(Floe) UI Options Interview+contextual inquiry. Pilot participant

Owned by Tona Monjo
Last updated: Apr 27, 2012Version comment
6 min read

Demographics, context, icebreakers

Barcelona, pilot test duration: 1h 12m

Female, age 26-35. Works as a graphic designer, also studying a short course. 

Feels comfortable using computers. Uses computers daily, almost all the time. 

Other devices: uses an MP3 with Android, wi-fi connection (same features as an smartphone except the phone calls). 

Doesn't have any disability nor uses special devices. 

3. Main interview

3.1 Using the computer at home

  • Do you use computer at home? 
    • Yes, I'm connected almost all the time.
  • What's the frequency?
    • Daily.
  • What do you use computer at home for? (main tasks)
    • I use the computer in my lesure time to watch TV, speak through Skype with my family and friends (she's abroad), browse websites and also use some social nets.
  • What kind of software do you use at home?
    • Mainly the browser (Chrome) and Skype. Also use Excel for house bookkeeping. 
  • Among all this software, could you tell us what is your favorite? Why? (try to focus in the interactive experience). 
    • None specially.
  • Do you read e-books in your leisure time? If so, 
    • No, I use to read books on paper, because I feel more comfortable. I've sometime read an e-book on the computer, but the screen brightness is disturbing. Also, I prefer the paper version design: the quality of the typography and the layout make them more readable. 
  • Do you visit websites at home? If so, 
    • Yes, daily. My favorite is http://www.fastcodesign.com/ not only for its contents, but also because of its design. It's very pleasant for me. It looks very simple. 

3.2 Using the computer at work

  • Do you use computer at work? 
    • Yes.
  • What's the frequency?
    • Daily, constantly.
  • What do you use computer at work for? (main tasks)
    • To work on the design of new documents, both printed or websites, or to edit graphics like icons. I sometimes do benchmarking, then I have to browse and then gather the results in a document. 
  • What kind of software do you use at work?
    • Mainly Illustrator and InDesign, but also Photoshop. And sometimes Word or PowerPoint, to prepare presentations. Occasionally I use Google Docs. Also, I use Dropbox to share files.  
  • Among all this software, could you tell us what is your favorite? Why? (try to focus in the interactive experience). 
    • Illustrator and InDesign, both of them. Because the interaction is really direct: I work directly on the documents, I don't have to remember menus like in word editors, for instance. On the other hand, I can use shortcuts that speed up my work. 
  • Do you have to read large documents in your job? If so, 
    • No, not really large documents. And I don't customize them. 
  • Do you use an intranet at work? If so, 
    • I don't use intranet, only Dropbox and Google Docs to share my documents. I feel very comfortable with Dropbox, and not so much with Google Docs, because I have never created a new document there: I only edit documents created by other participants. 

3.3 Using the computer for learning

  • Your studies, are long-term or a brief course?
    • It's a brief course, one-month length, about Marketing 2.0 
  • Are your studying face-to-face or online?
    • Face-to-face
  • In any case, do you use a virtual campus?
    • No, we can only send emails to the teacher, but there is not virtual campus. 
  • Must you read electronic documents? If so, how do you feel? 
    • Yes, sometimes. I don't mind, I read them on screen. I'm used to read this kind of documents on screen and never print them, because I like to add my annotations and save them with the document. 
  • Besides reading, what other kind of tasks do you do on the computer?
    • Anything else so far, because we still haven't started to work with any software. 
  • Which device do you use preferably for your studies: the computer, a tablet, the smartphone...? Why?
    • The computer, because reading in my mp3 is not really comfortable. 

4. Transition to observation mode

4.1 Wikipedia observation

Visits the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands page.

  • At a first glance, do you feel comfortable with this page? Why? 
    • Well, at a first glance I see the page too grey: there's a lot of text, the main column is too width (she uses a high resolution screen). But there's one think that I really appreciate: the Contents table. If gives me a good idea of the contents of the page, and allows me to jump directly to the point I'm interested. 
  •  
  • Would you make some customization? If so, do it. 
    • No, I can read it as it is. 
  • You need to know [the Netherlands'] currency. Can you find information about this?
    • (She knows Wikipedia, so she looks over the right column) Well, I guess it must be over here... here! (found after some seconds). I know that Wikipedia shows this kind of data in this column. But I guess that if I click on the "Economics" link in the Contents table, it probably contains more about this. 
  • In a page like this, do you think that you can easily find the information you are looking for? Why?
    • Well, using the Contents table. Also, I sometimes use the search in the page option (in the browser) to find a specific word. 
  • If you had to read the whole article, how would you do it? (read on screen, make some adaptation, print,...)
    • I'd read it on screen. I'd love to be able to change the order of the sections, because the order of the contents it's not always the order in which I would read the document. Also, it would be great if I could favorite some sections and ignore the rest, to have only the contents that I really need. 
  • Is there anything disturbing or frustrating?
    • Yes, when I click a link in the Contents table, it leads me to another point in the page, so each time I finish reading a section, I have to scroll up to see again the Contents table. 
  • How could this page be improved? (let the user imagine aloud)
    • Would be great if the contents table and the search into the page are always available at the top of the page, even if I scroll down. 

4.2 Online newspaper

She selects El Universal (http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/), a Mexican newspaper. Occasionally jumps to El País (http://elpais.com/), a Spanish newspaper recently redesigned.

  • Generally, what's your favorite version of the newspaper: printed or digital? Why?  
    • I prefer the printed one. Because the digital version (refers to El Universal) is really overfilled! There are too many baners and adds, I can't locate easily the information. 
  • At the home page.
    • At a first glance, do you feel comfortable with this page? Why? 
      • No, it's too full of things. 
    • Do you use to make some customization? If so, do it. 
      • No. But I did in the previous version of El Pais, that allowed registered users to customize the interface. 
    • What kind of customization did you do there?
      • Interface colors and text size. 
    • Is there anything disturbing or frustrating?
      • (Back to El Universal) Yes, the main menu: if you try to select a subsection it's almost impossible, because you have to be so precise... [when the cursor comes out of the subsections bar, it disappears]. 
    • How could this page be improved? (let the user imagine aloud)
      • Would be great if I could clean the page [removing ads], and choose another kind of menu [refers to change the menu behavior]
  • At an article page. 
    • If you had to read the whole article, how would you do it? (read on screen, make some adaptation, print,...)
      • I'd read on screen. 
    • Do you use to make some customization? If so, do it.
      • No.
    • Is there anything disturbing or frustrating?
      • Not really. This page is more clean.

4.3 Favorite website

She selects http://www.fastcodesign.com/ as the favorite site.

  • Why do you like this page?
    • Because it's so visual... I have big pictures and clear titles. It looks simple and clean. Also, I like it because it have it's own identity, it differentiates clearly from another websites.
  • Do you feel comfortable with it? Why? 
    • Yes. I can see exactly where starts a new article, because the images and the text point this clearly. Also, when I enter to an article, I can read it in a good width column, and the diverse levels of contents are clear. 
  • Do you use to make some customization? If so, do it. 
    • No. 
  • Is there anything disturbing or frustrating?
    • No, even when there's a right column with ads or other items, I don't pay attention to it. It remains in a second level, out of my focus. 
  • How could this page be improved? (let the user imagine aloud)
    • I like it like it is.