Self-service, chatbots and AI in housing, HQN

1. wearesigma.com @wearesigma
Hej!
Chris Bush
Head of Experience Design
@suthen
Simon Wissink
Business Development
@simonwissink

2. User experience and accessibility
best practice

3. wearesigma.com @wearesigma
A bit about us…
‣ Part of the Sigma group, 4500 employees in 12 countries
‣ UK offices in Macclesfield and Cambridge
‣ UK is centre of excellence for user experience, strategy,
design and development
‣ Dedicated experience design team with interaction
designers, researchers, behavioural scientists, usability
and accessibility consultants
‣ Work across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors

5. Research lab

6. Research and training with tenants

7. What is User Experience (UX)?

8. UX is more than Usability.

9. “The degree to which something
is able or fit to be used.”
Oxford English Dictionary

12. "User experience" encompasses
all aspects of the end-user's
interaction with the company, its
services, and its products.
Nielsen Norman Group

13. See: UX Honeycomb by Peter Morville

14. wearesigma.com @wearesigma
EARLY COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY
WAS DESIGNED TO BE
USED BY EXPERTS
EARLY COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY
WAS DESIGNED TO BE
USED BY EXPERTS

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HOW DO WE HELP…
MORE PEOPLE
WITH LESS EXPERTISE
DO MORE
HOW DO WE HELP…
MORE PEOPLE
WITH LESS EXPERTISE
DO MORE
As technology
became more
affordable and
available,
manufacturers
couldn’t assume
that all users
would have this
level of skill.
Part of the solution to
this dilemma was to
align technology with
users’ existing mental
models: their known
tasks, expected
outcomes and real
world experiences.

16. How do you teach new computer users about
‘dragging and dropping’ and ‘double clicking’?
These two games
provided
Microsoft with a
very simple and
engaging way to
teach new users
how to use their
computers.

18. Bringing our UX approach to
life…

19. Research framework

20. It’s important to take
a blended approach,
mixing quant and qual.

21. Analytics tell you the what
but not the why…

22. Personas, profiles, customer journey maps etc

23. Co-design and rapid prototyping

24. Prototype refinement

25. Usability testing
80
SUS score

26. Users often tell you
what you want to hear.

27. Front-end code and GEL
See also BBC GEL: www.bbc.co.uk/gel

28. It’s all about implementing a
User Centred Design (UCD)
culture within your
organisation.

29. Prototype, test and refine early
Google Design Sprint: www.gv.com/sprint/

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Thinking about inclusion

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Why inclusion matters

32. wearesigma.com @wearesigma1 in 7
1 billion
People with long-term disability worldwide

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21%14 million
People in the UK have
some form of disability

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Acquiring a disability
≠ being born with a disability

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Technology doesn’t fully compensate

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Anyone can have
challenges
‣ Disability is more common than you may
think
‣ We will all experience disability at some
point
‣ By the age of 45 most of us will need
glasses
‣ Yet many websites do not support
dynamic text
‣ Many on iPhone use 'Large Text’. A lot of
apps aren’t compatible.

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Who here has blue eyes?

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Accessibility should not be
considered as an afterthought, or
as ‘help’ but as reasonable built-in
adjustments for all...

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What is the best way to
design for inclusion?

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The best examples of
inclusive design
are formed from
user needs, not just
compliance

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What’s wrong
with this picture?

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Types of impairment
Visual
Ability to perceive
or process
visual information
Auditory
Ability to perceive
or process
auditory information
Sensorimotor
Ability to feel and manipulate a
physical device quickly, smoothly,
and accurately
Cognitive
Ability in mentally demanding
areas: reading, memory, attention,
language, complex concepts,
problem solving
Speech
Ability to produce speech
sounds clearly, smoothly, and
understandably

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Types of impairment
Visual
Blindness,
low vision,
colour blindness, presbyopia,
floaters cataracts, macular
degeneration, nerve damage
Auditory
Tinnitus, bony growth in the ear,
nerve damage, hearing loss due
to ageing or long-term exposure
to loud noise
Sensorimotor
Dyspraxia,
RSI, arthritis,
cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s,
Essential Tremor, nerve damage
Cognitive
Down syndrome, Asperger,
AD/HD, brain injury, dyslexia,
dementia, learning difficulties
Speech
Apraxia, dysarthria, stammering,
laryngeal/oral cancer, smoking,
nodules/polyps, brain injury,
strong accent

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Types of impairment
Visual
Forgot my glasses
Glare on a device in bright
sunlight
Auditory
Medication, perforated eardrum,
excess ear wax, acoustic
neuroma, exposure to sudden
loud noises
Noisy environment
Sensorimotor
Temporary injury,
such as a broken wrist
Carrying a child / umbrella / mug /
laptop
Cognitive
Medication
Tiredness, stress
Hangover
Speech
Laryngitis, throat infection,
allergic reaction
Hoarseness after shouting /
singing

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Let’s normalise inclusive design

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Because, when we get it right,
it becomes invisible

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Because, when we get it right
it becomes invisible

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Video
captions

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What can we do to be
more inclusive?

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Often when we think about different
devices, we think about the
screen-size first

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Input
devices
Touch
& gestures
Voice
Pointing
devices
But the ways in which we interact can be
very different

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iPhone 4
Design for comfort

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iPhone 4 iPhone 5 iPhone 6 iPhone 6+
Design for comfort

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iPhone 4 iPhone 5 iPhone 6 iPhone 6+
Design for comfort
Navigation
systems on
larger screens
can be
uncomfortable
to use

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Standard
touch size of
7-10mm
Provide
3-5mm
inactive space
around
elements
Design hit areas to be easy to click or tap

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Clear
visual
hierarchy
Headings,
headings,
headings
Reading age
of 11-12 years is
generally good
practice
Design for readability
10-15
words on a
line

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Show
What the error is
Where the error is
How to fix it
Help users fix errors

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Custom
controls can
be very
empowering
or very
prohibitive
Think carefully before using custom controls

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Design for the full spectrum of your users
.

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Can you find any black holes?
.
Content can
be hidden if
you do not
use ’A tags’
for actions

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Don’t force users to remember
things they don’t need to
.
Flybe asks you to
enter details the
system already
knows about you
(when logged in)

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Sometimes people want or need a human
Being a digital service doesn’t mean you should make it harder for people to
engage with a real person. When we run inclusive usability sessions we
frequently hear requests for systems to include chat interfaces along with
other contact methods (email, phone etc).
Chat interfaces often provide a valuable way for users who can’t use, or
dislike using a phone to get essential support.
.

65. Self service Chat bot clarification Advised journey Online tools

66. Self service Chat bot clarification Advised journey Online tools

67. Self service Chat bot clarification Advised journey Online tools

68. Self service Chat bot clarification Advised journey Online tools

69. Self service Chat bot clarification Advised journey Online tools

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Run mixed ability usability sessions
for greater depth and alignment of insights
.

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Everyone will experience a real need
for inclusive services at least once in their lives
Consider everyone's journey
.

72. Thank you. Questions?
For copies of the slides and a set of useful resources
(or if you want help or have more questions) please contact:
chris.bush@sigma.se - @suthen
simon.wissink@sigma.se - @simonwissink
Web: wearesigma.com
Tel: 01625 427718