missing the boat and what do you see coming this year?