Twitter got a Facelift (maybe even a tummy-tuck)

(Originally posted in Isobar's blog)

Twitter recently went through a little work, a nip a tuck, and a new design. The “New Twitter”, unveiled to select users, keeps users on the same page, provides streamed media and images, and also provides mini snapshots of the users submitting the tweets. The addition of the streamed media is thought to be an extension of Twitter Media released earlier this summer. Twitter has partnered with with DailyBooth, DeviantART, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.TV, Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi, Twitgoo, TwitPic, TwitVid, USTREAM, Vimeo, yfrog, and YouTube.

Mashable refers to this huge change as the “Facebookification of Twtter” since it seems to be moving to the Facebook model. Allowing users to view media on the site, Twitter is no longer the information broadcaster, but now another time waster. Could Twitter be jealous of all the time Facebook users are spending stalking old boyfriends?

The redesign offers many key advantages since it keeps users on the page and promotes scannability, and increases time on site. But, The Post’s Rob Pegoraro points out that the redesign still fails to show what pages are behind the shortened hyperlinks. A better solution would have been for Twitter to add a hover state with a thumbnail of the website or the original URL so users are not thrown aimlessly off the site to a mystery site.

The new Twitter streamlines the design and interactions of the Twitter iPad app, making it more of unified experienced throughout all Twitter’s mediums. The new model could also open the door to advertising opportunities on the site, perhaps within the video players, captions, and the additional side panel real-estate. With the new and sexy Twitter, the external sites including Tweetdeck could see a decrease in usage.

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Amazon-Facebook (Dis)Connect

(Originally posted in Isobar's blog)

The current use of Facebook integration with Amazon seems like a half-baked idea . The integration, as it currently stands, is an isolated page on Amazon, and not integrated into the heart of the site, the product pages (or at least from what I could see looking at the example Elf, which was popular with my Facebook friends). It would be most relevant to show the info as the user is viewing the product.

Razorfish first introduced the idea of a Facebook Connect/Amazon in 2008. They suggested that Facebook should use the data from the user’s profile to offer relevant products based on what is already known about the user. They also suggested polling friends and getting feedback at the point of sale to gauge friend’s opinions on the products.

The integration has the potential to be a very positive for the Amazon customers. In March and April, 2009 for part of my graduate coursework, I performed qualitative usability studies using a beta music evaluation tool developed by Sun Microsystems, Music Explaura. We evaluated user’s levels of satisfaction with the system’s recommendations versus its competitors (iTunes, Pandora, Last.fm), the trustworthiness of the system, and the “steerability of the recommendations”.

The study’s conclusions could have implications for Amazon and Facebook recommendations:

The user’s ratings of the site corresponded to how much they agreed with the recommendations presented to them.
If they agreed with the relevance of the selection, they had a more positive view of the site. If Amazon gets it right and can offer user’s suggestions based on the Facebook content in a relevant manner, they could boost the user’s views of the site and opinion that it is trustworthy. Or, it could negatively impact the opinion if done poorly.

Users tended to rate the source as more trustworthy if they know other users they view as “similar”, that is with the same taste in music or same level of enthusiasm, also liked a recommendation. For Amazon and Facebook, users that belong to the same Facebook group, even if they do not know each other, could offer persuasive influences over buying behaviors.

Adding a few more elements to this process could dramatically improve the user’s experience. In order for this to be truly successful, recommendations need to be relevant and provided in the right context. If not, it could be more burdensome than helpful. Hopefully this integration is an evolution and Amazon will continue to improve the integration as users provide more feedback.

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Twitter’s @earlybird Campaign Is Taking Flight

(Originally posted on Isobar's blog)

Twitter is following the “online deal bandwagon” with the recent account creation of @earlybird. Similar to Groupon and Buy with Me, @earlybird broadcasts time-sensitive promotions. Unlike programs like Groupon, @earlybird is not currently targeting specific regions, but hopes to in the future.

@earlybird, along with its fellow online deal sites, appeals to our innate hardwired behaviors. These sites provide social validation to users with the buying power through the community. When users see deals shared via Facebook and Twitter, they may feel more apt to make the purchase since other people they may know and trust are involved. Another way deal sites appeal to buyers is it encourages a sense of loss aversion. Since we are scared of the negative impacts of not getting the deal, we may be more impulsive when purchasing. Also, we are more attracted to items we think are in limited quantity. “If there is limited availability of something, we assume it’s more valuable” (Weinscheck, S. Neuro Web Design). Many of these online sites have limited quantity or duration, thus heightening our sense of urgency to act and buy. If the deal did not expire in 24 hours, would we feel that same sense of urgency? Lastly, @earlybird, Groupon, and other online deal sites are effective because they offer users limited choices. As humans, we think we want more choices, but when we have fewer choices, decisions are made much quicker.

The @earlybird concept is similar to other daily deal sites, but offers a few key advantages. First, using Twitter as an outlet for special time-bound deals helps decrease inbox clutter. Of all those deals, only a fraction actually appeals to you. Twitter users are already used to scanning their feeds and bypassing info that does not appeal to them. Second Twitter users are used to seeing corporate accounts and existing corporate blasts of deals. Third, Twitter is meant to be timely, so users have a better chance of seeing the deals and responding to them before the deal expires.

Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable, believes this could be a “win for Twitter”, its users, and its advertisers. Cashmore believes this could be a very powerful marketing platform. Even if this is a failure, according to Cashmore, it would probably have little impact for Twitter. Some are critical since they don’t believe Twitter has a true business model.

I am with Pete – I don’t see how this could hurt Twitter. If anything, I think it will follow the success of other deal sites l have proven to be highly trafficked. As a Groupon member, I am really excited about the idea of getting even more deals in one easy swipe. What are your thoughts? Fail or Flight?

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Zig-Zagged Career Paths Tell Your Story

Last week, I attended a great MITX session on Women's Career Decisions in Review. Kiki Mils, the moderator of the session, asked panelists Gail Goodman - CEO, Constant Contact, Diane Hessan - President and CEO, Communispace, Kathleen Kennedy - Chief Strategy Officer, Technology Review, and Nataly Kogan - Senior Program Manager, Microsoft. One question Kiki asked was regarding career paths. Many of the panelists, including Nately Kogan, talked about how their career paths were very unexpected, but that is Ok, as "long as you can tell the story".

Nately talked about her career as a young and successful venture capitalist and previous positions. All speakers had no idea what they wanted to be when they were young, and their message was, it's OK.

In reflecting on the notion of career paths telling a story - that helps give me peace of mind. Starting out with a BA in English and certification in Technical Writer, moving into medical software, dabbling in web projects, and now am pursuing user experience in the process of getting a Human Factors degree. It seems as though user experience is such a hybrid field - no one comes on a clear path, and perhaps that is what makes the field so rich and insightful. When I tell my story - how I got to UX (seems to be a popular interview question) I believe all my paths have the user in mind - whether it is tech writing, web projects, or user experience.

Breaking Up With Your Job

A few weeks ago, I left my previous position, where I left behind a great view of Boston and some great friends. As I was going through the entire interviewing/give notice/start new job process, I felt like it was a breakup.

For example, it all starts with going on the interview elsewhere. You have to tell a white lie about your whereabouts - and you ultimately feel like you are sneaking around. You look over your shoulder and make sure no one sees you (don't you feel dirty?). Next, you have may get the offer, you weigh the pros and cons of each - or in some cases, you are so fed up with this thing, you are already out the door. In my case, I was leaning towards, the "it's not you thing, I need to spread my wings and see what else is out there type of thing".

Now you made up your mind - the old relationship is just not working anymore. Now you have to have that awkward breakup talk with your boss, which no one enjoys. For me, I hate that. The employer may try to get you to stay, try to work things out, or maybe they realize you are too far removed to even try to convince. You might even consider staying, because change is never easy. Always easier to know what to expect, then to make that leap.

OK, so now you move on to your new relationship. You may take some time to yourself coming out of that former relationship. Maybe you try some yoga, go skiing, or just relax. Now you start your new gig and it is a whole new game. You are on your best behavior - in the honey moon stage and just trying to feel everything out.

Is There an Art to Usability Test Moderation?

Recently, I have been rapidly teaching non-user experience professionals about usability studies and eye tracking studies. Due to the limited time, I have really been focusing on the tools and have not had the chance to delve deeper into the exact art of moderation. And in my opinion, moderating usability and eye-tracking tests is a skill that can only be perfected in time. You can teach someone a tool to generate data, but it takes more effort and experience to teach someone how to moderate. Good moderators know when to probe, when to be quiet, and when to look beyond verbal communication.

Being a good moderator also means knowing when to use think-aloud protocol. Think aloud protocol was first seen at IBM, and then refined by Ericsson and Simon. Most versions of think aloud protocol we use today is a variation of the Ericsson and Simon version where there is more active listening and more of a dialogue between moderator and participants. The more recent version encourages the use of certain acknowledgement tokens, such as “Mm hmm” rather than Ericsson and Simon’s token of “keep talking”. Some acknowledgement tokens can influence changes in speakership between the participant and the moderator.

When using think aloud protocol you have to be able to explain to the participant how to think aloud and keep reminding him or her to do so throughout the session. There are instances where you may not want to think aloud – eye-tracking studies or formative studies where you are concerned with just finding out critical problems that prevent users from completing their tasks. This past Monday, at my HF750 Testing and Assessment class at Bentley, we watched sessions of usability tests and analyzed moderators. We even watched a famous author of a usability book moderate a remote test and observed mistakes he made. It is clear that it takes years of experience, and even then, the experts can make mistakes.

Moderation is so important because the better the moderation, the better the data. Isn’t getting accurate data the point of testing? People are easily influenced, so moderator bias is a real concern. The way you ask the questions is crucial and the vibe you give off is equally as important.

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Who is Steering the Ship: Consumer or Designer?

(Post originally appeared on Hill Holliday Blog)

A recent blog article addresses whether the designer or consumer has greater influence over the behavioral patterns of the other. There is no doubt the corporate design approach is getting more people-centric, with a stronger emotional appeal. To answer the question asked at the end of the article about where the trends starts (whether it starts with the designer playing off the consumer behavior, or whether the designer shapes the idea of the consumer) I would have to say it is a complicated question. If this question were asked twenty years ago, the answer would be that designers shape consumer behavior and experiences. Now, I would say that designers react to the consumer’s patterns, behaviors, and emotions. Consumers engage with content in an entirely different way than they did even a decade ago – social networks including Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, YouTube are completely driven by the engaged user. People have the ability to post their reactions and emotions towards their environment and the content they engage with in real-time. Designers in this day of age react to the influence of this social and real-time mentality.

One recent example of design following the behavior and preferences of the consumer/user is a halfpipe in a freestyle park. Recently, I went skiing and some of the free-style equipment was tagged with graffiti, but on closer examination, I realized it was designed to look like it had been defaced. In this example the halfpipe’s designer played off of the rebellious nature of snowboarder or freestyle skier.

This article reminded me of a previous Forrester report on Emotional Experience Design. Forester proposes the idea that functionality can’t always solve corporate problems, but companies really need to get to the heart of the consumer’s goals, while developing a specific personality. The key to solving the consumer conundrum is appealing to the consumer on an emotional level.

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