Ask Jeeves UK Interview
Myles Runham, Director of Research and Planning at Ask Jeeves UK discusses the nature of usability for him and his organisation.
The Big Picture
UPA: What is usability for you and your organisation?
MR: It’s a crucial input to all/any product and site development project. It is, therefore, a crucial part of my own role.
UPA: How does usability fit with other design components?
MR: Very well now, having developed a means of rapidly feeding UI input into the development of requirements and the investigation of options. It has a strong voice.
UPA: What do you see as the difference between usability and
market research?
MR: Usability research focuses clearly (for me) on functional projects regarding the site itself. Other research programmes have other or broader remits. I would not commission usability for brand intelligence for instance.
UPA: What is the biggest usability myth?
MR: That subjects will actually do what they say they would do during a test.
Approach and Methods
UPA: What methods do you regard most highly?
MR: Live tests of pages/designs in the subject’s natural habitat. Comparison with other live examples of similar functionality.
UPA: Which methods are the least effective?
MR: Anything that does not test against clear UI/research objectives and does not manage the variables in the test materials.
UPA: What is the best outcome from usability inputs you could wish
for?
MR: Clear recommendation of which routes/options not to take and which is the best option and why.
UPA: What should practitioners seek in their deliverables?
MR: Clear recommendations for action with strong rationale and supporting evidence. Nothing wrong with some opinion either.
UPA: What are the three biggest problems you have seen in usability
work?
MR: A preoccupation with academic thinking and presentation.
A misunderstanding of the commercial model of the client business and the pressure the client is under.
An embarrassing tendency in presentation of results to focus on areas of interest to the UI professional rather than the business/site of the client.
UPA: How do you look to measure usability returns?
MR: User satisfaction, frequency and reduces abandonment – these have a direct relationship to revenues.
The Bottom Line
UPA: How usability was sold to you in the first place? – What was the “elevator pitch”?
MR: If you don’t do this, you will make incorrect assumptions.
UPA: What makes a good agency/freelancer/employee?
MR: A clear understanding of why a business has done what it has done and why it is looking at proposed changes. A rounded view of the reality of site design.
UPA: What do you look for in a practitioners’ project proposal?
MR: The above and an ability to demonstrate experience of our sector.
Strong theoretical background.
UPA: How do usability costs compare to other services?
MR: They vary from outrageously costly to very good value. We only now accept the latter.
In a Nutshell
UPA: What are your favourite usability books/resources? Why?
MR: UseIT.com because it’s nice and opinionated. “The Design of Everyday Things” because common sense is never common. A user model developed by our favoured supplier because it focuses on what we need to do.
UPA: What is your favourite usability quote?
MR: ”Don’t let an engineer design anything. Don’t let a user design it either.”
UPA: What is your favourite famous usability finding?
MR: Are there any famous ones?
VCRs are crap.