Five design insights from working for 7 months at findmypast: bringing user-centred design to the company, and moving to a mobile-first world. Note: Not sure how much of it makes sense without my commentary, but knock yourself out.
16. Interested in the move to new devices?
• Ben Evans at ben-evans.com
• Good overview from November 2013: Mobile is Eating the World
• Subscribe to his newsletter
• App Annie at appannie.com
• Horace Dediu at asymco.com
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17. What we are talking about when we talk about mobile
21. …and don’t underestimate the web
Facebook monthly active users: September 2012
iPhone
11%
Android
14%
Not mobile
39%
RIM
5%
Feature phone
6%
Mobile web
23%
Source: "Facebook's 470m mobile app users" by Ben Evans
21
Other smart
2%
26. “We don’t do focus groups — that is the
job of the designer. It’s unfair to ask
people who don’t have a sense of the
opportunities of tomorrow from the
context of today to design.”
Sir Jonny Ive, 2012
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32. Start your user research
• Chat to them online, or invite them to a café
• User testing: ask them to accomplish some tasks
• Online user testing
• Face-to-face user testing
• Shadowing: observe users actions using a service
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33. User research tips
• 5 people is enough
• Don’t ask them leading questions
• Observe what they do, more than what they say
• Look for themes
• Don’t listen to your ego
• Share with people in your organisation
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34. Build a repeatable process, if you can
The bigger the organisation, the more important it is
(But, it is more important to do user research, and do it often, than to have a regular process)
34
38. People swap devices 21 times an hour
"We were quite surprised, and I think the respondents were surprised as
well. Not only were they multitasking, but we were surprised at the sheer
number of times that they were flip-flopping from one device to another.
"Most people would have the TV on for the whole one-hour period, but
they would then use their phone, then go to the laptop, then back to the
phone, and so on."
Research by OMD, article published 3 January 2014
http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/1225960/
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58. Example
2. Inviting people to join
Do say
Begin, join
“Explore your family history”
User
“Ok, I’ll try it out. How do I start?
Hope it’s not too much hassle.
What do I need to tell them?”
Tips:
✓Keep the offer warm –
remember, it’s about stories and
people.
✓Inject the user with excitement
about what they will do.
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Don’t say
Register, sign up
“Get access to X records”
“Create an account”
User’s feelings:
Optimistic, hopeful, impatient
findmypast
“Join findmypast and begin your journey of
discovery. It’s time to start exploring your
family history.”
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84. Would become too easy
Boring
G
am
e
M
ec
h
an
ic
Difficulty
Ze
n
Frustrating
84
Time spent playing
85. Understands what is the game and what isn't
Not the game…
Is the game…
• The register form
• Finding records
• Navigation
• Building a family tree
85
86. Other parallels…
From Josh Taylor’s ‘Gaming and Virtual Realties’
• MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer
Online Role-Playing Game)
• Activity happens at a similar time
• Hidden features
• Communal
• Passion
• Geeks (in a good way)
• Fun
• Addictive
86
93. Family history: search or hints? Finding.
• On a mobile or touch device long search forms are frustrating and boring
• Hints, such as Ancestry’s, are short circuit search
• On the app there is no way to search, just hints
93
94. Those 5 insights…
• Talk to your users
• We create services, not standalone products
• Your UI is your brand
• Family history is closer to a game than traditional web services
• For mobile in particular, understand those core interactions
94
ajfox@findmypast.com @andrewfox