How do you take a usability session that’s gone bananas and – to mix metaphors – turn it into lemonade? This talk moves beyond the basics of “how to” facilitate a usability study and in to practical “what to do when” territory, focusing on those situations that challenge every aspect of your moderating skills.
Whether it’s dealing with a very angry participant or a participant whose actions make you uncomfortable, we can use the stories and experiences of others to let us “practice” our responses in a safe space.
This practicum will focus on stories – embarrassing and hopefully inspiring – from the presenters’ many years of running usability studies and the experiences that audience members will share. Audience members will be able to “vote” for which stories to focus on for the rest of the talk. Their choices will feed into live interactive examples (complete with a “moderator” and “participant” assistant with improv experience) that highlight potential approaches for the challenges presented.
Throughout the demonstrations, we’ll discuss:
What made sense about how the moderator handled this?
What might have been done differently? Why? Different words? Different tone? Different body language?
How can we make sure we don’t make things worse?
Whether you’ve only moderated a few usability sessions or you have hundreds under your belt, this talk will let you share your experiences and learn from what others have done. The demonstrations will bring best practices to life, showing how to apply what you may have read to real life. Attendees will leave with practical tips for salvaging the next challenging situation they encounter while moderating as well as a renewed inspiration for meeting those challenges head-on.
5. 5Tranquada & Williams, UXPA Boston 2014
I’m Listening
What kind of challenges have you encountered while moderating?
6.
6Tranquada & Williams, UXPA Boston 2014
What should we demonstrate?
Photo by Flickr user theresasthompson
https://flic.kr/p/5z2jST
7. 7Tranquada & Williams, UXPA Boston 2014
Interactive Demonstrations
Pay attention to….
What is said
How it’s said (tone)
Body language
What factors might affect how the
moderator should respond?
8.
8Tranquada & Williams, UXPA Boston 2014
What’s in your toolbox?
Photo by Flickr user skistz
https://www.flickr.com/photos/skistz/398429879/in/photostream/
Get the participant
back on track
Refocus; Encourage
Adjust the session
focus or skip tasks
Alleviate; Assist;
Accommodate
Provide some
space
Take a break
End early
9. 9Tranquada & Williams, UXPA Boston 2014
KeyTakeaways
Take a moment!
Participant comfort and safety first
Be genuine and empathetic
Project confidence
Forgive yourself for mistakes, but learn from them
Hi everyone
I’m Fiona, and this is Scott.
I’ve moderated a lot of usability sessions. Looking at this room, I’m betting a lot of you have too.
Which is good, because I’m assuming that you already know the basics of moderating – how to, your responsibilities, why you’re important. This will help us get to the good stuff faster!
What is the good stuff?
So,
Tell me if this sounds familiar.
Your session has been going along fairly smoothly BUT something happens.
Maybe the participant goes off on a tangent about his wife’s frivolous spending habits.
Or the participant starts insulting a group that you associate yourself with (women developers!).
Or starts asking you personal questions – do you have kids? How old are you?
CLICK – and on the inside, you feel like THIS.
Anything can happen during a session!
People don’t stop being people just because they are a study participant. The same things you see on the T, in a bar, at work, you might very well see in that room.
Got me thinking about the things that a moderator can do to help steer a session back from, if not the brink of disaster, veering further into that direction.
Heart of this session is the interactive examples. We want to:
-- Build awareness of different scenarios and possible responses so you’ll be less surprised when they happen to you
-- Demonstrate how to apply the tips you’ve heard or read about. (helpful to watch others)
We’re going to move quickly!
Today we’re going to focus on usability tests.
In UX research context, this means addressing a problem or situation that, if left unchecked, may end up derailing the rest of the session
CLICK
You want to set the boat back on course before it tips over! Keep salvage as a verb, rather than letting it turn in to a noun.
Salvaging lets you continue so you can get some kind of feedback, even if it’s not what you’d initially been looking for
Before we talk about HOW, let’s talk about whether you should even TRY….
Can it be salvaged? Should it?
Think vomiting participant, or obvious environmental hazard. Danger, unsafe, or unsanitary conditions.
- The situation isn’t improving (or it’s so dire you shouldn’t even try)
- Physical or emotional distress
- Excessive distractions
- Unable to make adjustments to accommodate a session’s limitations
In those cases, you want to end the session as quickly as possible and ensure that everyone is safe.
Others can be salvaged.
Other participant behavior, including things like:
Participant isn’t thinking aloud
Participant seems distracted or goes on tangent
Participant needs an assist
Technical difficulties
Misrecruit
WE want to focus on the salvageable situations today.
So what are some of the things that you, as a moderator, can do to address these salvageable situations?
Capture these on the post-it paper
What kind of challenges have you encountered while moderating?
-> Why was this challenging?
Which of the situations discussed do you want us to focus on for the rest of the session?
If you have a different way of handling it, you’ll have a chance to share
These are the key things that you’ll see me demonstrating.
Back on track -> tangents
Can use humor, but be careful.
Adjust -> misrecruit, tech problems
Space -> emotional problems
End early -> if things escalate, or get worse
3-second rule. Don’t have to react immediately.
End the session if necessary
Remember, – a sincere smile can go a long way
You’re the one with the script, not the participant
May not get a chance to demonstrate all of these since we want to focus on particular moments, but these should be at the heart of your interactions
We all make mistakes, even the most experienced among us. Don’t be unduly hard on yourself, but LEARN and be reflective, and promise yourself that you’ll do better next time.
