The long, textual written report is dead, isn’t it? So how do you deliver your findings to your clients? Is it PowerPoint? An email? A spreadsheet? Post-it notes? And what do you include? Positive findings? Screenshots with callouts? Just issues? Or recommendations as well? Are they prioritized? If you ask our panelists, some of us have developed templates that we use and modify for each research activity, and others change the deliverable based on the activity and client.

1. May 7, 2012
Delivering
Results:
How
Do
You
Report
User
Research
Findings?
 Jen McGinn
 Eva Kaniasty
 Dharmesh Mistry
 Kyle Soucy
 Carolyn Snyder
 Steve Krug
 Bob Thomas
May 7, 2012

2. May 7, 2012
Delivering
Results:
How
Do
You
Report
User
Research
Findings?
The long, textual written report is dead, isn’t it? So how do you deliver your
findings to your clients? Is it PowerPoint? An e-mail? A spreadsheet? Post-it
notes? And what do you include? Positive findings? Screenshots with callouts?
Just issues? Or recommendations as well? Are they prioritized?

3. May 7, 2012
Panelists
If you ask our panelists, some of us have developed templates that we use
and modify for each research activity, and others change the deliverable
based on the activity and client. Each panelist will spend 3-5 minutes
showing you their typical deliverables, and then we’ll open the floor for
audience Q&A.
 Jen McGinn, Principal Usability Engineer, Oracle
 Eva Kaniasty, Founding Principal, RedPill UX
 Dharmesh Mistry, Usability Specialist, Acquia
 Kyle Soucy, Founding Principal, Usable Interface
 Carolyn Snyder, Founding Principal, Snyder Consulting
 Steve Krug, Founding Principal, Advanced Common Sense

4. May 7, 2012
Jen McGinn
Principal Usability Engineer, Oracle

5. May 7, 2012
Overview
 I’ve worked at hardware and software companies, conducting
research on phones, Macs, and PCs
 I present my research results in one of two ways, neither of which
is a long, written report in Word
 RITE-Krug study: bullet points at the bottom of a wiki page
 Traditional Study: slides in 60-minute meeting (generally
remote, via web conference)
 I’m going to spend 10 seconds showing you a wiki page, and 2
minutes walking you through the structure of one of my PowerPoint
presentations
 Then I’ll summarize the take-aways 

6. May 7, 2012
What
I
call
RITE-­‐Krug
TesCng
for
Agile
 3
or
4
par(cipants
 Prototype
will
likely
change
between
par(cipants
 Stakeholders
a9end
every
session
and
a
debrief
mee(ng
in
a
single
day
 A>er
the
debrief
mee(ng,
a
list
of
items
that
the
designers
will
change
is
posted
on
the
wiki
page

7. May 7, 2012

8. May 7, 2012
ExecuCve
Summary
 In [When?], the [what product?] was tested by [number and
type of participants] in [method type] to evaluate the ease of
use of several features including [features or use cases].
 High level findings included [usually a total of 3 to 4 bullets]:
• [ 1 - 2 biggest positive findings]
• [ 1 - 2 biggest positive findings]
• [ 2 or 3 biggest usability issues]
• [ 2 or 3 biggest usability issues]
 This presentation covers all of the findings and subsequent
recommendations.

9. May 7, 2012
Agenda
 Goals
 Tasks
 Participants
 Findings
 Recommendations
 Next Steps

10. May 7, 2012
Goals
Evaluate the usability of the following features of the
U-Haul.com website:
 Are users confused about how to price a rental? A storage unit?
 How do users react to the insurance options? Do they understand the
coverage?
 How do users feel about the presentation of items for purchase or for rent?
 How effective is the shopping cart content? Are users confused by when
they need to pay for items?
 Do users value the star ratings? U-Haul brand?
 How do users feel about the targeted FAQ and search result pages?
 Does our online documentation help prevent calls to the service center? Can
they determine how to reach out to the U-Haul vendor nearest them?

11. May 7, 2012
Tasks
1. Get the price of a 1-way move across country
2. Find a specific piece of information in the FAQ
3. Determine the size and cost of a storage unit needed
to hold specific items
4. Find the phone number of a U-Haul location
5. Book the truck (and insurance), adding rental items
and purchased items
6. Determine insurance coverage
7. Find the U-Haul location nearest you

12. May 7, 2012
ParCcipants
Participant
ID
Gender Age Occupation Web-savvy
U1 Male 24 Missionary Average
U2 Male 52 Small business manager Average
U3 Female 62 62 Retired. Formerly
television news producer,
then licensed paralegal.
Average
U4 Female 36 Housewife Average
U5 Male 31 Sales and marketing Average

13. May 7, 2012
Findings

14. May 7, 2012
Choosing
a
Truck
Another
issue
One
par(cipant
suggested
this
fix
2
par(cipants
had
this
issue
and
did
x
to
work
around
it

15. May 7, 2012
Goals
and
QuesCons
Revisited
 [All the same as before] Are users confused about how to price a rental?
A storage unit?
 How do users react to the insurance options? Do they understand the
coverage?
 How do users feel about the presentation of items for purchase or for rent?
 How effective is the shopping cart content? Are users confused by when they
need to pay for items?
 Do users value the star ratings? U-Haul brand?
 How do users feel about the targeted FAQ and search result pages?
 Does our online documentation help prevent calls to the service center? Can
they determine how to reach out to the U-Haul vendor nearest them?

16. May 7, 2012
PosiCve
Findings
[these
always
come
first]
 All
par(cipants
easily
found
the
links
to
the
FAQs
and
had
no
trouble
finding
the
answer
to
the
license
ques(on
under
FAQs
 All
par(cipants
made
use
of
the
maps
when
comparing
op(ons.
 All
par(cipants
did
scroll
down
to
compare
prices,
loca(ons
and
reviews
 4
par(cipants
valued
the
presence
of
the
[higher]
star
ra(ngs
 2
par(cipants
valued
U-­‐Haul
loca(on
more
than
the
off-­‐brand
vendors
 2
par(cipants
were
pleased
that
the
truck
rental
page
"retained
her
informa(on"
-­‐-­‐
the
addresses
and
dates
 2
par(cipants
appreciated
the
visuals
of
the
items
inside
the
storage
units
and
the
graphic
of
the
person
shown
in
the
small
unit
icon
 2
par(cipants
easily
added
the
dolly,
blankets
and
boxes
during
the
truck
rental
task
flow

17. May 7, 2012
RecommendaCons
Priority
DescripCon
RecommendaCon
LocaCon
High
Par(cipants
don't
understand
what
the
purchased
insurance
actually
covers
Re-­‐format
coverage
and
exclusions
into
bulleted
lists;
Don't
use
legal
jargon
Damage
coverage
High
Par(cipants
have
a
very
hard
(me
es(ma(ng
the
storage
unit
size
that
would
meet
their
needs
Provide
more
user
assistance
Self
Storage
loca(on
details
page
Medium
Up-­‐sell
process
for
items
to
rent
or
purchase
is
confusing
Put
the
purchased
items
into
another
page
in
the
flow,
and
make
it
clearer
that
users
can
opt
out.
Addi(onal
rental
items,
Shopping
cart
Medium
Par(cipants
are
concerned
that
the
site
is
incorrectly
calcula(ng
the
mileage
and
therefore
overcharging
Add
a
link
to
display
the
map,
so
they
can
check
it
in
place
Select
your
preferred
pickup
loca(on
Low
Par(cipants
were
not
sure
what
loca(on
the
giant
thumbtack/pin
was
(address
or
zip
code)
or
how
far
away
the
loca(ons
were
Display
the
distance
"from"
the
specified
loca(on,
like
the
Self-­‐storage
results
page
Select
your
preferred
pickup
loca(on,
Loca(on

18. May 7, 2012
Next
Steps
 Work with [which stakeholders or teams] to prioritize
changes
 Work with [stakeholders or teams] to design
alternatives
 Validate that the new designs address the issues with
users

19. May 7, 2012
Summary
 Tell them what you’re going to tell them
 Executive summary
 Agenda
 Goals/Questions
 Tell them
 Tasks & participants (sometimes methodology)
 Animated slides for progressive disclosure
 Screen shots annotated with findings
 Tell them what you told them
 Review goals of the research and the questions they were intended
to answer
 Positive findings (go slowly here)
 Prioritized opportunities for improvement

20. May 7, 2012
Eva Kaniasty
Founding Principal, RedPill UX

21. May 7, 2012
Report
Formats
PPT: visually engaging but real-estate constrained (and
will force you to be brief). Formatting can be time-
consuming.
MS Word/Narrative: more room for context; quick, but
can appear dry and boring.
3rd Option: No report.

22. May 7, 2012
Deciding
Factors
 Time/Budget
 (Mode of) Presentation of Results
 Company Culture / Industry
 Stakeholder Involvement
 Deliverable Shelf Life

23. May 7, 2012
ReporCng
Findings
(1)

24. May 7, 2012
ReporCng
Findings
(2)

25. May 7, 2012
Dharmesh Mistry
Usability Specialist, Acquia
Content Management System
Open Source Software
Community
Products built on Drupal
Open Source/ Proprietary
Start-up

26. May 7, 2012
Stakeholders
Development Cycle
Turn around time
Credibility
Tracking Issues
Presenting
Provide
recommendations
Thousands of Stakeholders (New and Existing)
?
Weeks-Months
Mix Reputation
Low-Medium
Twitter, Conferences, Blog post, Drupal.org
No, never!
Deciding Factors

27. May 7, 2012
Blog PostDrupal.org Conferences/ Videos

28. May 7, 2012
Supporting
information
Detailed
Information
Main
Report
http://drupal.org/node/1399056 http://drupal.org/node/1399258http://drupal.org/node/1289476
Tracking
http://www.drupalusability.org/

29. May 7, 2012
Stakeholders
Development Cycle
Turn around time
Credibility
Tracking Issues
Presenting
Provide
recommendations
3-5
Agile (3 week sprints)
Hours/ Days/ Weeks
Good
High-Very High
Conference calls
Sometimes
Deciding Factors

30. May 7, 2012
Email Reports Google Doc Reports

31. May 7, 2012
Spreadsheet Reports

32. May 7, 2012
Spreadsheet Reports

33. May 7, 2012
Kyle Soucy
Founding Principal, Usable Interface
@kylesoucy
www.usableinterface.com

34. May 7, 2012
Formal
Usability
TesCng/Research
Report
Findings !
categorized !
by !
screens or pages!

35. May 7, 2012
3-4 !
Positive Findings!
3-4 !
Negative Findings!
When, What, Who, Where, !
and Why Statement!

36. May 7, 2012
Findings:
Severity
RaCngs

37. May 7, 2012
Findings
Major Usability
Problem

38. May 7, 2012
Findings:
RecommendaCons

39. May 7, 2012
Highlight
Video

40. May 7, 2012
Observer
Debrief
Notes

41. May 7, 2012
Carolyn Snyder
Founding Principal, Snyder Consulting
• There is no one “best” format
• Do what works for the client, culture, circumstances
• Steal good ideas, drop losers

42. May 7, 2012
Formal
Text
Report:
“I’m
not
dead
yet!”
Finding
Severity rating
Explanation of
issue
Supporting
observations from
notes
Recommendations

43. May 7, 2012
PowerPoint,
Screen
Shots
with
Callouts
43
Most people read this text;
everyone drilled into [noun]
People understood
the stacked bar
graphs,
Amount isn’t
explicit. The user
must do the
math.
Can’t explore
[action]. People
knew it was
important.
People wanted
concrete, prioritized
advice.
Not clear why it showed
2 variations of graphPeople understood the
purpose
Interest in these
Interest in these
links
Important sentence
buried in paragraph
Ambiguous
(Imagine a screen shot here)

44. May 7, 2012
PowerPoint
with
“report”
in
Notes
Field

45. May 7, 2012
SomeCmes
the
best
report
is…
 …no
report
 Can
you
do
something
more
useful
instead?

46. May 7, 2012
Steve Krug
Usability Consultant, Advanced Common Sense

47. May 7, 2012
Expert
Reviews
–
What
I
do
 No report, no slides. Live remote walkthrough.
 Gave up writing Big Honking Report years ago
 I hate writing
 I’m inherently lazy
 Only real purpose seemed to be to justify cost
 Mostly: I could get away with it (I have a book)
 I tell clients up front:
 I’ll report my observations in a GoToMeeting session
 Encourage them to have all interested parties
attend, question, argue
 Option: Written report—for double the price

48. May 7, 2012
Expert
Reviews
–
What
I
do
 90-120 minute session
 Strive for best audio (VOIP)
 I walk through the site/app, doing narrative of observed
issues (cf. Carol Barnum’s session on storytelling)
 Limited to only the most serious problems (n < 10)
 My recommendations for fixing them
 Encourage them to get objections out of their system
while I’m there to answer
 Major weakness of written report: no dialogue
 Record the session for their use later

49. May 7, 2012
Expert
Reviews
–
What
I
do
 I don’t accentuate the positive
 Feels artificial, patronizing to me
 We’re all grownups on this bus
 I tend to be very encouraging anyway
 “Getting it all right is very hard.”
 “Everybody has these kinds of issues.”
 “You can fix them.”

50. May 7, 2012
Usability
Tests–
What
I
recommend
 I don’t do them anymore; I teach other people to do
them

51. May 7, 2012
Usability
Tests–
What
I
recommend
 Forget the report: GET THEM TO COME TO THE TESTS!
 Most crucial success factor
 Seeing is believing: watching makes converts
 Many other good effects flow from watching as a
group
 Do whatever it takes to get them to come
 Keep it brief (3 participants)
 Keep it convenient (on-site)
 Regular schedule (“A morning a month”)
 THE BEST SNACKS MONEY CAN BUY!

52. May 7, 2012
Usability
Tests–
What
I
recommend
 “But I can’t get them to come…”
 Please stop your incessant whining
 Try harder
 OK, yes, you can create a report
 Two-page (max) bullet list email; 30 minutes to write
 What we tested (site, prototype, etc.) with link to it
 Tasks they did
 Top three problems observed
 Solutions to these problems, which will be implemented
before next month’s tests
 (Optional) Link to recordings

53. May 7, 2012
Extra
Credit
 Read Recommendations on Recommendations
 Rolf Molich, Kasper Hornbæk, Steve Krug, Josephine
Scott and Jeff Johnson
 http://www.dialogdesign.dk/tekster/
Recommendations_on_Recommendations.pdf
 Get Jen McGinn to share her report from CUE 9
 Best in show, out of 19 seasoned UX pros
 Try to figure out her secret sauce and imitate it

54. May 7, 2012
Narrative on top of screenshots
“N participants ________.”
Participant quotes
Excellent, terse writing)
Key observations only

55. May 7, 2012
QuesCons
1. Do you change your delivery of usability results depending on your role as a
internal/external consultant or as a company employee?
2. How important are positive vs. negative findings?
3. How have your reports changed over the years? Is there anything you do
differently than when you first started writing them?
4. How do you categorize the findings in your reports? For example, do you
categorize them by the page/screen, by the step in a certain process (e.g.
checkout process), or by the task?
5. Lean UX is a trending topic. Have you had experience with Lean UX or Agile
methods, and had to change the way you conduct research and deliver results?
6. What guidelines do you follow when writing recommendations or proposed
solutions to problems?
7. Do you decide ahead of time how long a report should be and make an effort to
keep it that length? If so, what dictates the length?
8. If you think a report is too long and needs to be trimmed down, how do you
decide what to cut out?
9. What part of a report is the hardest for you to write?