case study
In our quest to make User Experience a priority at Sabre, Bill Scott
and I initiated an internal effort to review the usability of the
products in our branch of Sabre. One of the worst interfaces we found
also had the saddest story. It had been rewritten 7 times over a couple of years, designed by the software engineers, and now it was in its worst state ever.
Our team had the chance to meet with the clients and suggest a collaboration between the end users and our designers to achieve the best user experience, essentially creating software that 'looks good and works well.' But instead of being receptive, they begged us not to re-write the software again, because the interface got worse every time.
Unfazed, we used our best powers of persuasion to get
Our success with this product can be attributed to this approach:
The review is based on compliance with a set of principles: navigation, metaphor, consistency, efficiency, design, help, feedback, recovery, and memory. The report is by nature negative; however, it is a teaching tool, not just a critique. The principles are explained, and suggestions in the form of mock-ups are included throughout the report.
We re-work the design in Visio, producing wireframes, grayscale block diagrams that illustrate the overall navigation and the blocks of elements such as content, functionality, etc. that will go on the screen.
Our team had the chance to meet with the clients and suggest a collaboration between the end users and our designers to achieve the best user experience, essentially creating software that 'looks good and works well.' But instead of being receptive, they begged us not to re-write the software again, because the interface got worse every time.
Unfazed, we used our best powers of persuasion to get
- Our directors to invest time and resources into our process
- The customers to join a users council, participate in user research and in early usability tests
- Development to embrace the UX team at each stage of production
Our success with this product can be attributed to this approach:
Heuristic Evaluation
First we conduct a usability review on the existing product. We invite the business experts to conduct a chalk talk for the team, so we gain an understanding the product and its role in the larger product suite.The review is based on compliance with a set of principles: navigation, metaphor, consistency, efficiency, design, help, feedback, recovery, and memory. The report is by nature negative; however, it is a teaching tool, not just a critique. The principles are explained, and suggestions in the form of mock-ups are included throughout the report.
User Research & Persona Development
We interview existing and potential users, preferably on-site, to get an understanding of their needs and expectations, how they go about their job, and their environment. From these interviews we create personas that will focus the design process by providing a shared understanding of what the user wants and eliminating the need for assumptions.
Paper Mockups & Wireframes
From the primary personas, we make a first pass at the product design on paper. We take the paper mockups to the users, product marketing, and the technical architects. Since the design isn't presented in a polished manner, everyone feels comfortable critiquing it and bringing up issues that weren't previously mentioned.We re-work the design in Visio, producing wireframes, grayscale block diagrams that illustrate the overall navigation and the blocks of elements such as content, functionality, etc. that will go on the screen.
Scenarios & Storyboarding
From the scenarios provided by the personas, we create storyboards. Currently we use scenario steps and layers in Visio to simulate the population of data and the interaction in the interface. It is a very quick, inexpensive way to explore and demonstrate the workflow.
Usability Testing
We invite customers to the Human Factors lab to conduct testing on the mockups and/or wireframes. The mockups aren't highly interactive, however; it is fairly easy to identify which aspects of the design do not meet the users mental model.
Form & Behavior Specification
After re-working the design based on the usability tests, and adding the hi-fidelity look and feel, we construct the form and behavior specification document that will be handed off to development.