Month 10 of UX interning
My first time in the office whilst meeting new people both close to home and far and wide.
This month was filled with first-time opportunities for me. I had the opportunity to go into the Puppet Belfast office to meet people close to home, face to face instead of digitally on Zoom. Meaning I had to get up much earlier knowing my workplace for the day wasn’t next door to my bedroom. Having an early morning commute was surprisingly refreshing and it was even better getting to see some new faces and communicate in person with the other members of the Belfast UX team.
The Puppet Belfast office had a selection of teas much to my excitement along with multiple working areas to use according to your needs. There are booths which you can use if you need to take a phone call or watch a video with sound and a more relaxed room with a sofa to chill on. Being able to go anywhere for lunch in the city centre of Belfast is a bonus too, the Belfast UX team took advantage of this our first day back and it went down a treat!
I also got to meet people far and wide when user testing externally this month. Me and John Murray have been carrying out some user testing to see how users use search and filtering on the Forge through some new designs he created. This has been extremely valuable, not only because you get to see how users interact with the product but also because I have gained greater confidence when carrying out these tests. User testing was something that scared me, even though I’m following a script I was worried in case I messed something up or that I sounded unnatural and awkward. However, now I find it easier to make my script flow and have that small talk with users to make them feel comfortable. Previously I have only carried out user testing internally, however this month I had the opportunity to get involved in user testing with individuals in different parts of the globe which involved a lot of preparation.
To prepare for testing John and I had to put together a user testing script which is more difficult than it seems. A user testing script includes the tasks and questions you are going to present to your user but it’s important that you’ve written the script correctly or else your results may not be accurate. Before letting your user interact with your prototype you need to reassure them that they are not being tested but instead that you are testing your own work and assumptions. I became increasingly aware of how important it is to encourage your users to think out loud and provide context to the scenario they’re in to help them understand the given task.
When scriptwriting and carrying out tests I had to be aware of what I was saying because by asking certain questions or making suggestive comments you may give clues to the ‘right answer’ and this could encourage the user to do what you want them to do and not what they feel is right, bringing back unreliable and unhelpful results.
Finally, I learnt that it’s important to provide your user with a reward for their time. This doesn’t just encourage people to take part in the first place but if people are volunteering their time to help make your product better, they deserve a reward!
I am currently organising the content from our usability tests to try and pinpoint the main areas of confusion for users or disappointment they have faced. I’m looking forward to seeing how these results will shape the Forge in the future. Until next month 👋🏼
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Email: hello@emmacorbett.design
