Close Encounters: Connecting with Users to Improve Content

© 2017 Autodesk @tkrytr @Center4infoDev #CloseEncounters
Close Encounters
Connecting with Users to Improve Content
Patty Gale
Principal Content Experience Designer, Autodesk, Inc.
CIDM IDEAS
Online Conference
January 24, 2017

© 2017 Autodesk @tkrytr @Center4infoDev #CloseEncountersSlide 4
Who do you go to for feedback
on your documentation or learning content?
 Developers/engineers/QA/Subject matter experts
 User experience/Product mgt/Customer support/Marketing
 Data/analytics
 Users
 Other

Where do you get feedback on your docs?

© 2017 Autodesk Slide 6 @tkrytr @Center4infoDev #CloseEncounters
Why?

Lost 1/3 here
Lost 2/3 here
Gain insights
to improve
content and
findability

Gain credibility in your organization

Team
Why?
Empathy Insights
Credibility

© 2017 Autodesk Slide 12 @tkrytr @Center4infoDev #CloseEncounters
How?

But first…

I’m more of an extrovert.
I like meeting new people
and trying new things.
It’s exciting!
Which of these best describes you?
I’m more of an introvert.
It takes extra effort for me
to meet new people
and try new things.
It can be scary.

#1: Talk to Customer Support

#1: Talk to Customer Support
• 55 support calls in the past year
• In most cases, this issue can be
resolved by the user after consulting
a support article.
• In the past year, the article has been
visited 292 times. However, the error
message does not provide a direct
link to the article; users must search
for it.
• The article is in English only, so it
doesn’t help 60% of our users.

#2: Join online user communities

#3: Conduct user surveys

Standard Video
ScreenCast

#4: Perform a diary study

#5: Answer user questions/comments

#6: Attend user events

#7: Perform usability testing

Overall score on a range
from 1 (low) to 10 (high)
Red = lots of users did not
find the correct topic
Gray = a few users skipped this task
Dark green =
some users went
directly to the
correct topic
Light green = some users
wandered before finding it

Lost 1/3 here
Lost 2/3 here

#8: Recruit user-reviewers

#9: Invite users to attend your sprint demos

#10: Visit users in their natural habitat

Support
Online
communities
Site visit
User surveys Events
Reviewers
DemosUsability test
Answer online Qs
Diary study

1. Talk to Customer Support
2. Join online user communities
3. Conduct user surveys
4. Perform a diary study
5. Answer user questions and comments
6. Attend user events
7. Perform usability testing
8. Recruit user-reviewers
9. Invite users to attend your sprint demos
10. Visit users in their natural habitat (site visits)
10 ways to know your users

 Review the list of methods to engage your users
 Decide on two or three that you feel comfortable with and want to try
 Get management approval, if required
 Do it!
 Start to use what you learn from users to improve quality
and inform your design decisions
 Share the results with other learning content developers
and stakeholders
 When you are comfortable with those 2-3 methods,
expand your repertoire and try a couple more
 Talk to UX and Product Management to learn other ways
you can connect with users
Okay, now what?

 Yes! I’m inspired to start reaching out to users.
 I want to…not sure I have the time or support to do it.
 Maybe. It depends on my workload and other factors.
 No. I’ll leave that for UX and Marketing to do.
Do you want to try to start connecting
with your users in the next month?

Team
Why? Connect with users for these reasons:
Empathy Insights
Credibility

 Autodesk Screencast: http://screencast.autodesk.com
 Diary studies: http://www.usertesting.com/blog/2014/06/25/how-to-
get-feedback-over-time-with-diary-studies/
 Dscout: www.dscout.com
 Usability testing at Bentley University:
http://www.bentley.edu/centers/user-experience-center
 Treejack: https://www.optimalworkshop.com/treejack
Additional resources

From theNounProject.com
 Aliens by Alexander Skowalsky
 Beach by Gilad Fried
 Calm by Luis Prado
 Email by Lorena Salgre
 Extrovert by Hadley Anderson
 Eyes by Ji Sub Jeong
 Index by Julynn B.
 Know by Sergi Delgado
 Communication by Creative Stall
 Expert by Juan Pablo Bravo
 Users by Vittorio Maria Vecchi
Attributions for images used in this presentation
Creative Commons licensed images:
 Cloister by Kris Arnold
 Child climbing over wall by Arwen Abenstern
 Bandage on finger by Chu
 Expert by Pete Prodoehl
 Locker Room Survey by Patty Gale
 Diary by Kevin Couette

Patty Gale
patricia.gale@autodesk.com
@tkrytr
patty-gale-9774461

Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, and Revit are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.
All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and
specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.
© 2017 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Close Encounters: Connecting with Users to Improve Content

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