http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience Insights on the Importance of the End-User Experience en mhardee@cisco.com Copyright 2009 2009-06-28T17:35:48+00:00 http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/remembering_billy_mays_60-second_storyteller/ http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/remembering_billy_mays_60-second_storyteller/ Cisco Eos Flash experiences along these lines).

Nobody was better at explaining things quickly than TV pitchman Billy Mays, who, sadly, was found dead today at his Florida home.

Though Mays worked in a completely different world from high technology, his little commercial gems showed how a sometimes complicated story could be boiled down to setting up a premise, giving a little technical background, and demonstrating how the product works. I often use examples of his work when describing to people how to get across a point quickly online.

Don't expect to see infomercials anything like these on Cisco.com (and I promise we will never yell like Billy), but we have been thinking a lot about how to make our online demos and Flash experiences more straightforward (like that Cisco Eos example mentioned above). There are elements of that Bill Mays spirit that we will hope inspires us to be succinct storytellers.

Here are a couple of my favorite Billy Mays ads: Some spoofs he did for ESPN that show off the master's style of demonstration and storytelling:

]]> 2009-06-28T17:35:48+00:00 http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/is_your_digital_crib_this_good/ http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/is_your_digital_crib_this_good/ Digital Cribs videos in the Consumer neighborhood of Cisco.com. Those digital lifestyles from Martha Lane Fox, Paul Van Dyk, and Graham Hill make me a little jealous!



]]> 2009-06-25T23:30:32+00:00 http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/covering_the_walls/ http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/covering_the_walls/
But sometimes I like to see a panorama of everything we're working on, and there's no better way than to cover the walls with work in progress. So, this is what my office looks like:



]]> 2009-06-22T12:55:19+00:00 http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/conveying_sophisticated_concepts_online/ http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/conveying_sophisticated_concepts_online/ Flash and video experience we have just posted on the Eos section of Cisco.com.

The Cisco Eos software platform was developed specifically to aid media and entertainment companies in developing and maintaining large portfolios of content-rich, community-driven web experiences. As you can imagine, there are many audiences for the product, ranging from Chief Digital Officers, to Web Administrators, to Brand Managers, to Content and Site Developers. Being able to illustrate the Eos platform to those different kinds of users was a challenge, and we chose a persona-based navigational approach:



Click on one of the people above, and a stunning movie is launched explaining Eos platform functionality from the standpoint of that user. These are a really nice combination of storytelling and demonstration, and really worth a visit:



P.S. You can embed the individual videos into your blog or Web site, if you're so inclined.

Enjoy!
]]> 2009-06-16T13:00:53+00:00 http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/hidden_gem/ http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/hidden_gem/
Here is the video my colleague Maureen sent me, having purloined a picture of me from the company directory:
(My wife and her friend said they didn't stop laughing for two minutes when they got it in their email.)



(View the Video)

How to Create Your Own
You can set up your own video and share it with friends (or maybe give your boss a chuckle with a video starring her or him). There's a button to create your own video on the link above, and you can also get to this from the current Cisco.com home page, by expanding the Collaboration feature item...



And then clicking on the "Who's the Expert Now - Start Now" box...



Enjoy!
]]> 2009-06-10T17:08:56+00:00 http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/more_and_faster_usability_testing/ http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/more_and_faster_usability_testing/ benefits of remote usability testing. Here on Cisco.com, we routinely use remote collaboration tools such as WebEx Meetings to run tests with our customers worldwide. These tools are highly effective, because they let you reach out to customers across the globe and also allows the user to view and control web site prototypes or software applications that are in your test environment (that is, you don't have to push your test site live or make the user install your app). Your customers can help you make your web site and products better, and in turn you will make them happier.

An emerging trend is fast-turnaround online usability testing. This is a way of doing more, smaller usability tests harnessing the power of the Human Network, via online services that find test participants and record video for your sessions over the Internet.

This new brand of remote testing helps with one of the challenges of traditional testing: it takes time to recruit users and set up tests, so even if you're very ambitious, you can only test functions in big "batches" a few times per month because of the recruiting times, schedule booking, etc. But, as the demand for more effective designs increases, companies need to turn around tests faster and do more of them. Traditional testing -- even remote facilitated testing -- though very good for in-depth studies, doesn't scale very well all on its own.

Fortunately, newly emergent on the scene are extremely inexpensive services that allow you to test multiple users quickly with a video as an output. One company, "UserTesting.com," offers this service for 15 minute tests at $30/person.

I ran a test recently, and here is how it worked:

• At 6 PM on Sunday, I went to their web site and posted a task: Use Cisco.com to find wireless for your PCs and laptops in your small business.
  
• I specified Small Business as the audience, and chose some other demographic information.
  
• I paid the fee for the test for two users (usually we would test with 5 to 8 users, but this was an experiment).
  
• Less than two hours later I had links to two videos in my inbox that showed the users' complete browsing experience from their desktops, and included their commentary as they went about trying to find the right router for their company. (The good news was they figured out where to go, but I will say we saw some rocks in the path that we need to clear.)
  

You can also use this technique as an easy way to test other sites (e.g. Cisco could test users reactions and impressions on a consumer online shopping site, for instance, if we were interested in understanding catalog browsing or checkout behavior).

A few things to keep in mind:

1. If you have a specialized user base (for instance, machine tools experts who visit your web site, or perhaps CCIEs), you will need to "recruit" these users yourself. This may be easy if you have a relationship with those customers, but it's something to consider.
   
2. While it's easy to set up tests from a mechanical perspective, if you're doing serious testing you want to have an expert designing your questions. This can be someone from your staff (if you have such an expert), or an outside usability consultant you work with.
   
3. You still need someone to analyze the tests. If you don't have time to watch all the videos and analyze comments, or you aren't skilled at analyzing usability tests, you probably want to have someone knowledgeable do this part.
   

The recorded self-tests are just one type of user research available to you, but make a nice adjunct to facilitated WebEx sessions and other remote testing techniques.]]> 2009-05-29T17:25:32+00:00 http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/virtual_account_management/ http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/virtual_account_management/ new FastCompany article about how companies are preparing for the economic upturn.

The article talks about the "Virtual Account Manager" model for Cisco.com, which is our way of describing a mix of smart personalization, helpful product and program content, and click-to-chat capabilities that allow us to orient customers and connect them to the right partner or Cisco representative.

"There aren't enough salespeople in the world for what we need to do," explains my boss Mike Metz.

The picture below is not of Mike, by the way, but of Sue Bostrom, our Chief Marketing Officer, who is a big fan of Cisco.com:



P.S. I think of these capabilities more as "Virtual Customer Connections" since they are about suggesting the right things to customers and connecting them to the right events, partners or other Cisco representatives. Customers need connections and interactions with our partners and real "account managers" today more than ever. The name "Virtual Account Manager" has stuck, though, and I have to admit it rolls off the tongue better!

Enjoy!
]]> 2009-05-18T13:40:49+00:00 http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/realm_fun/ http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/realm_fun/ The Realm animated adventure is the chat capability we build into our Cisco.com security pages.

For instance, when you visit then latest episode ("Virus")...



And you click through to the pages for one of the listed security products...



You may get a character-based invite after looking at the various products...



Just a small "Easter egg" we built into the experience, if you've vectored in via The Realm. Enjoy!

]]> 2009-05-05T13:21:22+00:00 http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/web_bragging_rights/ http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/web_bragging_rights/


Congrats to everyone who works so diligently on our online presence!

Of course, we continue to work on and improve the site every day, and have some great new things ahead.

You can read SiteIQ's full article on their site.
]]> 2009-04-19T11:45:32+00:00 http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/design_cheat_sheets_a_best_practice/ http://blogs.cisco.com/webexperience/comments/design_cheat_sheets_a_best_practice/ "Best Global Brands" list, you can bet Cisco has all kinds of brand guidelines, page templates, wireframing kits, component documentation, and other tools to keep our presentation looking consistent and our online experiences well designed.

But perhaps the most useful and effective tool we've created for our online designers and design agencies are some simple "cheat sheets" that serve as a quick visual reference for the style we're creating with web pages, Flash, and other online experiences. Here's an example:



These simple style sheets have been a big hit with everyone who's used them; they can hold them up against their own work in progress, and instantly judge whether their creative work "looks like Cisco."

If you don't have something like this in use at your company, I heartily recommend creating one that captures the essence of your organization's brand identity and style, and making it widely available. ]]> 2009-04-10T14:30:40+00:00