SHOW ME THE GUI! Patterns To Help You Deal with Users Who Are Forever Too Busy Right Now

Conventional usability wisdom says we should all spend lots of time studying users. Great, but what about users are perenially "too busy right now"? I'm focusing mostly on ethnographic observations and evaluating (paper) prototypes, because that is really all you can hope to do. Participatory design with the end-users is right out.

Most of the patterns are based on visiting external sites, hence issues regarding what to do while waiting for access to users.

The Problem

• Users are rare and/or highly paid: A trading system I worked on recently only had 10 primary users worldwide. It was fun working on a system where I got to meet the entire global user population, but needless to say, their time was considered a precious commodity.
• Heavy workload: Users often simply have too much work to do, and can't spare the time. Raving about future gains will have little effect if the culture doesn't value anything beyond next Tuesday.
• Immediate response required: Some users, even if their average workload is low, must respond immediately to events which could occur at any time, such as calls from clients. For instance, I once observed the night shift in an intensive care unit. It was quiet enough to talk to the medical specialists, but they were never fully attendant because they were constantly checking on their patients and responding to reports from nurses. If you're only visiting for a short time, you might find lady luck reduces your interaction with users to a few short minutes.
• Long hours: Users who work long hours find it difficult to stay back for a usability study. Even if they do, the impact of fatigue means you are likely to get a biased result.
• Status Management: In some environments, workers avoid taking time out from their core work for fear of retribution from co-workers, who may perceive it as a soft option. This is exacerbated in those situations where a manager will sacrifice only the inexperienced and untalented.
• Low Perceived Value: Some organisations have short-term agendas and don't wish to devote resources to longer-term benefits. Moreover, many simply don't know much about user-centered techniques, and can't see the benefits of studies with users.

The Patterns

Distraction-Free Zone

Encourage users away from their work area. This way, you'll get their full attention. Furthermore, what seemed urgent a couple of minutes ago is no longer quite as important. They are acutely aware of this phenomenon and often suggest it themselves.

Of course, a usability study must involve users in their natural environment, so do that too. But with busy users, the compromise of going elsewhere is often worthwhile.

Surrogate Users

Work with "Surrogate Users" - people who are similar enough to your target users to provide useful infomation. Candidates would include: (a) people who previously worked as the target users (e.g. ex-traders who have moved into IT or management can be "surrogate traders"); (b) people who have worked in the same environment, but in a different role (e.g. retail staff at a pharmacy can be "surrogate pharmacists").

Userless Evaluations

Use expert knowledge to compensate for user feedback. We all know the importance of testing with real users, but engineering work is a trade-off. If testing with real users is more difficult than usual, then, all other things being equal, effort will be better spent not evauating with users. This is about being pragmatic, rather than abandoning the cause of user testing: you can and should still test, but make it a smaller proportion of the overall effort. Userless evaluations would include heuristic-driven inspections and cognitive walkthroughs.

Feature-Driven Microevaluations

Evaluate features, not entire systems.

Intermittent Dialogue

If you can't catch users in person, use other forms of communicationPhone calls, email, instant messaging, online prototypes, faxes or photos of drawings, screenshots.

Passive Observation

Don't get users off-side by pestering them. Few people like to be shadowed all day long - even if it's passive observation. It can get annoying, and it can also make confidential activities awkward. So while onsite, be prepared to spend a lot of time away from users.

Perfect Preparation

Sideline Activity