Adaptive Path Blog

Andy and I finished up our work with Linden Labs and Second Life at the end of last week. We presented our findings and recommendations to the team, and had some good discussions about future directions they can go in. It was an intense, fun project, full of unexpected joys and experiences.

The team we had on this project was great. The folks at Linden are amazing—so insightful, so passionate, so committed to making Second Life better for their residents. That was probably the thing that stood out the most to me—just how passionate everyone we worked with was; both on the Linden team and the residents we talked with. People just don’t get excited like that with enterprise software. We couldn’t help but get caught up in their excitement. It led to a very fun project—much laughing and good team spirit as we explored the world together.

As Andy mentioned when we started this project, at Adaptive Path we don’t have a prescribed methodology that we apply to every project. Rather, we have approaches that we tailor to each individual situation. It was interesting the way our approach changed and worked in the unique environment of Second Life. Some things, like the way we conducted interviews, were the same as in the real world. If anything, they were enhanced by having a visual representation of the interviewee and us on the screen. (Though I think we still wish that we had found an animation to let us shake hands and other forms of body language.) At other times we found that our usual methods didn’t work so well. We’d start whiteboarding and then realize that we had just drawn a web interface. We had to consciously remind ourselves to step out of the web box.

The response we have gotten to this project has been overwhelmingly positive. Residents and the blogosphere alike are happy that Linden is working on making their product better. Blogging about the project as we were working on it was also something new for us. We thank Linden for being open to us trying this form of a case study.

I think the AP team has realized that there may be something in the future of virtual worlds and it’s something we’ll be watching, and participating in. I know I’m not ready to abandon Andromache Ayres yet—she’ll still be hanging out in Second Life in the future.

So thanks Linden Lab, for this opportunity. You have a great team and were a great partner to work with.

When Nate Bolt of Bolt | Peters first came to me when I was an information architect at PeopleSoft suggesting we do online recruiting for our user studies, I was skeptical. I had always recruited users using a recruiting agency. It was a painful process, but one that I was familiar with, and therefore comfortable with.

But Nate showed us the joy that is online recruiting, catching people while they are in their passionate task. As the team at Bolt | Peters worked with Ethnio software, it became a joy to do recruiting. My fellow researchers and I would sit around the computer screen, watching the results of the screener survey come through. We’d pick and chose who we thought would be a good subject. Recruiting had become fun.

When Andy and I got to the point in the Second Life project to recruit users, I went in with high hopes. We got a list of recommended users from Linden, all of whom were very insightful. But Linden didn’t have a stash of new users in their back pocket to recommend to us. So, Andy and I decided we’d hang out in “newbie” areas and find folks to talk to. It would be a snap.

Boy, were we wrong. I spent hours walking up to people, checking their profile to see how “old” they were, and then IMing them my pick-up line. “Hi, I’m working on a project to improve Second Life. Do you have a half hour to help me out?” I was surprised at the number of people who turned me down. They were about to log off. They weren’t interested. They completely ignored me. I felt like the market researches that hang out in malls asking passer-bys if they’d like to take a survey.

Why was it so easy to get people using Ethnio’s recruiting tool, yet so hard to find people in world? I’ve been thinking a lot about the differences in experiences and why they were different. I think first, in world we were coming up to people cold. With the Ethnio recruiting, people had filled out a survey first saying they were interested in participating in the study. We were essentially doing the recruiting survey by talking to folks.

I also realized that what I was asking probably sounded fishy to folks. I was looking for people who have only been in world a month or two. They aren’t real secure in what they are doing in world. I was asking for a ½ hour of their time, and to call a 1-800 number and talk to a stranger. There’s a fair bit of distrust in the world, especially for new folks as they learn the ropes. Perhaps asking them to join the study without establishing any trust ahead of time was just too much for some.

The folks that we did get to talk with us were great. But if I were to do recruiting in world again, I would approach it differently. I think I would advertise the study as an event that people who were motivated to participate could come to. It wouldn’t quite be the same as getting them in the middle of their passionate task, but I think it would be more efficient. And it would help establish me as a legitimate researcher, not someone who is working a scam.

We are about halfway through our user research interviews. The research process has been an interesting combination of real world behaviors mixed with the Second Life experience. We’re conducting individual interviews with residents. Andy and myself meet the interviewee at a special conference room Linden Lab has let us use for the occasion. We all sit around the conference table, chatting a bit in world, and then we call the interviewee on the phone.

The rest of the interview happens as interviews have in most other projects. We talk about passionate tasks, goals and motivations, pain points and successes. We conduct almost all of the interview over the phone. The only difference between these interviews and others I have done is that we can see each other’s avatars on the computer screen. We aren’t making use of the ability to make our avatar shake hands or do other gestures. It’s all a verbal exchange on the phone.

But somehow it feels very different than other remote interviews I’ve conducted. The fact that there is a representation of each of us on our screens makes the encounter feel more personal. The way the resident has customized the look of their avatar gives us an insight into their personality that you don’t get from calling someone you’ve never met.

I’m a bit frustrated because I feel like we should be taking advantage of the opportunities that being in this virtual world presents to us. But we haven’t figured out how to do that. Talking seems the most efficient and effective way of learning. Using the IM or chat in world slows down the conversation, and you lose the dimensions of voice intonation, pauses, laughing and other verbal clues. And we don’t really gain anything by following an avatar around. In this brave new world, old tried and true methods seem to be working best. Who would have thunk it?

Today was our first day of in-world interviews with actual Second Life residents. I have to say, it was a lot of fun.

We met with a man who has been in-world for some time now. Like many people, he was passionate about the topic and we were happy to hear him talk.

It was an unusual experience…as was expected. First, how do you meet and greet someone formally in-world? Typically, you’d shake hands if you were meeting in person. At least there is some protocol for talking on the phone. But when you see someone who is there, but not there…what are you supposed to do?

We did what came naturally. We said hello, introduced ourselves and sat down in the plush leather chairs of Linden Labs’ beautiful conference room by the sea. The setting actually affected my mood. The surroundings were done so well and felt real enough to almost feel you were there. All while talking to the interviewee, we were looking at him, and I think that changed the way we spoke.

When you talk on the phone, you can look around, multitask and write notes to the other researchers. But, even though this person could not see us, we unconsciously behaved as if he could.

I did take some liberties and moved the camera’s viewpoint around to take some pictures. Seeing your “self” sitting there while talking with someone is odd, indeed.

It was a great success. The interview was well paced with no technical problems. The different medium by which the interview was conducted had no effect on the quality or possibility of the communication. I enjoyed this more than a regular phone interview!

Chiara will add more as the research process goes on. I just wanted to drop a quick note about how fun and easy it went today.

A lot of the work I’ve done as an information architect has been on systems that I don’t use. I’m not a purchaser of enterprise software, or a database admin who has to keep one up and running. I’m not an electrical engineer who gets to choose which control panels and circuit boards belong in a new factory. But I’ve designed successful information architectures for websites that help people not like me do the things they need to do.

Occasionally I get to work on a project that is closer to my own experience — an e-commerce site, a news site, or a photo sharing site. My own personal experiences have certainly given me an insight into how people use these sites. However, user research is still invaluable to get a full picture of how people use the system. I am not the target audience, even if I do buy things online, read news, and share my photos.

The Second Life project has been interesting because I find myself drawn to the world in ways that I haven’t been with other projects. I never spent hours on the weekend exploring how PeopleSoft General Ledger worked. But I find myself intrigued by the Second Life world. I want to learn the lingo, explore the controls, figure out what constitutes good design in world. I don’t want to be a newbie who doesn’t know how to fly or pick things up.

We start user research today and I’m really excited to talk with residents to get their perspectives. Because even though I am a resident of the Second Life world, I am not the target audience.

One of the first things many people do when establishing themselves in Second Life is to customize their appearance.

You’re not told to, though there are hints given on how to go about doing it. But there is this compelling need to make yourself look different than the stock avatar.

My original intention was to modify my avatar to look as close to me as possible. I figured, since I am here for business, I need to be presentable. How many residents will want to be interviewed if I have dragon wings, tight vinyl pants and star bursts floating above my head? (Um…that was a little too telling about myself…I’ve said too much.)

So, I customized my appearance with brown hair, hazel eyes, a dazzling smile and some freckles. Then I started to dress myself. Here’s where it got uncomfortable. I immediately did the things that any fashion-concious person with odd physical traits does, I looked for ways to hide things through color, clothing length and style. For those that know me, I am obnoxiously tall. I’ve been tall since I was a kid and had to endure all the things that come with it -– buying XL clothing, long lanky legs, standing out in the crowd. So in Second Life, I started to look at dark clothing, low waisted shirts, matte finished shoes that didn’t call attention to my clown feet, and so on.

And then I realized something…I’m in Second Life! I don’t have to be 5′ 17″ anymore. I can be normal height, wear normal clothes, not stand out from the crowd! I can be the ideal “me” or I could change my appearance to suit the situation. So, now I have my “dragon wing, pink haired, tattooed self” for hanging out with friends. And I have my more buttoned up, researcher look for the in-world work.

Our project with Second Life has kicked off and we are starting with discovery, talking with stakeholders, trying to get a better feel for the pain they’ve been feeling, the direction they want the product to go in, and so on.

Yesterday I had my first “interview.” I shadowed a liaison for about an hour, in world. Now, I’ve done user research before. I’ve done my fair share of remote testing, phone interviews, screen sharing with tools such as Ethnio. But yesterday, yesterday was just cool.

It started out with me updating my Second Life software, since it had been a number of weeks since I had logged on. Then I had to download Skype since that would be the easiest way to talk with the liaison, rather than doing chat in world.

I logged in and the liaison magically found me. She teleported to her office and we spent the next hour talking, walking around the world, teleporting to different locations so she could show me how things work. She was so energetic and passionate about Second Life it was hard not to get excited with her. I still don’t have a good grasp on just how big and gnarly their problems are. But I have a much better idea of what life is like in world. Which is good because until then all my time there had been spent standing in an empty field by myself trying to figure out how to put on a different shirt.

A very interesting opportunity recently presented itself to us. Linden Labs, the creators of Second Life, called with a question about how they can improve certain aspects of the “in-world” experience.

Quite a few of us have experience in online and console worlds, so this is a pretty exciting opportunity. We knew that there were plenty of dedicated residents out there who have strong opinions about the world they live in. We also knew that working with the people at Linden would be a lot of fun and a unique experience.

So, after we spoke with them for a while, we discovered that, while there may be a few issues with the world and it’s amazing growth rate, there is one issue in particular that’s affecting the usability for the residents. While I can’t divulge the exact issue, I can say that it’s a very complex and interesting problem -– something that we’ve not tackled in this manner before.

While Adaptive Path doesn’t have a prescribed set of generic tasks that are applied to every project, there are a certain amount of given generalities that frame an approach. Start with research and discovery, move to analysis, prototype and test, then build.

At least, that’s how we’d do it in the real world…

But this is Second Life, the three-dimensional, online world which is “imagined created and owned by its residents”. This is not some lab where we could watch behind a double mirror, or a website where we could begin with remote research screening. These were people, but in a different place and, quite literally, a different world.

So, how do we approach this project? Well, since our users are residents in this world, we think it will be good to work with them in-world. Speak with them in the environment in which they live. Ask questions and do research totally immersed in the surroundings that they care about and work hard at creating and maintaining.

This is going to be different for us…and for Linden Labs. We’re going to be blogging about this on a near daily level. We want to try this experiment and immerse you in the project with us as well. We’ll talk as much as we can about the problems we’re working on, but also explain how we’re altering our techniques to match those of a different playing field. You’ll hear about the successes and failures and watch as we conduct this project out in the open.

It’s going to be an interesting and very exciting project for us. Stay tuned!

Fo those interested in Second Life, check out www.secondlife.com. You can download the client, sign up for an account and join us and over 3.6 million other residents right now.

To find us, look for me (Andrew Ophelia), Chiara (Andromache Ayers) and Brian (Ciardan Flanagan) and come say hi!