defining a product vision
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TRANSCRIPT
1© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
2© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Defining a Product Vision using
Remote Research Methodologies presented to
The 14th AnnualUsability Professionals’ Association
ConferenceJuly 1st, 2005
Mark SafireDirector of User Experience Research
Sachs Insights
3© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Presentation• Who am I• The Products & The Vision
• The Company – NPD Group • The Software Products – Solution Folders & PowerView• The User Profiles• The Research Challenge• Remote Moderated Usability
» Definition; Benefits; Challenges» Audience Participation – Experiences with Remote Research
• The Transformation of PowerView through Research• Research Road Map• PowerView Research
» Phase 1: Remote Contextual Inquiry» Phase 2: Remote Moderated Usability» The Upshot
• Q&A
4© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Who Am I?
• Mark Safire• Director of User Experience Research,
Sachs Insights» Qualitative research provider for NPD Group online/offline
software products since 2002.
• Spoken at UPA 2003 (Presentation) and UPA 2004 (Idea Market) on Remote Moderated Usability.
» Also at NYC and Dallas UPA chapters, and for Nielsen Norman Group conferences in Las Vegas and Amsterdam.
• 2003 Presentation is online at www.sachsinsights.com/services/remotemoderatedusability.html
5© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Qualitative research consultancy founded in 1987
• Serve automotive, fashion, financial services, media, pharmaceutical, technology and travel industries.
Practice Areas Include: Brand & Advertising Research New Product & Service Development User Experience Research
In our User Experience practice, we conduct:• Concept & Process Focus Groups• Taxonomy & Nomenclature Focus Groups• Usability• Contextual Inquiry
Sachs Insights
6© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
The Company
• A leading provider of sales and marketing information based on combined point-of-sale and consumer data for over a dozen major industries.
» Apparel, appliances, automotive, beauty, cellular, consumer electronics, food and beverage, foodservice, footwear, housewares, imaging, information technology, movies, music, software, toys, travel, video games, ...*
» Supplemented by consumer panel data to give a more complete picture – demographics, etc.
» Data from “over 230 retail partners, representing over 90,000 doors worldwide”*
• Clients: Manufacturers, Retailers, Analysts• Quoted in media regularly
*Source: www.npd.com
7© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
The Software Products
• Goals of Software• Allow customers to analyze data that NPD has collected and
organized.
• Usage Scenarios• Monthly reports: Same reports, different numbers• Ad-hoc queries: Different reports each time
• Sample Queries for Reports • What is my market share vs. my competitors?• How are inkjet printer sales trending over the past 3 mo.’s?• What were the top ten products in $ sold last month?
8© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
The Software Products
• Solution Folders • PowerView
9© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
The Software Products
Solution Folders
Make Reports from Templates
PowerView
Make Reports from Scratch
FlexibilityLess
Less
Shorter
Little (Online)
Room for Error
Learning Curve
Setup Required
More
More
Longer
A Lot (Offline)
10© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
The Software Products
More Flexible
EasierTo Learn
Less Flexible
Harder To Learn
PowerView
SolutionFolders
11© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
The User Profiles – Ingoing Assumptions
• Disseminators• Market Research experts – the “gatekeepers”• Experienced in performing quantitative analysis• Pull, analyze, develop reports for others
• Users• Support personnel, bus. analysts & owners, sales & mktg.• Less experienced in performing quantitative analysis• Pull, analyze, developer reports for themselves
• Viewers• Bus. analysts & owners, sales & mktg. • Less experienced in performing quantitative analysis• Review reports created by others
12© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Research Challenge – Finding Respondents
• Some had low incidence• “User” profile not yet a significant percentage.
• Geographical dispersion• Key retailers not clustered• Expensive and time consuming to fly them in
• 2nd Round of Research – Timing• Week before Christmas
Solution: Remote Moderated Usability
13© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Usability in a Lab
Respondent Moderator Observer(s)
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14© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Remote Moderated Usability
Respondent Moderator Observer(s)
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15© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Remote Moderated Usability• Differences from In-Lab Usability
• Different Locations• Software Tool• Teleconference• Observers usually apart from Moderator
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16© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Remote Moderated Usability• Benefits
• Recruiting benefits» Reach geographically dispersed populations» Reach hard to recruit populations – don’t leave home/office
• Avoid cost and inconvenience of travel for all parties involved.
• Get “buy-in” from stakeholders in distant locations
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NPD Research Conditions:• All had access to high-speed Internet connections• Participants & their companies were open to the technology• NPD Group had a WebEx license and in-house expertise,
used primarily for remote demos and help desk support
17© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Remote Moderated Usability• Challenges
• Body Language
• Rapport• Interruptions (phone, visitors, email, IM, …)• Logistics (time zones, ...)• Security & Privacy • Observer dynamics• Broadband connection recommended• Not for newbies & less coordinated
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18© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Audience Participation
• Any Experiences? 1-2 Min. Summary:• Your Name, Title, & Company• Research Description: Industry, (Client),
Audience, & Objective• Why Remote Moderated Usability?• Challenges you faced & Tips for dealing
with them
19© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Remote Moderated Usability Tools & Methods
• Many tools available• NPD done with WebEx Meeting Manager
• Others commercial apps/ASPs to consider:» IBM Lotus Web Conferencing (f.k.a. IBM Lotus Same Time)» Microsoft LiveMeeting (f.k.a. Placeware)» Citrix GoToMeeting (f.k.a. DesktopStreaming)» Macromedia Breeze
• Other free or open source solutions to consider:» Microsoft Messenger/MSN Messenger (f.k.a. Microsoft NetMeeting)» VNC (open source – various implementations, including RealVNC)
• Others kinds of tools» Full-time Remote Control Apps (See pcmag.com)
• pcAnywhere, GoToMyPC, Timbuktu, etc.
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20© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Research Roadmap
• Solution Folders• Initial Launch
» In-Lab Interviews
• Optimize Navigation» Remote Moderated
Usability
• PowerView• Needs Assessment
» Internal Focus Groups
» Remote Contextual Inquiry
• Prototype before Relaunch (version 5.0)
» Remote Moderated Usability
21© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
PowerView Research
Phase I
Remote Contextual Inquiry
• How do they use it?• They define & demo tasks.
• Does it meet actual needs?• See Role in Work Process
» Ultimate reports delivered
• How easy is it to use?• First Use / Experienced Use
• Things to change /Things NOT to change
Phase 2
Remote Moderated Usability
• Can they use it?• Use their pre-defined tasks
• Do fixes meet needs?• Role-play work process
• Observe ease of use.• First Use / Experienced Use
• Points of pain improved? / Have to relearn a lot?
22© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Phase 1, Remote Contextual Inquiry (RCI)
• First time & “Ad Hoc use”• Even old-timers stumble when trying to create new reports.
• Drag & drop interface – good idea, don’t change!
• Inscrutable 8 character field names
• Hard to envision report layout from interface» Especially for “nested” reports
• Expert & Repeated use• Gargantuan monthly reports: Same thing, different numbers
» Each report is run individually, not as a “batch”» Typically formatted each time in Excel – not saved in tool.
• Often requires specific colors for company and competitors in for tables and charts.
• Extra columns created during export to show “suppression.”
Everyone: Look & Feel “dated” – want standard Windows conventions
23© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Phase 2, Remote Moderated Usability (RMU)
• First time & “Ad Hoc use”• Drag & drop approach still used.• Comprehensible, full text, categorized field names
» But can change back to 8 char. abbrev’s in preferences...
• Preview of report layout
• Expert & Repeated use• Run as a batch
» But “Favorites” menuv – confusing metaphor
» Final: “MyReports”
• Save formatting • No extra columns!
» gray or red italicized numbers with asterisks
24© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
PowerView, Phase 1, RCI
2) Inscrutable 8 character field names, without any categorization
1) Drag & drop a good idea: don’t change!
3) Hard to envision report layout from interface
4) Look & Feel “dated” – not standard Windows conventions.
25© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
PowerView, Phase 1, RCI
Widget Production Quarterly Trend
What they need
Q1 ’04 Q2 ’04 Q3 ’04 Q4 ‘04
Us 12.3 16.2 27.7 29.5
Them 32.0 28.1 20.1 18.2
Channel 70.1 89.3 76.2 88.4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Q1 ’04 Q2 ’04 Q3 ’04 Q4 ‘04
Us
Them
Channel
26© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
PowerView, Phase 1, RCI
What they get
Q1 ’04 Q2 ’04 Q3 ’04 Q4 ‘04
Us 20.4 27.4 90 20.4
Them 30.6 38.6 34.6 31.6
Channel 45.9 46.9 45 43.9
5) Extra columns
6) Formatting not saved
27© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
PowerView, Phase 2: RMU1) Drag & drop not changed!
2) Full text, categorized field names
3) Preview of Report Layout
4) Overall Look & Feel is Contemporary
28© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
PowerView, Phase 2: RMU
5) No extra columns 6) Formatting can be saved
29© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
PowerView Version 5.0
• Validation• Changes in Prototype were well received.
• Tweaks• “My Favorites” was not an intuitive menu name
» Worked for Solution Folders, but not here. Since PowerView is not a Web application, the “My Favorites” web metaphor was not effective.
» Solution: Changed menu name to MyReports for launch.
30© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
The Upshot
More Flexible
EasierTo Learn
Less Flexible
Harder To Learn
PowerViewSolutionFolders
31© 2005 Mark Safire & Sachs InsightsPortions © NPD Group
Contact Information
Mark Safire
Director of User Experience Research
Sachs Insights
200 Varick Street, Suite 500
New York, NY 10014
www.sachsinsights.com
msafire @sachsinsights.com
212-924-1600 x168
www.remoteusability.com