http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/escher daily 0.75 2023-02-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530635660517-6K6HCQ6MA2SK108ZRO9X/Screen+Shot+2018-07-03+at+12.33.57+PM.png The editor and the algorithm Our content intelligence platform had created a way to dynamically update packages, sections, and homepages—thereby reducing time spent curating, breathing life into long-forgotten curations, and increasing recirculation and return visits. We needed to find a way to integrate this intelligence into the editorial workflow without negating creativity and editorial intent. Furthermore, there were some usability issues with our current curation interface—clunky flows, nested content types, and a lack of visual hierarchy meant that the page was ready for an upgrade with or without content intelligence. MY ROLE Recruiting, discussion guide writing, interview moderating, test script writing, test moderation, synthesis PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), research associate, product manager, lead engineer, UX/UI designer PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS What determines whether a story is included in a section page or homepage? What is the workflow for creating or updating a curated page? Is content pre-determined or discovered within the CMS? How much value to editors place on manual curation? METHODS Stakeholder interviews, Contextual inquires, workflow blueprinting, usability tests (current) RESEARCH SPRINT TAKEAWAYS Results and recommendations were communicated via presentation. See a few key slides below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530635660517-6K6HCQ6MA2SK108ZRO9X/Screen+Shot+2018-07-03+at+12.33.57+PM.png The editor and the algorithm Our content intelligence platform had created a way to dynamically update packages, sections, and homepages—thereby reducing time spent curating, breathing life into long-forgotten curations, and increasing recirculation and return visits. We needed to find a way to integrate this intelligence into the editorial workflow without negating creativity and editorial intent. Furthermore, there were some usability issues with our current curation interface—clunky flows, nested content types, and a lack of visual hierarchy meant that the page was ready for an upgrade with or without content intelligence. MY ROLE Recruiting, discussion guide writing, interview moderating, test script writing, test moderation, synthesis PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), research associate, product manager, lead engineer, UX/UI designer PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS What determines whether a story is included in a section page or homepage? What is the workflow for creating or updating a curated page? Is content pre-determined or discovered within the CMS? How much value to editors place on manual curation? METHODS Stakeholder interviews, Contextual inquires, workflow blueprinting, usability tests (current) RESEARCH SPRINT TAKEAWAYS Results and recommendations were communicated via presentation. See a few key slides below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530627850180-NHXJ0WVFJJ3D50J3UC5J/Curation+workflow+Copy.png The editor and the algorithm Our contextual inquiries quickly made it clear that our digital teams think about their homepage the same way our print teams think about their covers. Sure, it might not be the most optimized content, but it’s their voice, tone, and brand. Other pages, such as guides, recipe collections, and packages, were not quite as important to the teams. “Our destination guides should feel like living and breathing pages” one editor said. This meant that there was room for us to familiarize the team with optimized pages—slowly building trust by proving their business value without steamrolling editorial integrity and intent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530628695842-WCWDYVZ9F9ZK7C4W4NUS/curation+components.png The editor and the algorithm Three main factors were identified for deciding what goes where, and any optimized pages would have to understand the nuances of each. For example, a team might want their highest performing Paris piece at the top of their Paris guide, but not if it’s about the terrorist attacks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530632418422-2MLXPGIASVTPCBKSLPCE/Reco+%2B+Scenario+Copy.png The editor and the algorithm After the research was delivered, our designer took a two-week sprint to start prototyping our new curation tool, which came to be known as Escher. PROTOTYPE + TESTING https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530633895752-HTSU20PZATP7I8LP0LQ6/escher+testing+gif.gif The editor and the algorithm Usability tests continue to be conducted on iterations of the above prototype, with analysis and share-outs occurring in between. http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/heuristics daily 0.75 2018-07-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530639416220-DGAFOEF7IO0W2DEG44M2/Screen+Shot+2018-07-03+at+1.33.05+PM.png Copilot's Heuristic Analysis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530639452134-C19TBQKSKIELQT13V3JK/Screen+Shot+2018-07-03+at+1.33.05+PM.png Copilot's Heuristic Analysis Condé Nast’s proprietary CMS, Copilot, had a lot of UX debt—and much of that debt was a series of heuristic violations. In Q3 2017, my research partner and I conducted the first heuristic analysis on the application. MY ROLE One of two heuristic evaluators PROJECT SQUAD UX research, Copilot’s product manager, Copilot’s design director, and Copilot’s engineering manager. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530640228745-QNB0Y1TJ8HYDWGWE58WG/Screen+Shot+2018-07-03+at+1.46.20+PM.png Copilot's Heuristic Analysis PROCESS My partner and I started by familiarizing our project squad with Jakob Nielsen’s 10 heuristics. We also worked with the squad to create a severity scale, which the team could apply to the heuristics that we found within the app. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530640359570-Z3KL6UT1GWL13MD717CR/Screen+Shot+2018-07-03+at+1.52.17+PM.png Copilot's Heuristic Analysis Once everyone was on the same page, my partner and I went through each content type and recorded its violations. We then went back to the project squad with a PDF of Copilot screens that highlighted and described them (shown above). Our evaluation resulted in 111 violations, and we needed a way to make sure they were systematically addressed. So we took a gamification approach, scheduling a two-day workshop and competition (aptly called Make it Work). The heuristics became individual Trello cards, each with their own severity, that small teams of designers and engineers could tackle. The team that fixed the most violations won a prize. Sixty-five of the 111 heuristics were fixed during the workshop, and the Copilot PM added the rest to her team’s backlog. Aside from the quantity of violations fixed, the workshop was a success because it created an investment in usability heuristics and boosted team morale—the winning team spent their earnings taking everyone out for drinks. http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/workflowstudy daily 0.75 2018-12-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530827437199-TTXP5T4H9I3JFV0MFE3W/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+5.49.33+PM.png Documenting Workflow at Condé The objective of this exploratory research was two-fold: Firstly, Condé Nast’s operations team approached research with an ask: Ahead of a major restructure, they wanted to know how each title’s print and digital teams got work done. Secondly, the Co/Lab team at Codé wanted to explore the potential for a proprietary project management tool. The timing was perfect. MY ROLE Vendor management, recruiting, workshop moderation, synthesis, artifact design MY PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), research associate (1), freelance researchers (2), design director PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS How does each print team publish an issue from start to finish? How does each digital team publish a story from start to finish? What are the differences between these workflows? Are there outliers? Where and how can tools be consolidated? METHODS Service blueprinting, content analysis We took the “design” out of service design blueprinting, which gave us a pragmatic way to meticulously map the action taken by the user, the tools used, policies behind the step, pain points, and ideas for improvement using five respective swim lanes. We needed to get over twenty workflows mapped in a three-week period, so we divided into two pairs of researchers and split the teams between us. By gathering between three and seven subject matter experts (typically senior editors, photo leads, production managers, etc.), we were able to map out entire workflows in a matter of hours—resulting in rooms full of post-it notes that we then transcribed into Google Sheets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530827437199-TTXP5T4H9I3JFV0MFE3W/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+5.49.33+PM.png Documenting Workflow at Condé The objective of this exploratory research was two-fold: Firstly, Condé Nast’s operations team approached research with an ask: Ahead of a major restructure, they wanted to know how each title’s print and digital teams got work done. Secondly, the Co/Lab team at Codé wanted to explore the potential for a proprietary project management tool. The timing was perfect. MY ROLE Vendor management, recruiting, workshop moderation, synthesis, artifact design MY PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), research associate (1), freelance researchers (2), design director PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS How does each print team publish an issue from start to finish? How does each digital team publish a story from start to finish? What are the differences between these workflows? Are there outliers? Where and how can tools be consolidated? METHODS Service blueprinting, content analysis We took the “design” out of service design blueprinting, which gave us a pragmatic way to meticulously map the action taken by the user, the tools used, policies behind the step, pain points, and ideas for improvement using five respective swim lanes. We needed to get over twenty workflows mapped in a three-week period, so we divided into two pairs of researchers and split the teams between us. By gathering between three and seven subject matter experts (typically senior editors, photo leads, production managers, etc.), we were able to map out entire workflows in a matter of hours—resulting in rooms full of post-it notes that we then transcribed into Google Sheets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530829258247-YFO5S3Z2B6YGNTTVH8TJ/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+6.20.15+PM.png Documenting Workflow at Condé Once we had all our blueprints, we used content analysis to codify and categorize steps within the workflow. This allowed us to stack them, compare them, and ultimately collapse them into an articulated, representable process that could be shared and discussed. RESULTS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530830048214-6LOYZM13OPZ7UXCBLIQB/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+6.33.54+PM.png Documenting Workflow at Condé Our blueprinting and subsequent content analysis gave operations a detailed view of how teams get work done. It also answered questions around differences between workflows, proving that—despite calling things by different names—teams are ultimately doing the same thing. This was important because it meant that teams and tools could be consolidated without major disruptions to the overall process. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530830179712-O3FYM3ITB5LLRYRF4WK9/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+6.36.00+PM.png Documenting Workflow at Condé The blueprints also revealed the huge array of tools used. The above graphic shows the percentage of teams using each tool per step. The amount of tools used were causing confusion and redundancies in steps for both print and digital teams. For example, a photo editor at Traveler will upload a photo to the CMS, then add it to the Trello card, then ping the story’s editor to let her know it’s ready. RECOMMENDATIONS AND OUTCOME https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530830996311-8OQ42DCV9PFGRFMMP6QR/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+6.49.11+PM.png Documenting Workflow at Condé Our deliverable to the operations team for this project was a traditional research report with a recommendation on how to consolidate tools and reduce the noise ahead of the restructure. We presented the same deliverable to Co/Lab leadership, who greenlit a workflow tool that came to be known as Muse. http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/contentpersona daily 0.75 2018-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530831987758-EENIRGH3FJHRGGE4T0DY/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+7.06.01+PM.png Creating a Content Persona When we starting doing audits for our design system, it quickly became clear that our copy needed one badly. Three years of different people writing different things had resulted in too many voices to count. We wanted to both clean house and give our designers, engineers, product, and community teams a toolkit with which to write clear, concise, consistent copy. So we made a content persona. MY ROLE Workshop moderation, UX writing PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), research associate, branding workshop participants METHODS Audit, branding workshop, collages, continuums, persona creation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530831987758-EENIRGH3FJHRGGE4T0DY/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+7.06.01+PM.png Creating a Content Persona When we starting doing audits for our design system, it quickly became clear that our copy needed one badly. Three years of different people writing different things had resulted in too many voices to count. We wanted to both clean house and give our designers, engineers, product, and community teams a toolkit with which to write clear, concise, consistent copy. So we made a content persona. MY ROLE Workshop moderation, UX writing PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), research associate, branding workshop participants METHODS Audit, branding workshop, collages, continuums, persona creation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530832327276-BS5LKIT8D2QJC14KVF1R/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+7.11.48+PM.png Creating a Content Persona To kick things off we held a small workshop with team members from engineering, design, product, and community. They created mood boards, plotted dots on continuums, and wrote copy examples for scenarios like failed photo uploads or system crashes. The workshop left us with a sense of voice and tone, and also created investment in the content persona by those who would need to rely on it the most. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530832597102-A1J8YJQUY1J81SE35EN8/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+7.16.19+PM.png Creating a Content Persona We decided that creating a persona out of these traits would make them easier to recall, and so Corrie was born. She gives a face to set of do’s and don’ts, and enables us to check any potential copy by asking, “What would Corrie say?” RESULTS Once we had Corrie, we put her to work. First we rewrote and released all of the copy found during our audit in her tone. Then we created some guidelines to live within the system for easy reference. When the team writes copy, they refer to Corrie instead of sending it to me to proofread. This helps us get helper text, error messaging, newsletters, emails, and any other copy written and published more quickly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530833077638-E781791AWQ9TMG1F5194/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+7.24.02+PM.png Creating a Content Persona http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/maritime daily 0.75 2016-02-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56d4a125e707eb7a02e4055f/1456779348146-A78EFLQ51J2PNH2KVHXZ/21.jpg Surfacing Sparrow http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/hats-survey daily 0.75 2018-11-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530838133314-AMW26TT9ZIFCE0SN0R7K/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+8.48.23+PM.png Measuring Happiness Formation needed a way to measure user satisfaction with our products consistently and repeatedly so that we can put users first when prioritizing our roadmap. METHOD Happiness Tracking Surveys (HaTS), conducted quarterly Developed at Google, “HaTS represents an optimized approach to data collection, sampling, and analysis. The short questionnaire [] measures users’ happiness with a given product, as part of gauging the overall quality of the user experience [23]. We refer to happiness as a set of metrics such as overall satisfaction, likelihood to recommend, perceived frustrations, and attitudes towards common product attributes, among others. Its design is grounded in an extensive body of questionnaire design research, substantial experimental testing, and best practices in data analysis, all with the goal to optimize validity, reliability, and sensitivity.” RESULTS HaTS results are presented in a memo form. I visualize likert scales and other closed-ended answers with charts, and conduct a content analysis on all free form fields, codifying and subsequently counting cited issues. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530838133314-AMW26TT9ZIFCE0SN0R7K/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+8.48.23+PM.png Measuring Happiness Formation needed a way to measure user satisfaction with our products consistently and repeatedly so that we can put users first when prioritizing our roadmap. METHOD Happiness Tracking Surveys (HaTS), conducted quarterly Developed at Google, “HaTS represents an optimized approach to data collection, sampling, and analysis. The short questionnaire [] measures users’ happiness with a given product, as part of gauging the overall quality of the user experience [23]. We refer to happiness as a set of metrics such as overall satisfaction, likelihood to recommend, perceived frustrations, and attitudes towards common product attributes, among others. Its design is grounded in an extensive body of questionnaire design research, substantial experimental testing, and best practices in data analysis, all with the goal to optimize validity, reliability, and sensitivity.” RESULTS HaTS results are presented in a memo form. I visualize likert scales and other closed-ended answers with charts, and conduct a content analysis on all free form fields, codifying and subsequently counting cited issues. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530838904388-YG1ZLKGJLEBZUSXE6GRZ/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+8.58.24+PM.png Measuring Happiness OUTCOME HaTS has been instrumental in roadmap planning and prioritizing research activities. Upon wrapping HaTS Q2, for example, we got to work exploring user frustration around search, which has been prioritized for Q3. http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/tracking-happiness daily 0.75 2018-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530839172404-U3L4Z9IAUDNE1984RL5D/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+8.48.23+PM.png Tracking Happiness https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530839172404-U3L4Z9IAUDNE1984RL5D/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+8.48.23+PM.png Tracking Happiness https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530839195295-VMMLPDF1IOHXDO8JQBQ1/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+8.58.24+PM.png Tracking Happiness http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/solving-search daily 0.75 2018-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530839852724-W86HHCHCJ5NBQ04UG5X9/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+9.17.06+PM.png Solving Search Copilot’s search was the highest-ranked frustration in our HaTS survey for Q2, and we needed to fix it if we wanted user satisfaction to increase. MY ROLE Recruiting, diary creation, synthesis PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), product manager, lead engineer, UX/UI designer PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS Are searches conducted using keywords or exact match queries? Are users adding quotations, filters, or other parameters to their search? Where does the majority of searching occur? Is their result on the first page? How far down? METHODS User journals, usability testing (upcoming) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530839852724-W86HHCHCJ5NBQ04UG5X9/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+9.17.06+PM.png Solving Search Copilot’s search was the highest-ranked frustration in our HaTS survey for Q2, and we needed to fix it if we wanted user satisfaction to increase. MY ROLE Recruiting, diary creation, synthesis PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), product manager, lead engineer, UX/UI designer PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS Are searches conducted using keywords or exact match queries? Are users adding quotations, filters, or other parameters to their search? Where does the majority of searching occur? Is their result on the first page? How far down? METHODS User journals, usability testing (upcoming) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530840472842-DFAZLCR3N5DETP92QY1P/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+9.21.59+PM.png Solving Search I asked six Copilot users covering a range of roles (producer, photo editor, senior editor, etc.) to complete a search diary for two to three of their daily searches. We received 61 diaries by the end of the week-long study. RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS I prepared a memo with the results and got together with the project squad to discuss. It provided the following answers and recommendations or how might we statements: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530894456696-NXD5NTFAG5QO8NLC7395/Search+shareable.png Solving Search OUTCOME The team has since changed the weighting from keyword frequency to headline field, and our UX/UI designer is currently working on search prototypes that prioritize parameters and utilize content intelligence where possible. http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/signals daily 0.75 2018-07-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530890808709-TDB1OBSGLVOF8RGKHBC0/wine+and+dine.jpg Sending the right signals Modern-day editors are overwhelmed by inbox notifications, Slack messages, press releases, analytics reports, SEO keywords, and so much more. We wanted to help editors discover, create, and distribute the content that matters the most—thereby reducing their cognitive overhead and optimizing Condé’s editorial output. MY ROLE Recruiting, prototyping, workshop coordinating, note-taking, synthesis, stakeholder presentation PROJECT SQUAD Research lead, research associate (me), product manager, UX/UI designer PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS How can we help Copilot users create, edit, and discover the content that matters the most? How can we reduce reliance on search? What signals tell editors how things are moving along? When is it most meaningful to look at analytics? METHODS Empathy prototyping, wine and dine workshop, experience wall, zen voting https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530890808709-TDB1OBSGLVOF8RGKHBC0/wine+and+dine.jpg Sending the right signals Modern-day editors are overwhelmed by inbox notifications, Slack messages, press releases, analytics reports, SEO keywords, and so much more. We wanted to help editors discover, create, and distribute the content that matters the most—thereby reducing their cognitive overhead and optimizing Condé’s editorial output. MY ROLE Recruiting, prototyping, workshop coordinating, note-taking, synthesis, stakeholder presentation PROJECT SQUAD Research lead, research associate (me), product manager, UX/UI designer PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS How can we help Copilot users create, edit, and discover the content that matters the most? How can we reduce reliance on search? What signals tell editors how things are moving along? When is it most meaningful to look at analytics? METHODS Empathy prototyping, wine and dine workshop, experience wall, zen voting https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530891417520-G9U3XE6KY01GBQ9H1IUI/IMG_3608-830x1024-1.jpg Sending the right signals We invited editors from GQ and Bon Appétit to respective wine and dines, where we discussed paper prototypes, played Ask Copilot Anything, and had them zen vote on a wall full of dashboards and notifications from around the internet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530892041970-5VX7IC7SUBG4FDK3VGHX/FullSizeRender-3-1024x768-1.jpg Sending the right signals During synthesis we used clusters, continuums, and other frameworks to generate insights and create an experience map. RESULTS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530892311075-9P4LLDXARJN4ANU1GZ0W/user-experience-map-1024x870.png Sending the right signals Our experience map identifies five main time frames and the information our users need during each. We presented this, along with a series of insights, scenarios, and recommendations to our stakeholder group. Check out a few of the slides below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530892745124-LXBY305J4H70UDO52OOU/Signals+shareable.png Sending the right signals https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530892997388-H872J3BCQTH2C0UTP9L3/Signals+Shareable+2.png Sending the right signals http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/testing-the-new-cnt daily 0.75 2019-01-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530897973974-TMHPSITAQAKPGUVUT84L/Screen+Shot+2018-07-06+at+1.25.56+PM.JPG Testing the new CNT Our designers had created a bold new website for Traveler, and they wanted to make sure that functionality wasn’t being sacrificed. MY ROLE UAT synthesis PROJECT SQUAD Script writer, test analyst (me) METHOD Remote, unmoderated user acceptance testing A researcher from Condé’s consumer team approached me about conducting synthesis on a user acceptance test she had written and released. I spent a day watching and recording tester feedback onto post-its, then clustered them to come up with insights and recommendations for the product managers and designers. RESULTS You can view my results presentation here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530897973974-TMHPSITAQAKPGUVUT84L/Screen+Shot+2018-07-06+at+1.25.56+PM.JPG Testing the new CNT Our designers had created a bold new website for Traveler, and they wanted to make sure that functionality wasn’t being sacrificed. MY ROLE UAT synthesis PROJECT SQUAD Script writer, test analyst (me) METHOD Remote, unmoderated user acceptance testing A researcher from Condé’s consumer team approached me about conducting synthesis on a user acceptance test she had written and released. I spent a day watching and recording tester feedback onto post-its, then clustered them to come up with insights and recommendations for the product managers and designers. RESULTS You can view my results presentation here. http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/surfacing-sparrow daily 0.75 2019-08-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1531511976254-Q1KAHCS3T3B2PIKI36HD/Screen+Shot+2018-07-13+at+3.58.56+PM.JPG Surfacing Sparrow Sparrow—Conde’s analytics API—had been running under the hood for about a year when its product manager approached me with an ask: How can we meaningfully surface metrics within our platforms? MY ROLE Recruiting, interview moderation, survey design, synthesis PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), product manager, lead analyst PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS How and where can we meaningfully surface Sparrow to editorial teams? METHODS Stakeholder interviews, subject matter expert interviews, user interviews, user survey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1531511976254-Q1KAHCS3T3B2PIKI36HD/Screen+Shot+2018-07-13+at+3.58.56+PM.JPG Surfacing Sparrow Sparrow—Conde’s analytics API—had been running under the hood for about a year when its product manager approached me with an ask: How can we meaningfully surface metrics within our platforms? MY ROLE Recruiting, interview moderation, survey design, synthesis PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), product manager, lead analyst PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS How and where can we meaningfully surface Sparrow to editorial teams? METHODS Stakeholder interviews, subject matter expert interviews, user interviews, user survey https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1531512352709-QGK32K7147BLXXRSEPUJ/IMG-3533.JPG Surfacing Sparrow While our survey participants helped us establish the tools used, how analytics are reviewed, and the most important metrics, our interviews revealed that the editorial relationship with analytics is complicated at best. Overwhelmed with a “fire hose” of information and a “focus on virality” that is “bad for mental health,” our interviewees made it clear that the best thing we could do was provide less detail and more direction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1531512771499-A98JOY54AMP8W030QAFY/IMG-3537.JPG Surfacing Sparrow During synthesis I defined the two approaches to analytics (shown above) as well as a series of opportunities, jobs to be done, and scenarios. OUTCOME This project is a work in progress. Prototypes and testing results coming soon! http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/the-new-yorker-recommends daily 0.75 2018-12-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1544204348583-XHC65E2OHNPSQ8GUIAOM/Screen+Shot+2018-12-07+at+12.31.34+PM.png The New Yorker Recommends https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1544203985656-FCFIEBLU4JC8B20041UQ/Screen+Shot+2018-11-22+at+8.44.05+AM.png The New Yorker Recommends https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1544204006011-0O9ALRB0RJI2Q816UFCE/Screen+Shot+2018-12-07+at+12.31.34+PM.png The New Yorker Recommends I facilitated a workshop to help determine the editorial and user experience strategy for The New Yorker’s Recommends section. Details coming soon. http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/new-gallery daily 0.75 2019-10-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571700636798-K2IS51BKXUE1OJEFABNU/Screen+Shot+2019-10-21+at+7.30.09+PM.png New Gallery - KTKTK As the first user researcher at Splash, my first undertaking was deeply understanding our primary users and how they plan and execute events. MY ROLE Recruiting lead, workshop moderator, synthesis lead, artifact designer PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), product managers, lead designer PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS Who are our primary users and what is their event workflow? How does Splash fit into their world? Do their needs and behaviors change depending on event type? If so, how? METHODS Blueprinting workshops, user interviews DELIVERABLE Journey map, archetypes, insights and recommendations https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571700636798-K2IS51BKXUE1OJEFABNU/Screen+Shot+2019-10-21+at+7.30.09+PM.png New Gallery - KTKTK As the first user researcher at Splash, my first undertaking was deeply understanding our primary users and how they plan and execute events. MY ROLE Recruiting lead, workshop moderator, synthesis lead, artifact designer PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), product managers, lead designer PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS Who are our primary users and what is their event workflow? How does Splash fit into their world? Do their needs and behaviors change depending on event type? If so, how? METHODS Blueprinting workshops, user interviews DELIVERABLE Journey map, archetypes, insights and recommendations https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571701226487-FV2OYHUXTAC1Z9P0UOLU/Screen+Shot+2019-10-21+at+7.30.09+PM.png New Gallery As the first user researcher at Splash, my first undertaking was deeply understanding our primary users and how they plan and execute events. MY ROLE Recruiting lead, workshop moderator, synthesis lead, artifact designer PROJECT SQUAD Research lead (me), product managers, lead designer PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS Who are our primary users and what is their event workflow? How does Splash fit into their world? Do their needs and behaviors change depending on event type? If so, how? METHODS Blueprinting workshops, user interviews DELIVERABLE Journey map, archetypes, insights and recommendations http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/the-ruse-jasper daily 0.75 2022-08-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1472766188856-F3WQ35DZFPUMTZFG87V1/novel-final.jpg The Ruse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1472766237044-GFSVL26O45SCYSZVQXV5/novel-final.jpg The Ruse Book jacket design for Tadeas Cermak's The Ruse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1472766885519-NSO7WU82MKGSCZS2NHSX/novel-front.jpg The Ruse https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1466020295468-QE6WKYXOJ058CF3XNCTM/novel-back.jpg The Ruse http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/work-jasper daily 1.0 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571771179638-2FA6G05NR734988XX3HL/insights+slides.png Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571751166113-5PNNUAM4KZE65RMUEZ37/IMG-0380.JPG Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571752163698-51G3X16GJM7996Z0GQYQ/journey.png Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571760607823-BP4AGD7I5S1LR8GYL4ZA/Screen+Shot+2019-10-22+at+11.42.25+AM.png Work - Learnings The personas and resulting recommendations were shared first with the CEO and then company-wide. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/f9ec588c-a305-4471-8c47-a6f3bdc2a64d/Reader+Personas+Grouped.jpg Work - Learnings We presented our personas, insights, and recommendations first to the CEO and VP of product, then at our company all-hands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/cf184967-b5b9-4b7d-8bae-a170b2dd375e/Screen+Shot+2022-02-28+at+11.36.41+AM.png Work - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/4a51a4ab-ca90-46b6-8459-7238a8dd3773/1_DKLapYwyXs8k0clxST7U4g.png Work - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/5a4beab3-1d26-41a9-846c-e0bd75807522/Tech+Journey+Map+%281%29.png Work Our journey map illustrated the steps someone in tech takes to search for, consume, and possibly share resources back to their community. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530830048214-6LOYZM13OPZ7UXCBLIQB/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+6.33.54+PM.png Work Our blueprinting and subsequent content analysis gave operations a detailed view of how teams get work done. It also answered questions around differences between workflows, proving that—despite calling things by different names—teams are ultimately doing the same thing. This was important because it meant that teams and tools could be consolidated without major disruptions to the overall process. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530830179712-O3FYM3ITB5LLRYRF4WK9/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+6.36.00+PM.png Work The blueprints also revealed the huge array of tools used. The above graphic shows the percentage of teams using each tool per step. The amount of tools used were causing confusion and redundancies in steps for both print and digital teams. For example, a photo editor at Traveler will upload a photo to the CMS, then add it to the Trello card, then ping the story’s editor to let her know it’s ready. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530827437199-TTXP5T4H9I3JFV0MFE3W/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+5.49.33+PM.png Work - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571755421798-7HO3HWNPGDOXUGCEEDGH/journey.png Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1646074204315-OBBYS8NXPKKFTSS7VJ9S/unsplash-image-jqiAU_JQGyk.jpg Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1661366821756-20FNNYS4HJ8WWJBQRLFL/Reader+Personas_+Go+Getter.jpg Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1661368036108-WJBX3L933LY5P71ULU5X/Screen+Shot+2022-08-24+at+2.06.54+PM.png Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1530827437199-TTXP5T4H9I3JFV0MFE3W/Screen+Shot+2018-07-05+at+5.49.33+PM.png Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1661442667321-BMMVPULS5A1KMS01EMVP/Slide+4_3+-+1.png Work http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/brine-jasper daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1461274021205-581EOYQN0IGUJ69M41SW/pickles-editorial-blue.jpg Brine Pickles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1460573576813-YY0P53DVV9990ZIVKQE3/pickles-editorial-yellow.jpg Brine Pickles Art direction, branding, and packaging design for a pickle shop based in L.A. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1465575558361-ZQHSHT59AFG4U8RU09ME/brine-logo.jpg Brine Pickles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1460572726459-5R5QQNJ6N3LX6NGL2S7V/pickles-editorial-blue.jpg Brine Pickles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1465416436672-U1HOCTP3I2WSLJYLAU6P/pickles-editorial-green.jpg Brine Pickles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1460572783131-6YDS3S34AQDVB18NAAKF/pickles-editorial-pink.jpg Brine Pickles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1464286741154-P5R18TNAVHBM14LDKGAK/website-brine.jpg Brine Pickles Visit the site http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/xoko-jasper daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1465245043422-VHAQXC27X5R9B34JIFQ6/img1.jpg Death by Xoko https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1465409799161-A2X7XAKQLOREMRVCGUR5/img1.jpg Death by Xoko Branding and packaging design for Death by Xoko, a Peruvian Chocolatier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1465409936163-PWCLDAJUTU5UVZEX50AW/img3.jpg Death by Xoko https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1465244718121-K8I0XR82IJ0YICCMWM8E/img2.jpg Death by Xoko http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/app-jasper daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1472770523205-U5U60FHXDMKZ5ELEV1AL/ibili-app.jpg Ibili https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1472770453133-S5L6U740NQVJECWJOF3H/ibili-app.jpg Ibili UI/UX for Ibili, an app that generates architectural walking tours based on geolocation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1472226907821-34D9GWY6CLV2INW0HVIM/guide-screen-3.png Ibili - Interface For easy planning, walks are filtered by length. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1472227157982-SL2V6NPK059F7DIIHIL3/guide-screen-2.png Ibili - Experience Geolocation helps anyone navigate like a native. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1472829428444-42R1DI5XCZ5OHWY47QV2/guide-screen-4.png Ibili - Features Users click on a stop to learn about each architectural wonder. http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/american-portraiture-jasper daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1465411151470-52H14IV6INJ0O3JA4NYY/american-portraiture-1.jpg American Portraiture https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1463687122925-YFXB3MPG7MIYBKEAY905/american-portraiture-1.jpg American Portraiture Layout for American Portraiture: 1945–1968 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1463687123988-QTXL6I7KI03D6ERR1YQ1/american-portraiture-3.jpg American Portraiture https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1463687122978-19W4CNW0G9UN5N72U3V0/american-portraiture-2.jpg American Portraiture https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1463687123993-GIBXKBFIPISEBSREKZHJ/american-portraiture-4.jpg American Portraiture http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/moodboard-jasper daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1461605452797-QA7MI71TS32XTRI3GVOU/Untitled-1.jpg Moodboard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1461619355997-ZAV09MWPDQNH86LHF90N/untitled.jpeg Moodboard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1461620489237-QAQ6U7KEO5III0AYUIFS/get-real.jpg Moodboard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1461618928008-H5L4OM00O8XDG5SFFWXY/7.jpg Moodboard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1461618408530-Y4QZHI2APVIJMRFUG8Q7/crop.jpg Moodboard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1464031021138-YBETCAKP0EZE4GN5QP20/pareidolia.jpg Moodboard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1464033164561-OWERNGEYR0AKBOTZVETB/Untitled-2.png Moodboard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1464033301507-TSX1XY70Q79O991CW3GM/Screen+Shot+2015-03-09+at+4.21.13+PM.png Moodboard http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/contact daily 0.75 2018-07-06 http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/process daily 0.75 2018-07-05 http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/storytelling-algorithms daily 0.75 2018-02-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1495843168423-JFWS7QBSADP4ULJD8UD9/image-asset.png Storytelling in the Age of Algorithms https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1495812334753-S6YRLLRQR2P2G2QYBIWU/image-asset.jpeg Storytelling in the Age of Algorithms The storytelling ecosystem https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1495812002392-9FNW4LABK4Y96WIK0K0J/image-asset.jpeg Storytelling in the Age of Algorithms Storytelling and synthesis https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1495842684125-YCS36N9A6YWQ4BXKTV1M/tn3.png Storytelling in the Age of Algorithms http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/about daily 0.75 2022-08-25 http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/the-path daily 0.75 2017-05-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1495821043456-W57TN37FZBZ1K25NS3MP/image-asset.jpeg Modern Meditation Moodboards https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1495842699097-CPGGGR93XZ6PA7O22MAG/tn4.png Modern Meditation http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/the-editor-and-the-algorithm daily 0.75 2023-02-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571752163698-51G3X16GJM7996Z0GQYQ/journey.png The Editor and the Algorithm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571751166113-5PNNUAM4KZE65RMUEZ37/IMG-0380.JPG The Editor and the Algorithm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571771179638-2FA6G05NR734988XX3HL/insights+slides.png The Editor and the Algorithm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571755421798-7HO3HWNPGDOXUGCEEDGH/journey.png The Editor and the Algorithm http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/splash-user-journey-copy daily 0.75 2023-02-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571752163698-51G3X16GJM7996Z0GQYQ/journey.png Splash User Journey (Copy) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571771179638-2FA6G05NR734988XX3HL/insights+slides.png Splash User Journey (Copy) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571751166113-5PNNUAM4KZE65RMUEZ37/IMG-0380.JPG Splash User Journey (Copy) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56ae74b2c2ea519dc1a3e605/1571755421798-7HO3HWNPGDOXUGCEEDGH/journey.png Splash User Journey (Copy) http://www.lauraelizabethcarroll.com/about-jasper daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56f96a558a65e2431339cdaf/1465485665247-X9C7YP596CYFWEIEQQNU/45140003-v2.jpg About