March (PDF) - GN Store Nord

READY, SET,
Is the packaging easy to open? Is the user guide easy to understand? Is it easy to install and adjust the new headset?
When GN Netcom tests the products in a user environment, they capture it on fi lm, using a method inspired by
anthropological studies.
Henriette Sjögreen
Kristensen, 36, joined GN
in November 2002. As
an architect specializing
in industrial and communications
design, she
previously worked with
user friendliness on the
ADtranz train sets to serve
the Øresund Region of
Sweden and Denmark.
She also worked for
Danish industrial conglomerate
Danfoss.
GN Magazine 1 l 06
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Scene 1. Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
A half total shot of John. He is sitting at his heightadjustable
desk in his offi ce at an IT company. John is
holding a package containing a GN 4150 headset. He
tries to open the transparent box of hard plastic, but
after four unsuccessful attempts he gives up and takes
out a pair of scissors. Opening the package, he scratches
his thumb. Inside the package, a microphone boom arm
sticks out through the cardboard. John is unsure how
he should pull out the microphone. He ends up pulling
it out the front, and the cardboard splits open. He carefully
unpacks the rest of the components and puts them
in a pile on his desk. At no time did he read the instructions
on the package. Total time spent: 2 minutes, 3
seconds.
Scene 2. Munich, Germany.
Tania is sitting at a desk with very little empty space on
it. She is reading the user guide while she tries to click
the headband off the headset so she can mount the ear-
USER STUDIES AT ALL STAGES OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Idea Development
Observing people’s behavior when they use headsets in offi ces, in contact centers,
and in special environments and surroundings. One project study focused on people’s
behavior while they were playing a computer game at an Internet café. This demonstrated
the need for full mobility, hands-free operations and voice-controlled functions,
since the players, being unable to leave the PC during the game, needed to communicate
with the other players, and had to be able to eat and drink without having
a microphone in the way in front of their mouth. User wishes with respect to headset
functionality are also examined in focus groups and through questionnaires in which
participants are asked to rank the relative importance of individual functionalities.
18
Prototypes
hook instead. At fi rst, she tries to do it gently. Then she
uses a little more strength, but it still won’t work. Her
boss comes in and offers to help. First he tries to pull the
pieces apart, then he looks in the user guide, and then
he gives up. Finally, a colleague to the GN observer has
to step in – it doesn’t happen often – and he only succeeds
after a few more attempts and a careful look in
the user guide. Total time spent: 1 minute, 57 seconds.
Ideas for Improvement
“The sequences give a good indication of what it’s all
about,” says Henriette Sjögreen Kristensen, interaction
designer at GN Netcom.
The development department can seem remote from
end users and their everyday situation in offi ces and
contact centers around the world. That’s why GN makes
regular studies of how GN headsets are being used in
user environments.
“That way, we can see our products from the users’
point of view and get new ideas on how we can improve.
Most of the input we take straight back to the shop and
work on,” Kristensen explains.
Testing the packaging, user guides, assembly, connecting and operating the
headsets.
How do users open the package? Do they turn it the right way, and do
they read the information?
Is the user guide readable, easy to use, and is it used?
How do users unpack the headset and the individual parts? How do they
put the parts on the table? Do they mix things up?
How do users assemble, connect and adjust the headsets?