Group Reviews: A Story of Simplification
We knew we needed a new Drug Interaction tool for a year before we started working on it. And all that time, requirements came in from marketing, from internal stakeholders, from product management.
The list was long. We grouped it into 14 key features and took the list to a group review. The reviewers were nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists. They were users, we were not. They knew the situations, they knew the context, they knew the questions.
By the end of the review sessions, we’d cut our 14 “Key” features to 7. We had a simpler and more user-centered product. We also had a more practical timeline and budget. Some of the 14 became upgrade features, but not all. And everyone won.
Collaborative Discovery Sessions
In collaborative discovery, two users work together in the accomplishment of specific tasks on the interface. By talking back and forth, helping each other, they reveal the gaps, points of confusion, and issues with the interface. These sessions are recorded and timed, creating benchmarks for improvements.
Task-based Discovery Sessions
A user is given a set of key tasks to accomplish. As they work through the interface, they talk to a careful moderator about their intentions, assumptions, and points of confusion. Sessions are recorded and timed.
Group Reviews
This is a technique that is particularly appropriate for getting feedback on aesthetic or layout options; for creating requirements lists; and for getting general pre-launch feedback from passionate members of a client community. We can do this over a web meeting, or in a conference room setting. It can get answers to some key questions from real clients, but can be more affordable than full client sessions.
Paper Prototype or Wireframe Reviews
Paper prototype or wireframe reviews allow clients to offer feedback early in development, so that they can shape the fundamentals of workflows and layouts before a lot of development resources have been committed. These reviews are ideally group sessions, based on client profiles, and can be done either in online meetings or conference rooms.