IADT MSc UX Design Assignment — UX Research
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Research
The design journey began with an appraisal of the Microsoft Teams UI to understand the context of use (NIST, 2007), and to ground the design direction with research data.
The approach to research, paraphrasing House (2019) was to “go wide, prioritize, and deep. Get a lay of the land, use that to figure out what’s important, and start knocking things out in order of priority.”
Heuristic Review
The Nielsen and Molich (1990) 10 usability heuristics were used; a review with 4–6 people typically uncovering 85% of low-hanging UI issues and providing a basis for re-design and iteration (Nielsen, 2000).
User Interviews
“It’s a system hog. Slows everything down” — Paul, product manager, Limerick.
User interviews were performed within COVID-19 restrictions, remotely. Analysts, implementers, teachers, students, product designers, and frontline workers were engaged.
Observation
What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things — Margaret Mead (Clark, 2017)
The behaviour of users in everyday tool use (Silva, 2018) was observed. For example, students using Microsoft Teams from home were observed finding assignments, completing hand-ins, and joining video conferences.
Design Principles
Using Nielsen’s 5 quality components of usability (Nielsen, 2020), and leveraging Krug’s key takeaways (2020), performing tasks with Microsoft Teams was found to be challenging in areas of learnability, discovery, memorability, simplicity, consistency, error avoidance, and aesthetics, whereas other features such as back and home navigation and search were acknowledged as usable.
Personal Experiences
IADT students’ experiences of Microsoft Teams were brought to the research triage. Differing backgrounds across education, industry, age, gender, and technology expertise provided rich perspectives in the use of the product.
Findings
Microsoft Teams is a feature-rich environment, “deeply embedded” with other Microsoft products. It was generally thought of as user complex, confusing, and difficult to become proficient with easily.
User heuristics review, user interviews, behavioural studies, and local experience revealed many challenges. Overall, usability heuristics were not acceptable; from system visibility to help and documentation.
Usability Learning Lessons
- The design needs to be ongoing, reflecting trends, tastes, and innovations.
- Implementation of software must be user-centric and tailored.
- Research during lockdown situations can be conducted using digital technology to search, chat, conference, and connect with stakeholders.
- Being resourceful and bringing the experience of peers, friends, family, and co-workers to the research scope adds study richness.
