Project Context:

User Juries are multiple day events with warfighters who have recently used the Command Post of the Future (CPOF) software while deployed. They are a great opportunity to learn about current usage practices, explore potential future uses, and conduct usability evaluations. User Juries are arranged by the United States Army.  They were responsible for the date, location and participants for the user juries. The General Dynamics C4 Systems – Viz design team and I were responsible for the agenda and activities completed during these sessions

Project Description:

In my experience, creating a flexible agenda and documenting each activity using a standard User Activity Protocol beforehand is key. Any number of warfighters might attend, with any level of rank, with any speciality/role in the US Army, and any level of CPOF expertise.  Designers need to carefully plan and prepare to take full advantage of the unusual opportunity. The User Jury itself will be opportunistic based on the participants.

An agenda outlines which designers will attend, the activities that will be conducted, and a schedule for various numbers of participants.  The User Activity Protocol helps to organize the preparation for the individual activities, including: focus group discussions, paper prototype activities, functional prototype evaluations, and multiple user, collaboration exercises.  It allows designers to be aware of one another’s plans and act as a substitute moderator, if need be.

User-centered design methods:  Paper prototyping, Functional prototype evaluations, Focus Group discussions, Multi-user collaboration exercises, User surveys

Examples:

A User Jury Agenda lists each of the activities planned, including the activity type, the moderator, and the responsible designer.

A flexible User Jury Agenda outlines alternatives for various numbers of participants.

A standard User Activity Protocol describes an activity, including: the user experience objective, the basic procedure, the data to collect, and the expected results.

A User Activity Protocol for a collaboration exercise outlines the roles and responsibilities for each participant and the privileges settings on the data.

A User Activity Protocol describes variations on the activity for more participants. In collaboration exercises, additional roles can be used.