User Research
I enjoy performing user testing and learning more about how users utilize our products and services. I firmly believe that the quicker you get a product into the hands of the targeted users the more efficiently you will be able to improve the product, save money, and time along the way.
I have performed many casual and formal user testing sessions both in school and the workforce. By using a well prepared scripts, thinking on my feet, and analyzing users body language I am able quickly gather high quality data about the product. From the data I've gathered my teams and I have been able to take qualitative leaps and bounds to improve the product experience for our users.
What I do:
- Identify Target Users
- Build Personas
- Gather users for testing
- Involve key shareholders in testing
- Perform one on one user testing
- Set up and run A/B Testing
- Gather information and analyze data
- Come up with solutions to problems unearthed through testing
- Create reports
- Work with team members and developers to stay customer/user focused
Identifying Target Users and Building Personas
Personas are the most useful when they describe an individual that if you can please that one you can please any of your other users. I also prefer to create my personas focused more on the users habits then who they are.
Gather Users for Testing
This is one of the most interesting things I get to do as a user researcher. Sometimes you need to be creative to find users within your target market. It takes good networking, being outgoing, and really getting involved and caring about your users needs and wants. Some of my tactics include: Asking friends and family if they know someone who fits, asking coworkers if they have friends or family who fit, going out with the Project manager on customer outreaches and keeping an eye out for people who would be good testers, being outgoing and getting to know people at conferences, going to conferences or other places that target users would attend.
While working at Lenovo Software I performed a formal user test on some initial designs for a product that we were changing from desktop to web-based as a Service.
