I\u2019m not sure whether the same has happened to you, but in a matter of days, I\u2019ve been expected to learn the fundamentals residing under the bonnet for quite complex processes and systems including:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Delegation of authority<\/li>\n
- Waste removal compliance<\/li>\n
- Procurement portals<\/li>\n
- In-shop customer engagement and service<\/li>\n
- Account management apps<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
There\u2019s no escape from this crash course and there\u2019s nothing worse than stakeholders folding their arms and rolling their eyes because you \u2018don\u2019t get it\u2019! But there is a way to get them on your side \u2013 by saving them money and time!<\/p>\n
Want to get concrete numbers and evidence early on in the project? Don\u2019t have the time or access to the client\u2019s money tree to employ the services of qualified users? Then the answer could be:<\/p>\n
PURE and simple: Pragmatic Usability Rating by Experts<\/h2>\n
If you\u2019re reading this and you\u2019re part of a UX team then you will probably know the majority (if not all) of the UX principles and have used heuristics quite a lot, too. The magic word that holds these together is usability<\/strong>. And, therefore, you, my UX friend, are an expert<\/strong>. All of those systems and processes you\u2019ve had to learn in record time have made you a usability oracle. Just one glance at a website makes you either cringe with mobile-unfriendly disgust or want to hug the burger button and tap all of the breadcrumbs!<\/p>\n
And\u2026 even the most out-of-touch-with-their-customer stakeholder is going to have heard of usability and understand the business risks if their product or service has none!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.testingtime.com\/app\/uploads\/2019\/11\/PURE-usability.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPURE will work for your UX team and the project<\/h2>\n
But only if:<\/p>\n
- \n
- You have the resources to allow at least 2 individuals (3 is ideal) to be the PURE people. If PURE is being introduced to a revisited project or halfway through a project, then UX researchers should make up this usability team. We don\u2019t want designers or product professionals to introduce any bias.<\/li>\n
- The client or the overall working culture of the large organization you may be nestled inside has respect for your UX team and the amazing work it has previously done. You don\u2019t need comments after delivering your PURE rating that begin with: \u201cYou don\u2019t know anything about what we do\u2026\u201d or \u201cSo, I\u2019m supposed to go along with what you pair have said about the usability of my system that\u2019ll be visited by _______ amount of people!\u201d The client needs to be on your side or this concrete evidence will be for nothing!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In this blog entry, I\u2019ll be giving just an overview of how PURE works, but please use the links provided below to gain even more knowledge into this empowering and relatively new UX method.<\/p>\n
5 steps to PURE heaven<\/h2>\n
1. Be your target user or persona<\/h3>\n
Your PURE team will be required to approach this analysis in the guise of a target user or persona<\/a>. Your agency\/team will probably have a persona archive that can conjure up the ideal candidate. For example, a supplier wishing to use an invoicing portal or a student wanting to find and download the latest case study.<\/p>\n
2. Determine a critical task<\/h3>\n
The next step is to determine a critical task or a shortlist of top tasks that the persona will want to perform on the system\/website\/app. This could be anything from registering a new account to ease of communicating with customer services.<\/p>\n
3. Break that task down<\/h3>\n
Your PURE team now needs to agree on how the task(s) can be broken down into logical steps for the persona (typical user), with the end result being the completion of the task. If there is disagreement amongst the \u2018experts\u2019 on defining a series of steps, then the use of garnered data can usually clear this up. For example, the number of text fields in a contact form for a new product or service website has been a sticking point on many projects for me and my colleagues. Make sure all judgments are documented.<\/p>\n
4. Score the friction<\/h3>\n
Now it\u2019s time to independently score the friction<\/strong> or difficulty\/mental effort of each task step using a 3-point scale:<\/p>\n
1 = The step is carried out easily by the targetted user, thanks to low cognitive load or because they know it like the back of their persona\u2019s hand!<\/span><\/p>\n
2 = After some effort, the task\u2019s step is accomplished. Close, but no cigar.<\/span><\/p>\n
3 = The step would cause the target user to fail the end task. The cognitive load is overbearing or confusion has won the day.<\/span><\/p>\n
5. Calculate the PURE rating<\/h3>\n
Now add up the \u2018step scores\u2019 in a task to get your PURE rating. The decision on color for the overall task is given by the worst score of a given step. If a combination of tasks has been tested for usability then a PURE score for the product in its entirety is determined by the sum of the task scores. As in golf, the lower the number the better<\/strong> the usability. The color for the product is then decided by which task color scores highest.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.testingtime.com\/app\/uploads\/2019\/11\/pure-product.png\")
Source: Nielsen Norman Group<\/p><\/div>\n
This seems as harsh as NPS (Net Promoter Score)<\/a> but not half as ambiguous. The rationale being that no company should go to market with a consumer product that could allow a target user to fail a fundamental task.<\/strong><\/p>\n
PURE contentment<\/h2>\n
Entering a project\u2019s early stages with the analysis of friction<\/strong> (accumulated pain points) that a user encounters on a competitor\u2019s system will spark interest and project direction. Comparing an assumed \u2018happy path\u2019 for a critical task on your client\u2019s system alongside a rival\u2019s and having it neatly wrapped up in a \u2018PURE score\u2019 will be even more engaging. Usability is definitely the glue that can hold UX projects together at the beginning and bring an early understanding of an overview of any system or process, no matter how daunting. Time and money saved.<\/p>\n
PURE, to me, is a great way for any established UX team to showcase their expertise in usability and get stakeholders on board. A huge thank you to Christian Rohrer<\/a> for making me aware of the PURE method at a Nielsen Norman convention back in March 2018. If you have the resources, then give it a go and it would be great if you could let me know how you get on.<\/p>\n
? More about the PURE method from XD Strategy<\/a> and\u00a0the Nielsen Norman Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How can a UX agency save time and money? If only you had usability experts to hand\u2026 Wait a minute! Have you heard of PURE (Pragmatic Usability Rating by Experts)? When starting a new UX project, I can\u2019t help feeling a slight sense of dread. This usually festers within me in the guise of: What […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":14921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8990,8989],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-methods","category-research-strategy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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