http://projectuxd.com/?page_id=61
Salary and contractor rate surveys
iainstitute
aiga
coroflot
aquent
tools
web traffic analytics tools
- google anaytics
- webtrends.com
- www.omniture.com/en/products/web_anaytics
conferences
- user interface engineering's web app summit
- adaptive path's UX intensive
- nielsen norman group's usability week
well known UX organizations that host events
www.ixda.org iaininstitue.org asis.org sigchi.org usabilityprofessionals.org
lists of heuristics
impact ranking for ui issues
- high: u think the issue will cause many users to fail a task or to permanently lose information
- medium: causes frustration and errors but not irreversible errors
- low: cause confusion but not lost time or frustration
user-research techniques
most of these take about 4-6 weeks (including waiting for user recruitment)
- 1-on-1 user interviews (12 ppl)
- "focus on participants' personal experiences. Don't ask them to speculate on what they may do in the future or on what others may do. This kind of information rarely predicts what they actually will do. Don't ask questions that imply a specific answer or lead a participant in a positive or negative direction. Ideally, questions are simple, neutral, and open ended. Some examples of leading questions are:
- What do you like about PseudoCorporation?.com?
- This assumes the user likes using the site. Use this question only if you also ask what they dislike about it.
- Does PseudoCorporation?.com meet your expectations?
- This can be answered with a simple yes or no, which doesn't give you much detail to help with your design efforts.
- Would you rather use PseudoCorporation?.com or CompetitorVille?.com and, if the latter, why do you think they are better than Pseudo?
- This has a couple of problems: it's asking two questions in one statueement, and it forces an implied opinion on the participant.
- Better questions to ask are these:
- Tell me about your lart visit to PseudoCorporation?.com. Why did you go there?
- What do you remember about your visit?
- "
- Don't use too many multiple-choice questions. "... these don't give you very rich information. They can be hard for participants to follow when asked verbally, and they don't allow users to elaborate."
- contextual inquiry (watching the users in their workplace) (12 ppl)
- surveys
- "If you want a high degree of confidence in your results and have the budget for it, there are formal tools available for measuring user satisfaction with regard to ease of use. These tools include questions that have been tested to ensure they are not leading or confusing to a broad audience. Three of the most commonly used are:" (ACSI omitted b/c you can't see the questions on their website)
- "For more on designing, distributing, and analyzing surveys see Improving Survey Questions: Design and Evaluation, by Floyd J. Fowler (Sage Publications, 1995)."
- "Google Spreadsheets has an option for converting a spreadsheet into a survey, which then feeds back into the spreadsheet. And it’s free! http://docs.google.com"
- Survey Monkey is another popular tool for surveys and includes information on collecting and analyzing results: http://www.surveymonkey.com
- focus groups (2 groups of 6-8 each)
- "when you call on someone who hasn't answered yet, be sure to repeat the question..."
- "... avoid making a difference in opinion seem like a disagreement between two individuals. Don't say, "Bob, we haven't heard from you yet. What do you think about what Chris just said? but rather (looking at Bob), "How about you, Bob? What kinds of experiences have you had with Pseudo Corporation's customer service?"
- "As moderator, you control the flow of the discussion and you pass the virtual microphone around. You keep control using eye contact, volume of speech, arm movements, and orientation of your bdy. Most people will be very aware of your body language, and these cues can be useful signals if someone is dominating the conversation. If an overly vocal participant doesn't get those hints, use a gentle but firm statement such as, "OK, great, I'd like to open that thought up to othres. Has anyone else encountered some of the same issues that Theresa has?""
- "... when the activity is nearing its end, a simple look at your watch and shift in your body orientation can signal that the conversation should be wrapped up. As with any other activity, be sure to thank the group for their time."
- "A good understanding of body language can be an amazing tool when moderating focus groups or any user research conducted in person. It can help you understand when someone is feeling frustrated, excited, angry, or threatened, so you can identify when you should to make someone more comfortable or probe on a particular comment. The following book on the subject may take more than a weekend to read completely, but it’s designed to be easy to flip through: The Definitive Book of Body Language, by Allan Pease and Barbara Pease (Bantam, 2006)."
- card sorting (2 groups of 6-8 each)
- usability testing (10 people)
misc
neat icon idea: when they give a "further reading", they classify it as surfing/snorkling/deep diving, and give a different icon for each one, depending on how long it will take to read.
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2008/05/bite-sized-ux-research.php