Blog #3

I am continuing to analyze the website www.hulu.com.

I feel the research technique, shadowing, would be the most effective tool for gathering information on the sites users and interactions. In order for this to be a useful study we would need to gather a variety of subjects to shadow, people representing the sites key demographics.
During the actual shadowing process I would give the subject a list of tasks ranging in difficulty levels and observe their interactions with the interface of the site. I would focus on the amount of time the user needs to perform the allotted tasks and the amount of struggle if any they face. At the end of the shadowing process I would ask the subject a few questions about their experience with the site and what changes they think should be made. This will help us compare how we feel they did with the tasks and how they think they did. Shadowing is on the most effective research and evaluation tools because it allows you to actually view the interaction between the subject first hand rather than relying on the user to give a honest and unjaded opinion of the site.

- Will Niethammer