March (PDF) - GN Store Nord

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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?
RECORD! The unpacking scene shows how the individual headset parts should be packaged and how much of the headset should be preassembled. The tests show the order in which the components are unpacked and whether users follow the instructions. The results are then used to design the packaging and to mark the different parts of the headset. The second example shows that what may be intuitive to the product developers during the design phase may not be intuitive to the user. “One very important area is instructions and user guides. Are they easy to read? Do users follow them? And do the users assemble and install the headset the way it was intended? We’ve gotten a lot of good ideas for improvement this way,” she says. Without Filter Non-interference is a basic principle when you observe users. They must do exactly what they would have done if they weren’t being observed. “We fi lm the entire process, jotting down notes as we go along, and ask detailed questions afterwards. That way, we get different input than we would from focus Daily Use Studies to follow up on the everyday use of a headset, typically a month after it was bought. How do users wear the headset? Is it easy for them to put on their head or ear? Do users wear the headset in a different way now than they did at the start? How do users operate the headset during a phone call? Have they changed the settings? What functionalities do they use? Is the sound satisfactory? Do they use the charger? Did the user save the box and the user guides? Have they used the user guide? groups, for example, where the things that come out are the user’s acknowledged needs and conscious behavior. Using the observation method, we experience real behavior directly, without a fi lter,” explains Kristensen. Field Work Since 2003, GN Netcom has completed more than 100 user studies on users in Germany, the UK, Sweden, Denmark and the United States. In many cases, design department staff or the person in charge of the user guide sit in on the interviews to get a fi rst-hand impression of users’ everyday situations and experiences with their GN Netcom headsets. The results of the many user tests are reported to all the groups and departments involved at GN Netcom, for example through workshops, to make sure that the results are used in the ongoing development efforts. “So far, we’ve used observation studies in selected projects, but with the good results we’ve been getting, we will be using this method regularly in the various stages of the development process so our design and development efforts will be even more fi rmly rooted in the everyday user situation,” says Kristensen. Current Products User studies of both current and new users, with an emphasis on packaging, user guide, assembly, connection and operation, just like in user studies of prototypes and everyday use. These studies show whether there is a need for more adjustments to current products, and they provide inspiration for new products and functionalities. GN Magazine 1 l 06 19
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