January 2012 Recap- Global UX

 Whitney Quesenbery (@whitneyq) and Daniel Szuc (@dszuc) were our special guests who called into last week’s uxWaterloo meeting by video conference.  They are the authors of Global UX, which describes their in-depth interviews with design professionals who represent over 60 countries and 25 languages.   Check out the following highlights from their presentation, and thanks again to Whitney and Daniel for joining us!

 Are there tips that ux professionals can use when running global usability tests? 

When conducting usability tests, let your testers talk to you about what they do.  Acknowledge who they are in their world and change your testing methods to suit them.  Plan breaks between global usability tests and give yourself more time after sessions for debriefing, to ensure that you’ve absorbed the information from the meeting.  Overall, don’t think of people as your usability testers. Instead, think of them as your global collaborators.

From your interviews, what were the most common characteristics of people working in global ux?

The common characteristics were openness, curiosity, and a willingness to learn about other cultures.  More details about these and other characteristics are available in this article: Global UX: A Journey.

What tips do you have for project teams wanting to improve in global ux?

Create a mindset in your project team where team members care enough to ask how to make a product more global.  Have a cultural debrief at the beginning of a project where you ask “what are the things that we assume and could constrain our project team’s thinking?”  Each team member should ask themselves  “who do I need to speak to to help me learn and confirm what I know and don’t know?”

What can I do to improve how I work on global ux projects?

If you need to research a group of users you don’t know about, spend time with them.  Immerse yourself in their world for a little while to understand the services they use and understand how they interact with others.  Furthermore, get out of the office and watch people using your products!  You don’t necessarily need to travel widely to gather a global perspective and you can learn a lot by calling your global coworkers to ask for their perspective.  If you do decide to travel, have a local buddy that can answer your questions and help you with your travel plans. Involve them in your usability tests and get their opinions in your debrief sessions.   They can help you understand any cultural or language differences that you may encounter.