My team successfully finished the recruiting effort for four focus groups we are running on-site here at VMworld 2006. Today we met many nice people that all really love VMware's products and a few more that had never heard of user research or a focus group. We took the time to explain our goals of better understanding them and how they use the product and most people then decided to make time to participate. The whole team is looking forward to the actual focus groups themselves. If you've signed up, we'll see you there!

User Research Is Key!

I truly believe that user research is key to the success of any product and it's design as well as it's overall success from a usability standpoint. Without enough detail about the users themselves how could anyone design anything? Working with the folks on my team at VMware we regularly conduct usability studies, on-line surveys, focus groups, as well as in context interviews.

VMworld 2006 provides us direct access to users of VMware's products and all in one place to boot. With this year's attendance toping 7,000 people we have direct access to many of our users we otherwise would not. Users of our products are visiting from around the world and we get to speak with them face-to-face and let them know aboutg what we do for a living. How great is that?

Photographs Tomorrow

I plan to upload a few photos to flickr tomorrow which will include shots of our "Influential User" wrist band as well as our "Be An Influential User" participate postcard. I'll try and get a few shots of our room signage and all the food we serve too. Check back tomorrow for more details. I'm heading out for dinner at Chan Dara, a great Thai restaurant right here in LA. See ya!

Posted by Glenn R. Cochran at 05:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An industry conference like VMworld 2006 with 6000+ registered attendees is the perfect place to interact with real users and gain insights into how they use our products. If you are attending VMware's premier conference on all things virtualzation you might just see me there. Personally I always love meeting new people and connecting with old friends. If you plan on attending VMworld 2006 please do find me and say hello.

VMware's UE Team

Spotting the User Experience team at VMworld will be very easy this year! We are approaching our focus group recruiting effort in a fairly novel and fun manner. The team will be walking the halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center wearing white lab coats that read "Usability Therapist" on the back in large black letters. We'll also be carrying bright red clipboards that hold the screener we'll use to qualify users. The idea really is to stick out, get noticed, and talk to users face-to-face.

Focus Groups at VMworld 2006

My team and I will facilitate four separate focus groups, over two days, with ten users each on-site at the conference. While I cannot say specifically which products we plan to study I do know it will be exciting and engaging for our users. Those that participate will receive an American Express gift card to use as they see fit. With the holidays coming up it is the perfect thank you for their willingness to participate.

New Program — Be An Influential User

In addition to running four focus groups we are kicking off a new user research program at VMworld 2006. Each attendee will receive a 5" x 7" postcard in their conference materials telling them how to become an "Influential User". On this card, users provide key information to VMware's User Experience team regarding their willingness to participate in future user studies and then drop off their postcards into ballot boxes throughout the conference for a chance to win a new, black, 8GB iPod Nano!

As users interact with my team they will be given a limited edition wrist band that reads, "VMware Influential User". The wrist band they receive is similar to the Lance Armstrong yellow-colored band that reads "Live Strong". Creating a lasting relationship with the user that let's them know how important they are to the development process is the goal.

Conclusion

Seeing users face-to-face is invaluable. Launching a new research program takes effort. You'll have to check back later to see how it all worked out.

Posted by Glenn R. Cochran at 02:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)