Rocket Fuel Inc.
Project Summary: During the Beta release of the Rocket Fuel self service product the notes widget was not included for users. It was deemed both incomplete and not a function that would block a full MVP release. However, as feedback was received that the user both internally and externally consider it to be a necessity in trafficking, the project was given a second life. There was a wants and needs group sessions held to help determine requirements and feature importance, Interview with current users and usability sessions where users were given notes based tasks to complete.
My Role: User Researcher
Team Members: Ben Robinson, Nick Morgan
Tools: Bluejeans (Video Conference), Invision, Google Docs, Google Forms, Wiki Confluence, OptimalSort, Skype
Process: Interviews (recorded), Presented Mock ups remotely, Contextual Inquiry, Iterated on mocks, Requirements Gathering Abbreviated, Published findings, Card Sort

The wants and needs group activity took place in a conference room, with a eight users representing various departments and experience levels. Participants were all asked name all the tasks they would like to do with the notes widget, while I listed them on a white board. I then had the group write down their top five most important wants and needs based on what was on the white board. Each member then read out loud their selections and I made place a vote next to that selection.

After the wants and needs session, one on one interviews with additional users began. A portion of the interviews were conducted remotely recorded through Google, and the remaining interviews were conducted in person and recorded through Silverback. All notes from the sessions were logged in Google Docs and shared with the UX team in the form of a report and power point presentation.

Based on the results from the wants and needs group activity and the one on one interviews, the team was able to identify various areas within the new notes widget that could be optimized to increase usability. Iterations on the existing designs began with mockups and evolved into clickable prototypes in Axure. These were also brought back out to users to validate the direction of the designs and further validate the additional elements in the notes widget.