Path internship at USABILITYLAB

Happy occasion or fate

Undoubtedly, WUD 2011 in Minsk has become one of the most interesting and significant events in the field of usability over the past few years in Belarus. For the first time in Minsk gathered so many famous experts together. Under the "quiet" of the event, we asked Dmitry Satin to be interviewed within the walls of ARTOX media, in which, among other things, he dispelled the fog curtain and spoke about the possibility of an internship at USABILITYLAB. Some people knew, many suspected, but now it became clear to everyone that they could have an internship, even if you work in another company. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I wondered if I could have an internship at USABILITYLAB, and received a positive response with a good-natured smile.

Not everybody gets there.

All that had to be done was to send the letter to the USABILITYLAB mailbox and hope that one of the interns would not be busy :) A great desire, a good case or just a hard calculation helped me get an affirmative answer to my letter.
So, Ruslan Kryuchkov leads the internship. He is known by many usability specialists (and who does not know, he nervously smokes on the sidelines). He spent hundreds (and they say that at night, when the USABILITYLAB office was empty, he conducted nightly testing sessions, so maybe thousands) of usability testing sessions. He has nerves of steel and an iron grip (tested by experience), he is calm and calm (the emotions on his face are very difficult to see). And to this man, I got an internship?
Several formal letters “flew away” into Ruslan’s mailbox, we agreed to conduct a small preliminary study. For about a month I consulted Ruslan and sent him the results of his work. Once every few days we communicated and corrected the course of the study; closer to the beginning of the internship, I sent the last report.
And now thanks to the sponsor of this event: the company ARTOX media (cooler than eggs) paid for my trip to Moscow.

Welcome to the capital

On Sunday evening I got on the train and finally I was able to relax. On the road, there was free time to read the book by Mihai Chikszentmihayi “Potok. Psychology of optimal experience. ” I have long been recommended to it and for good reason, the book helps not so much to design convenient interfaces, but just to understand how to make yourself and others happy.
Arriving at USABILITYLAB was planned for Monday morning, but the train arrived a few hours earlier, and I had the opportunity to call at the Moscow office of ARTOX media and meet with colleagues.
')


Monday morning was horrible, in the office of ARTOX media they said that I was very “lucky”, this day was one of the coldest. The first day in Moscow seemed to me to be just hell, because it was necessary to have much time to do, adding an eerie cold, bags, and the picture turned out completely bleak. It was a relief that I was recommended to leave the bag in the office, my colleagues brought it in the evening directly to the hotel where I stayed.

Usabilityists go to heaven

By the appointed time, I was already standing in front of the USABILITYLAB door. However, not all so simple. To get there, I had to enter it. I spent about five minutes looking for a device that looked like a bell or something like that. I had to use the old old-fashioned way and kick the door waiting for me to be heard. The fact of the matter is that they recently moved to this office, and the call was not set there yet. I crossed the last line, and I managed to get inside.



The decor, I'll tell you how in the Louvre :). In fact, everything is quite decent: the reception, beautiful girls at the entrance and a great many different incomprehensible devices. The first impression was positive. He walked a couple of meters around the office, and here you have Dmitry Satin's office, where he, during my internship, often sat with some strange face, thinking about a new idea of ​​conquering the world :) (these are conjectures of the author, and perhaps he thought about what to eat for dinner today, but the impression is exactly that). A little further is the kitchen, then the laboratory and a large room with the workplaces of employees. Almost all the walls of the office were "disfigured" by some schemes and sketches. Apparently, the entire office is the working area of ​​USABILITYLAB. Even in the kitchen all the time of my stay there were discussions and discussions of projects. Each workplace is equipped differently. As far as my impression, then at least you work on the piano, if only you did your job qualitatively. Everywhere there are things with the symbols of the company. In general, the situation has to work.



The USABILITYLAB laboratory consists of two respondent rooms and a common room where moderators and customers sit. It is possible to observe the session through glass, which tends to become transparent when the light is on in the respondent and moderator, and mirror, if you turn out the light in one of the rooms. I personally did not test, but as Ruslan explained, sound isolation is sufficient to speak in a moderator in a normal voice, and the respondent will not hear anything behind the glass, in the moderator’s room you can hear perfectly what the respondent says. It is possible to moderate usability testing right next to the respondent, also behind the glass. As for the equipment, there are no problems with this, eye-tracking technology is installed in every respondent, and I managed to see how it works in USABILITYLAB. Many devices for testing computers, tablets, phones resemble a research and development center.

The first steps on the land of usability

In the office, I was met by Ruslan, the head of my internship, and we went to the kitchen :). Over a cup of tea, we became acquainted with other specialists, who also came to undergo an internship, set the metrics for the success of the internship, developed a rough plan, etc. Our internship colleagues had significantly less time to master the usability testing methodology, so everything began with intensive steps. On the first day we got to the USABILITYLAB laboratory, where usability testing of various projects was in full swing.
Began to study the testing process and monitor its progress. During this time, it was possible to participate in pilot testing and to get into the processes that occur in USABILITYLAB.



Further more. A few days later, when the other interns left, we with Ruslan clearly painted the plan and terms of my work. The work flowed like a river: questionnaires, reports, scenarios, recruiting, tasks and much more had to be done in such a time that I didn’t expect that it was possible to work so quickly and efficiently. What exactly pleased me pleasantly was the clarity and transparency of the processes in the company. Affects a lot of experience in working on projects. A lot of skills and knowledge of usability testing are lined up in my head in a clear and understandable picture. All stages of work we discussed with Ruslan and corrected on the go. The work plan, which I had to complete on an internship, was designed for 3 weeks, but I only had 2, and I had to try very hard to be on time. But besides the effort I had to work hard. The eight-hour working day was forgotten, on the third day I had to work 12 hours in order to do everything. Weekends were held in a working environment, I was engaged in inviting respondents to usability testing. If in Minsk in order to collect a sufficient number of completed questionnaires of respondents, it takes 1 week, then in Moscow - 1 day.

And this is not the end

Monday was packed closely with the testing sessions, which began at 09.00 and ended at 22.00. Fatigue was such that I could barely rearrange his legs. All sessions were successful, and we got a lot of necessary information. For the following days I armed myself with headphones and coffee. The process of analyzing video recordings of respondents has begun. On Wednesday I came to work and felt that something was wrong.



After some time, it still dawned on me, in Russia on February 23rd it was a day off. In fact, I was not up to the holidays, and I completely lost track of time, however, in the company, everyone began to prepare for the celebration. We got mugs, plates and sliced ​​cakes. If this were all over ... Behind the juice went drinks stronger :). Yes, they can relax here. Satin told all sorts of stories, everyone had fun, rested, drank beer, etc. The environment became more fun, and next to the headphones there was no longer a cup of coffee, but a bottle of beer. All anything, but the output has reduced the time of my internship for the day. On Thursday, work continued at home, and by Friday I issued the first results of the study.

A few words to say goodbye

Friday morning was spent picking things up and checking out of the hotel. Then came the same, already routine way to the USABILITYLAB office. Only the mood changed, there was a slight feeling of annoyance, because This was the last day of the internship. However, the thought warmed that today I will go to the winter UXcamp 2012 Kiev. The last revisions of the report, the last agreement with Ruslan, and we started to say goodbye, because after a few hours the Moscow-Kiev train. We exchanged souvenirs with the symbols of the companies and made a small photo session in the office.



At the farewell agreed that we will continue our study remotely, and as soon as possible, I will come there again.

And now the end

I recommend everyone to try an internship at USABILITYLAB, which will help you not only to work with a team of excellent specialists, but also to gain invaluable experience in a well-built work process. If you want to grow and develop, then you go there.
All of the above is the author’s vision and does not claim to be an exact description.