[Sigia-l] Initial Stakeholders Meeting

[Samantha Bailey]

I think your concern is fair if something like the
stress test (or *any* single exercise) is the only
thing used, but this suggestion was made as one of a
series of exercises that focus on users, business
goals, content/tasks. We often have stakeholder kick
off sessions that run 2-3 hours in length; that gives
ample time to do a variety of exercises and have a
number of conversations.

In my experience it's often a lot easier (though not
easy) to get stakeholders to clarify their business
goals and to brainstorm about the content they
want--talking about users is harder, as the
conversation becomes "we're on the internet, everyone
is a potential user," and talking about abstract
concepts like navigation and user modes of information
finding can be hardest of all. In my organization we
have a pretty well established UX group, but we still
have to educate in an ongoing manner and the stress
test and other exercises that help stakeholders better
understand issues of navigation and page structure
have proven useful as part of the whole.

sb

--- "Jared M. Spool" <jspool at uie.com> wrote:

> Samantha Bailey wrote:
> >Keith Instone developed a "navigation stress test" 
> >(http://user-experience.org/uefiles/navstress/)
> which can be useful for 
> >focusing conversations, whether around a client's
> own site or competitor 
> >sites on navigation/classification issues. This can
> be a good ice-breaker.
> 
> I realize this is a list of IA's and goodness knows
> I have tremendous 
> respect for Keith's work, however...
> 
> I'm concerned that using a technique like this at an
> initial meeting could 
> set a direction that is hazardous to the project.
> Keith's excellent test 
> focuses purely on navigation. It assumes that the
> page under stress 
> *should* be on the site. It doesn't ask whether the
> content on the page is 
> useful, or whether it's complete, or if it's even
> important to the success 
> of the enterprise.
> 
> If you start with Keith's test and not address those
> issues, I'd be afraid 
> that you'll divert the stakeholders to thinking that
> navigation, 
> independent of the value of the content, is the most
> important thing on 
> which to focus. I don't think that's what you want
> to do.
> 
> Jared
> 
> 
> Jared M. Spool, Founding Principal
> User Interface Engineering
> 4 Lookout Lane, Unit 4d
> Middleton, MA 01949
> 978 777-9123
> jspool at uie.com
> http://www.uie.com 
> 
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=====
Samantha Bailey
samantha at baileysorts.com | http://baileysorts.com


		
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