1) The document discusses how organizations typically progress through stages of usability maturity from initial hostility to widespread reliance on user research. 2) It provides an overview of techniques an organization can use to embed usability practices, including conducting user research, usability testing, creating personas, and integrating UX processes into agile development. 3) The author details how their own organization has progressed from occasional usability surveys to having a dedicated UX team and standardized processes, highlighting the importance of starting small, gaining buy-in from stakeholders, and using data to demonstrate the value of usability

1. Embedding Usabilityin your organisation Michele Ide-Smith Software East, 3 March 2011

2. “As their usability approach matures, organisations typically progress through the same sequence of stages, from initial hostility to widespread reliance on user research.” Jakob Nielsen

3. A bit of background

4. Who are our users? Photo by Joe Shablotnik http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/305410323/

5. Costs per transaction Face-to-face £8.23 Telephone £3.21 Website £0.39 Source: SOCITM (Society for IT Managers), 2009

6. Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989)

7. Making our web services useful and usable saves public money

8. We’ve come a long way… 2006 2011 Occasional usability survey Dedicated UX Architect UX techniques and skills embedded

9. UX Maturity Model diagram from an article by @rfeijo http://johnnyholland.org/2010/04/16/planning-your-ux-strategy/ We are here

10. How did we get started? Photo by Sarah and Mike …probably http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahandmikeprobably/4266668689/

11. A revelation can become a passion

13. UX techniques are not hard to pick up

14. But knowing when and why to use them takes experience

15. Start with small butperfectly formed projects

16. Start small

18. If you have budget available and decide to use external expertise

19. Work collaboratively Find a supplier who’ll work collaboratively And help transfer skills to in-house teams Photo by Lollyman: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lollyman/4424552903

20. Highlighting poor design and content requires tact and diplomacy

21. Use familiar language e.g. ‘customer focus’, ‘customer experience’

22. Some stakeholders have strong opinions

23. Remember, data can speak volumes

25. Photo by mr savoury http://www.flickr.com/photos/bop/7157529/

27. Use data to tell a story about your users

29. 55 %of visits from search engines 9%of visits include the home page

33. Data sources Google analytics Heat maps e.g. CrazyEgg Customer feedback Web transactions Call centre Demographic research Usability testing User interviews

34. Remember to set targets, evaluate and compare metrics!

35. It helps to have a UX Champion! Photo by Dunechaser http://www.flickr.com/photos/dunechaser/3538429942/

36. The whole team is learning UX skills

37. Everyone in the team can do an expert review or walkthrough

38. Anyone can have design ideas

39. The person who created these sketches had no prior UX experience

40. But UX has become a full time job

41. When we re-structured in 2010 we created a UX Architect role

42. We now have dedicated UX resource, skills and a toolkit

43. Standardising processes and templates has helped with our UX roll out

44. Author: Matthew Godfrey User Experience: Techniques User Experience: Method Cards Published: 25/10/2010 Techniques Overview Research Analytics Task Analysis/Flow Competitor Analysis Surveys/Questionnaires Design Personas Wireframing Paper prototyping Card Sort Sketching HTML Prototyping Mock-ups User Flows/Journey Map Evaluation Expert Review Remote testing Face-To-Face Testing Heuristic Review Page 1 of 19

45. We’ve integrated UX processes into Agile (Scrum) processes

46. User Experience: Method Cards User Experience: Method Cards Technique 15: Expert Review Technique 14: User Flow/Journey Map Summary Summary An expert evaluation of an existing site or application, to provide a high-level summary of usability/accessibility issues. A design technique used to illustrate the steps a user might take when completing a task, process or transaction. Resource: 1x Web Strategy Team Resource: 1x Web Strategy Team Time: 1 day Time: 1/2 day Cost: Not applicable Cost: Not applicable Suitable for: Suitable for: New sites/applications New sites/applications Existing sites/applications Existing sites/applications www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk

47. User Experience: Method Cards User Experience: Method Cards Technique 15: Expert Review Technique 14: User Flow/Journey Map What What Used to illustrate the typical steps of a user within a given concept/design. Each screen is mapped out in sequence in which the task or process should ideally follow. An expert evaluation of an existing site or application, using heuristics to guide the reviewer and identify potential usability/accessibility issues. Why Why To better understand the steps a typical user would take, to achieve a particular goal. Allows designers and stakeholders to explore the flow of a concept/design. Allows for a quick and detailed expert analysis of a site or application, requiring little time or resource. Will provide a summary of issues and recommendations. When When Where time/budget constraints would make it difficult to conduct full user testing. Can take place at short notice, involving minimal resource and yield fairly detailed results. Used during the design phase user flows are relatively quick to pull together and can easily accommodate rapid changes. www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk

48. And we’re getting to know much more about our users…

49. Using data to bring our users to life

50. In conclusion

51. “No matter how impassioned your approach, it’s impossible to take a company straight from UX indifference to UX maturity. The demands are too disruptive. Focus, as the undercover manifesto suggests, on big change through small victories, slowly winning the hearts and minds and convincing your team of the need for UX approaches .” Cennydd Bowles, James Box

52. Thanks for listening! Photo by brieuc_s http://www.flickr.com/photos/brieuc/4225881624/

53. Get in touch Michele Ide-Smith Web Strategy Manager Cambridgeshire County Council michele.ide-smith@cambridgeshire.gov.uk 01223 699710 www.ide-smith.co.uk www.twitter.com/micheleidesmith http://www.linkedin.com/in/micheleidesmith