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Posted August 29, 2023 to REEA Global Blog

In the fast-paced world of technology, decision-makers often juggle priorities and allocate resources to meet pressing deadlines. In this environment, user experience research (UXR) can sometimes take a back seat. However, for tech leaders, understanding the value of small user samples in qualitative UX research can be a game-changer in creating products that truly resonate with users. This article aims to bridge the gap between skeptical researchers and decision-makers by highlighting the benefits of small user samples in qualitative research, like usability testing.

Why Prioritize Qualitative User Experience Research?

Before delving into the advantages of small user samples, let’s address the core importance of qualitative UX research:

• Real User Insights: Qualitative research allows you to deeply understand how users interact with your product. It goes beyond quantitative metrics, giving you a window into your users’ emotions, motivations, and pain points. Awareness of how users perceive your product and its features allows you to effectively iterate your product’s information architecture, interactivity, and overall design to better meet user needs and desires.

• Early Issue Detection: By identifying usability issues and design flaws early in the development process, you can save valuable time and resources that would otherwise be spent on post-launch fixes. Investing in user experience at the beginning of product development is crucial, but it’s never too late to implement user experience research in the design process.

• Informed Decision-Making: Qualitative research equips your team with the understanding needed to make informed decisions about product features, design elements, and user interface enhancements. Periodic collection and analysis of qualitative feedback ensures your team’s priorities align with users’.

• User-Centered Design: Prioritizing the user experience fosters a user-centered design culture, resulting in products that meet user needs and expectations. Replacing assumptions about user behavior and perceptions with concrete insights will never lead your team astray.

Addressing Skepticism

Researchers, often skeptical of small sample sizes, may question the reliability of insights drawn from a limited number of participants. However, small user samples can yield remarkable benefits:

• Deep Insights: Small samples enable researchers to engage in more in-depth interactions with participants. This leads to richer, more detailed feedback that can uncover nuanced insights that might be missed in larger, more superficial studies. A quantitative survey flush with scaled questions will absolutely reveal insights about user perceptions of your product, but only qualitative data can provide context for those quantitative data points. For example, let’s imagine you’ve launched a quantitative survey about your education technology application that reached hundreds of users. On this survey, you included repeated measures questions (aka questions that essentially ask the same thing but are worded differently), two of which were “I needed a tutorial or assistance to use this platform properly” and “I felt confident navigating the pages and features of this product.” When asked if they needed a tutorial, the majority of users disagreed or strongly disagreed, but when asked if they felt confident operating the platform, the majority of users again disagreed or strongly disagreed, with significant overlap when compared to the responses to the tutorial question. In other words, the quantitative data reported by users indicated that they do not need a tutorial, but they also did not feel confident operating the platform – this trend in conflicting data cannot be explained without collecting qualitative data from users to provide context for their responses. Conducting a usability study with merely 5 users before launch would likely have flagged the problem areas that are generalized within the quantitative survey; that said, a follow-up usability test would also provide the context needed to improve the user experience.

• Resource Efficiency: Small user samples are more feasible in terms of time and budget constraints. This makes them an ideal approach for tech leaders looking to integrate user insights without compromising project timelines. Referring to the example above, conducting large-scale quantitative research provided notable data points that lacked context. For a comparable investment, qualitative research with a handful of users would yield more valuable insights.

• Iterative Testing: Small samples allow for rapid iteration. You can conduct multiple rounds of testing with different iterations, refining your product based on continuous feedback to achieve an optimal user experience. Instead of a large-scale quantitative survey as discussed in our example, a usability study with follow-up studies (such as Preference Testing) about design concepts that alleviate user pain points would have provided actionable insights informed by user behavior, instead of letting assumptions fueled by quantitative data trends inform the product design. That’s not to say those quantitative insights aren’t valuable. In our example, the survey revealed that users don’t need a full-on tutorial, but they do need a confidence boost, which is a key insight. However, the devil is in the details – where are users losing confidence? Could they benefit from error messages or embedded instructions? Is this conflicting data indicative of a larger user experience issue? Only qualitative data can reveal those answers, and it only takes feedback from a small group of users to fill in the blanks.

• Targeted Focus: With a small sample, you can hone in on specific user personas or user journey stages, tailoring your research to uncover insights most relevant to your product’s goals. The hundreds of users who responded to our imaginary survey provided a general overview of user perceptions of the product from a variety of personas. When the data is broken down, your team realizes that the majority of participants were primary users (teachers deploying the browser platform) but not necessarily end users (students operating it at their instructor’s behest). A qualitative follow-up study with a small group of students familiar with the product would, again, fill in the blanks, but it’s likely that starting with qualitative data collection from a small, diverse group of users representing both of the relevant personas would’ve avoided the issue entirely. 

Practical Steps for Effective Small Sample UX Research

• Clear Objectives: Collaborate with stakeholders to clearly define your research goals and questions. This ensures that your small sample study remains focused and efficient.

• Diverse Participants: Even with a small sample, diversity is key – especially for exploratory studies. Include participants who represent different user personas, demographics, and levels of familiarity with your product. Follow-up studies designed to investigate the experiences of a specific user group can be the exception to this rule; still, it is important to maintain demographic diversity even in those instances unless variables like age, gender and race are a key factors of the study.

• In-Depth Interviews: Be sure to directly interview participants, no matter the structure of the moderated study. This one-on-one engagement allows you to uncover deep-seated thoughts and feelings by digging into certain data points and asking old questions in new ways. For unmoderated studies, include open-ended questions that encourage users to expand on their ideas

• Iterative Process: Embrace the iterative nature of small sample research. Test, analyze, refine, and repeat until you’ve honed in on a truly resonant user experience.

For tech leaders, understanding the significance of qualitative user experience research is paramount to building products that stand out in the market. While skepticism about small user samples is valid, their benefits in terms of efficiency, depth of insights, and iterative design should not be underestimated. By embracing the power of small sample research, tech leaders can make informed decisions that lead to user-centric, successful products that elevate their brand and delight their users.

Posted September 16, 2022 to REEA Global Blog

In this three-part series, REEA Global explores what user experience research is, the benefits to be gained from understanding your users’ voices, and practical use cases to follow through on insights and recommendations.

So what is user experience research? How is it different from user experience design? What’s included in the process? What type of study should be used based on your needs? Let’s dive in!

What is User Experience Research?

User experience research, or UXR, is the study of learning what users need and want in order to provide insights or updates to the design processes of products, services, or software.

It’s all about understanding users and where they are coming from. Taking the time to conduct user experience research gives companies valuable insight into where their processes are optimal versus places that can be improved. These insights are used to guide the product team and leadership to determine which enhancements and innovations will truly engage users to propel the company and its mission. Generally, this results in increased growth, higher retention rates, longer lifetime value, and overall customer satisfaction. Long story short, companies that leverage UXR will be able to uncover and prioritize the best solutions possible based on what users need and want. Proper UXR also levels the playing field internally from a planning perspective since it replaces the most dangerous words in product development, “I think”, with “the users said!”

Research vs Design

Although user experience design and user experience research work closely with one another, they are two different animals.

User experience research focuses on observing and listening to users as they attempt to engage with your product or service. These observations capture their verbal feedback, their actions, and measure the proficiency with which they can complete important tasks. All of this input informs the research of the match or mismatch between user expectations and the actual user experience.

User experience design focuses on converting insights from the research into logical workflows and design elements that users can seamlessly navigate. Regardless of how good the design is, without user experience research, the design could flop as a result of overlooking the insights provided by empathizing with user needs and desires.

Types

User experience research methods can be divided into two categories: what definitively happened with the users and how the researcher describes the methods used in the study. To explore what happened with users, researchers will take a qualitative and/or quantitative approach. To describe the methods used, researchers will take a behavioral and/or attitudinal approach. These techniques can be used in combination with one another and, in some cases, used in congruence to create hybrid methods.

Qualitative

Through observation, understand why users do the things they do by studying their thoughts and opinions through subjective data. How do they feel about a particular webpage? Why did they miss a call to action? Why do they want a certain functionality? Discover users’ motivations and rationale behind decisions. Although qualitative methods are typically aligned with attitudinal data, there are instances where qualitative data can be behavioral.

Examples:

• User interviews
• Usability tests

Quantitative

Discover what users do in a particular setting. Gain insight into their behaviors and attitudes to answer questions such as: how many users clicked on a particular call to action? What percentage of users never navigated to a particular page? Analyze these answers and more to find themes across your users.

Examples:

• Surveys
• A/B Testing

Behavioral

With a behavioral approach, the focus is on what users do through observational methods. With this approach, researchers watch what users do and take notes accordingly. Examples include A/B testing, eye-tracking, and usability testing.

Attitudinal

An attitudinal approach focuses on listening to what users say through interviewing methods. This involves asking users questions and recording their opinions/responses. Examples include focus groups, user interviews, and surveys.

Methods

There are various types of studies you can choose from or combine to gain a deeper knowledge of your users depending on your needs. When choosing a research method, it’s important to focus on what your company knows versus wants to understand about its users. In some cases, for instance, if your company already has a strong understanding of what your users do but not why they do it, then you may want to consider relying more on qualitative methods, such as usability testing and user interviews, over quantitative methods, like A/B testing and surveys.

Some Examples Include:

• A/B testing
• Card sorting
• Competitive analysis 
• Design Critique
• Focus groups
• Expert reviews
• Eye-tracking 
• Joint application development sessions

• Journey mapping
• Observation
• Performance testing
• Personas & scenarios 
• Surveys
• Task Analysis
• Usability testing
• User interviews
• User journeys

Process

Define Study Scope

User experience research starts with defining the scope of the study. After determining what aspect of the platform the client wants tested, researchers will develop a research plan that fits the client’s needs but also empathizes with the user. It’s critical to clearly communicate and understand the goals before beginning a study to ensure the proper methods of research are utilized at the right times.

Develop Research Plan & Recruit Participants

With objectives clearly defined and communicated, it’s time to simultaneously develop a research plan and recruit participants. Creating the research plan includes building out a tentative schedule, creating an in-depth outline of the methodology chosen, and reporting all drafted communications to participants on the client’s behalf – such as recruitment messages and the script used to walk participants through the study. This research plan is given to clients before launching the study to be as transparent as possible about what’s going to be done. After recruiting participants, the researcher will finalize the participants and schedule them for testing.

Launch Data Collection

After establishing a solid research plan and recruiting participants, the next step is to launch the data collection. Whether the chosen method is interviews, surveys, usability testing, or others, the researcher will follow the same basic outline: observe and record. In the case of usability testing, researchers will observe users interacting with the product and take any relevant notes, record interactions, and use these notes as fuel for the analysis. Notes will include information relevant to the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) outlined in the research plan, such as how long did it take users to complete a given task or what percentage of the study prompts were completed successfully? Although many want to rush to execute research, it’s vital to follow the preliminary steps of best practices to ensure your study reaches maximum potential by uncovering insights that are relevant and helpful to your business.

Analyze and Present Collected Data

The bulk of the user experience research comes from the analysis and presentation of collected data. The main point of user experience research is to get a better understanding of your users and apply that knowledge to guide, build, and execute design and usability decisions. Researchers will transcribe all interviews, usability tests, or other studies, develop annotated click paths, and analyze the study’s notes. After taking notes on all participants into consideration, researchers will discern any themes in the data collected. These themes are determined by grouping similar data, such as if people had comparable sentiments about a specific aspect of the platform. Following, insights and recommendations are generated from the themes.

For example, let’s say 3/5 participants couldn’t move past the Home Screen of your website.

• Theme: What Happened With Users?
  • A majority of users were unable to properly navigate the platform.
• Insight: Why Did It Happen?
  • Users are struggling to identify and engage with the navigation bar
• Recommendation: How Can We Fix It?
  • The navigation bar should be updated and optimized.

The last step of the analysis stage is to compile all the information from the study. This includes a summary of the study, quotes from users, listing themes and insights to provide recommendations on how to improve the platform, and providing any relevant qualitative or quantitative data.

Ready to Listen to Users?

Conducting user experience research is a way for companies to ensure their efforts and decisions are effective with their users. In REEA Global’s experience, companies who take the time to understand their users tend to have higher and quicker growth results compared to those who dive into business initiatives based on what they think is important. Don’t assume what’s important, listen to your user’s voice instead.

Curious about the benefits of UXR? Explore the next article in the series, The Benefits of User Experience Research.

Posted October 26, 2022 to REEA Global Blog

What is User Experience Research?

User experience research (UXR) aims to empathize with users, developing a deep understanding of their desires and abilities while maintaining the context of the business objectives. With possible applications to every aspect of the design process, user experience research supports iterative improvements to your software and services that enhance users’ experiences with and perceptions of your product.

By empathizing with users and testing the usability of your digital solution, user experience research determines the functionality, efficiency and desirability of your product. Best practices promote and “provide a consistent, rapid, controlled, and thorough method of examining the users’ perspective.” (1)

How is User Experience Research conducted?

1. Discovery: Refine the scope of your study based on the users’ current behavior, the digital landscape the product inhabits, and any existing blockers to development.
2. Data Collection: Interact with and observe users to gather direct feedback via field research. Typically, evaluations with small sample sizes of users reveal the most obvious problems.
3. Data Analysis: Reveal trends in the qualitative and quantitative data by thematically grouping user feedback, then present research insights and recommendations to stakeholders via Case Studies and comprehensive Research Reports.
4. Debrief: Revisit the initial research questions and determine the scope of the next study needed to ensure the design is properly iterated upon.

User experience research can be applied at every phase of the design process; from discovering what design components users prefer to locating pain points in the user journey. Collecting and analyzing direct user feedback is critical at every stage of project development. The methods employed to collect feedback can be, and often are, applied at multiple design stages to establish and compare users attitudes and behaviors.

Best practices for user experience research involve eliminating bias, or patterns of behavior that can influence the results of user studies (2). To avoid confounding or unsound results, we strive to eradicate cognitive biases and are transparent about any limitations that arise.

How can User Experience Research benefit your team?

• Set yourself apart from your competition by empathizing with your users’ needs/abilities.
• Increase Return On Investment (ROI) by improving user satisfaction and engagement.
• Save time and money down the line by investing in user feedback as soon as possible.
• Apply meaningful changes to your product by continuously discovering concrete ways to improve the user experience (7).

During the design process, focusing resources on the frequency of usability issues and why they occur is the easiest way to avoid costly design mistakes at later stages. In truth, success isn’t guaranteed by a good user experience; a bad one, however, leads to swift failure (1). Even worse than complete failure is mediocrity – small pain points scattered throughout a mediocre user journey can go unnoticed, creating a “death by a thousand papercuts” scenario for your users that is lethal to their experience with your product.

According to an extensive report by PwC, “even when people love a company or product, 59% will walk away after several bad experiences.” Further, only one bad experience with a brand they love would drive away 32% of all customers. User experience research can help ensure your ROI by increasing user satisfaction and engagement. Users are more loyal to products and services that offer a better experience and are willing to spend up to 16% more for that experience, per Forbes.

Uncovering where the design of your product meets and fails your users with quantifiable and qualitative research insights is crucial to add structure to the design and evaluation of your product. User experience research metrics can help reveal patterns in user behavior that are hard or even impossible to see; qualitative data helps illuminate pain points that aren’t visible in numerically reported data and better inform design decisions.

For example, conversion rates for purchases via your website may be high, but interviews with users could reveal minor pain points throughout the user interface, such as irritating copy or an unnoticeable button, that cause some users to drop out before completing their purchases. To recoup those lost orders, empathize with user feedback to improve the primary user journey. 70% of buying experiences are based on how users perceive their treatment, according to a Mckinsey report.

The compilation of small inefficiencies over time can negatively impact the user experience; to better understand user behavior and gain new insights as to how to improve your product, gathering user experience metrics is a must. Without the insights provided by directly empathizing with and studying user behavior, important design choices may be influenced by faulty assumptions or “gut feelings.” User experience metrics are the only surefire indication of whether the user experience improves with every iteration of the product’s design. Regardless of the research outcomes, implementing user experience research creates a “win-win scenario” (2):

• If the new version tests better than the old, then the improvements to the design are validated and the next study can be designed.
• If the new version tests worse, the fresh data collected provides insights as to how to remediate the design.
• If there is no difference in user experience between the old and new versions, the data can be analyzed to isolate ways that improvements to other aspects of the product could improve the user experience.

In short, the benefits of User Experience Research are well-documented and tangible. It allows you to create and iterate intuitive designs that fill a need and enable users to solve their problems without frustration. User Experience research also reveals important lessons about products’ released by your competitors and promotes increases to your ROI (6).

Myths About User Experience (1)

• You Can Design Based On Instinct
  The only way to remove guesswork from your design decisions is to implement user experience research. How can you be certain how users perceive and interact with your product without asking and observing them? Further, counterintuitive design solutions and outlier use cases may improve the user experience for the majority of your users, but would never be applied without user experience metrics to validate them.
• Small Sample Sizes Don’t Produce Reliable Data
  Analyzing small sample sizes (5-30 users) is common practice for user experience research. A larger sample size can certainly increase confidence in the results, but observing a small group of users provides an intimate and accurate look at their generalizable experiences with your product.
• User Experience Research Isn’t Worth It For Small Improvements
  The incorrect assumption that metrics reveal the magnitude of user issues but not their causes is a prevalent one. In truth, user experience research exposes problems, investigates their cause and provides recommendations as to how to mitigate those problems.
• UX Metrics Are Too Noisy To Determine Causation
  A few simple techniques can be employed to reduce noise in the data collected for user experience research. With careful thought and transparency in analysis, a clear picture of user behavior and attitudes is revealed.
• Management Doesn’t Appreciate Metrics
  User experience metrics provide credibility to your product, design choices and team. There is no way to lose when gathering and applying user experience metrics to your design process – doing so will only enhance your product and operations.

Ready to Listen to Users?

Conducting user experience research is a way for companies to ensure their efforts and decisions are effective with their users. In REEA Global’s experience, companies who take the time to understand their users tend to have higher and quicker growth results compared to those who dive into business initiatives based on what they think is important. Don’t assume what’s important, listen to your user’s voice instead.

Explore the other blogs in the series:

• What is User Experience Research – Part 1
• Practical Use Cases of User Experience Research – Part 3

References

1. Goodman, E., Kuniavsky, M., & Moed, A. (2012). Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner’s Guide to User Research (2nd ed.) [Kindle]. Elsevier, Inc.
2. Albert, B., & Tullis, T. (2022, March 7). Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting UX Metrics (Interactive Technologies) (3rd ed.). Morgan Kaufmann.
3. PwC. (2018). Experience is everything: Here’s how to get it right. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
4. Hyken, S. (2018, April 1). Your Best Opportunity For Growing Business: The Customer Experience. Forbes. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
5. Ilker, Y. (2018, August 31). Reasons Your Company Should Care About UX and UX Research. Medium. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
6. THE IMPACT OF SOFTWARE USER EXPERIENCE ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION – ProQuest. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2022.
7. Oman, Z. (2020, August 5). Why Product Teams Need User Researchers for Continuous Discovery. TWG. Retrieved September 22, 2022.

Posted December 5, 2022 to REEA Global Blog

Why Conduct UXR?

Use cases typically describe how users interact with a system in order to determine how to optimize the system from the users point of view. User experience research is predicated on that idea; empathizing with users will vastly improve products and save resources in the long run.

There are a multitude of ways to apply user experience research to the product development process, with applications of multiple research methodologies possible at every phase of the design cycle. During early product development, user input steers a product’s concept, branding, and structure. The following use cases are valuable assessment tools that are often used during the early phases of the design thinking process as well as to inform later iterations of the product.

A/B Testing

When developers need to choose between two versions of a product, feature, design element, etc. it is prudent to determine the most effective design via A/B testing. Two similar user groups are presented with distinct variations of the variable being tested; the version that performs the best based on metric criteria is the winner!

For example, an online clothing store has rebranded and the design team is considering changing the label on the checkout button from “Pay Now” to “Treat Myself.” Two versions of the platform are released to small user samples: Version A (“Pay Now”) and Version B (“Treat Myself”). When compared, 18% more users completed purchases using Version B than using Version A, validating the design update.

This form of testing requires a product team to produce test instances or high-fidelity prototypes for users to try. The ideal participant sample for this use case depends on the variable to be assessed and the study design, with samples ranging anywhere from 5-1,000+ users.

Preference Testing

Another method of determining user preferences is by directly asking your users what they like! It may seem like a no-brainer, but teams often make assumptions about user desires instead of gathering concrete evidence. Preference Testing quantifies user sentiments by presenting a singular user group with variations of the same design and asking those users to choose their favorite.

Continuing our online clothing store example, the design team has created two different sets of icons (A and B) for the rebrand – users are shown images of the site with Icon Group A vs. Icon Group B and asked to choose which set of icons they prefer. If there are more than two options, users are asked to rank the options based on their preferences.

This form of testing requires a product team to have actionable design concepts to present to users. The ideal participant sample for this use case is at least 10 users.

Card Sorting

The way information is categorized and presented to users can make or break a design; asking users to structure the information early in the design process will mitigate costly re-engineering of the platform later. When developers need to determine or refine the way information is structured and delivered within the system, Card Sorting sessions provide insight as to how users naturally structure information when perceiving the product.

These insights allow your team to alleviate disparities between the existing information structure and users’ organic mental structuring of the information. For example, users browsing our online clothing store report that they did not find the expected items in a particular category, such as “Skirts,” so a small group (3-10 users) is asked to complete a Card Sorting session wherein they organize inventory items into general categories.

This testing reveals that the majority of users place “Skorts” (skirts with built-in shorts) and “Play Sets” (skirt and matching top) in the “Skirt” category, alerting designers and engineers to the fact that those items are currently grouped with “Athleisure” and “Dresses” respectively and inspiring the team to restructure how inventory is categorized.

Usability Testing

You can’t alleviate user pain points without knowing what those pain points are, and only the users can reveal them. Why make faulty assumptions about how users will interact with the platform when a user researcher can observe users and report nuanced findings?

From the moment a system is viable enough for beta testing, users should be exposed to it. Usability Testing provides valuable insights for even the most refined products; via Moderator, 5-15 users are observed and recorded operating the system, then report their feedback via a System Usability Scale Survey (a simple questionnaire that determines the general usability of the product) and/or an In-Depth Interview about their experience.

Users interact with the system organically and may be guided by study prompts delivered by the Moderator. Afterward, users complete a 10-item survey about their experience. The Moderator takes live notes of the users’ interactions as observed, then transcribes the recorded session and annotates the users’ comments and interactions with the system to isolate trends in user feedback. These trends are compared and contrasted with the survey responses to produce research insights and recommendations that provide a nuanced understanding of the user experience.

For example, moderated usability testing of the online clothing store app revealed users who required a tutorial to operate the platform were confused by the information architecture of the application and struggled to navigate the user interface due to confusing iconography. These insights lead to meaningful design changes and inspire further studies, like those outlined above, to further investigate user behavior and desires.

Unmoderated testing is also a popular option – users record their testing sessions themselves to be annotated by the Moderator at a later date. This eliminates live notes but saves time as participants and researchers don’t have to coordinate schedules to complete testing. It is important that the users are familiar with usability testing as a practice when they’re recruited for unmoderated testing.

Ready to Listen to Users?

Conducting user experience research is a way for companies to ensure their efforts and decisions are effective with their users. In REEA Global’s experience, companies who take the time to understand their users tend to have higher and quicker growth results compared to those who dive into business initiatives based on what they think is important. Don’t assume what’s important, listen to your user’s voice instead.

Did you check out our first and second articles of the User Experience Research series? Explore What is User Experience Research as well as The Benefits of User Experience Research.

Posted April 13, 2023 to REEA Global Blog

Understanding users’ needs, wants, and expectations can be the key to creating a successful user experience (UX). In this article, we will explore the importance of user experience research and when conducting user experience research is beneficial during product development.

Most UX research is conducted to identify what features matter and whether or not it’s easy for the user to engage with them. Unfortunately, many leaders assume their design team can intuit how users will perceive and engage with their product, despite overwhelming evidence that conducting user experience research is the most effective way to improve the user experience. According to Statista, “44.5 percent of organizations worldwide revealed that they perceive customer experience (CX) as a primary competitive differentiator.” However, this awareness appears to be in sharp contrast with the percentage of product teams that deploy user experience research as an integral part of the product development process.

Properly executed studies often uncover highly actionable insights that don’t require much planning to execute. In a recent case study on a team engagement platform, user feedback indicated that the “greying effect” they applied to portions of their Business-to-Business (B2B) collaboration platform was misleading users to believe they could not interact with crucial elements of the user interface. Similarly, users were overlooking important hyperlinks and buttons due to the design’s color scheme. Every possible advantage in the marketplace matters, so seemingly unimportant design choices, like whether a button is gray or blue or what word is used to describe it, can outsize market share and revenue. Further, research findings and recommendations often go beyond the product design; for this client, testing revealed that their initial product demonstration was not substantive enough to brief users on their product offering, leading to confusion and fatigue as users floundered to understand the platform’s purpose and potential. 

UX research is an important, but often misunderstood step in making a compelling product or service. It helps to understand users’ needs, wants, and expectations, which leads to a positive user experience by informing the design and strategy of the product. User experience research is often mixed up with design, as essentially a subtask to be expected of the design team’s creative process. This approach leads to an internal situation where the product team starts to rely on the instincts of the design team instead of realizing that this is a separate function that requires a different set of skills. A team of researchers working cross-functionally with designers can mitigate bias in study design and user feedback because the design isn’t their “baby,” so to speak. 

When deciding to research user preferences, you’re opening the door to testing anything and everything within the product that could be subjective. It’s crucial to work with user experience researchers to identify specific areas of study within the user journey by outlining possible use cases, analyzing current customer feedback (i.e., reviews), and brainstorming with your product team to produce research questions and requirements. Once outlined, these research questions can be methodically tackled with relevant studies, resulting in high-level and granular recommendations to improve the user experience. 

While investigating the minutia of a product design might seem a bit much, our clients are often surprised by the effectiveness of even small changes recommended based on study observations and feedback. Tweaks, like adding relevant error messages, revisiting information architecture/copywriting, and emphasizing elements of their user interface to facilitate user interactions better, seemed like no-brainers after the fact but would not have been implemented had user experience research been neglected. Designers and product teams can be too close to their product to see shortcomings or areas of improvement; listening to users is the only surefire way to understand how a product can and should evolve.

Making user experience research an integrated part of the product development process can increase the odds that users will engage with the product or service without unnecessary obstacles. Ideally, user experience research should be done before effort is wasted on building the wrong things or on building things for the wrong audience, but it can also be used to get an existing product or service back on track. 

So, when should you conduct user experience research? The methodology can vary depending on your product/service and development stage – methods are often used in tandem and repeated throughout the development cycle. However, there are some general stages to  consider when planning user experience research activities:

Ideate

When ideating (or conceptualizing) your product, empathizing with users will inform the design process and help avoid costly missteps. Picking the brains of stakeholders and potential users (that meet the criteria of developed User Personas) via Requirements Workshops and Stakeholder Interviews can help refine the product offering and design elements. Further, conducting user experience research at the start of the product development process can help identify areas of the product design or strategy that may require improvement. Comparative Assessments of competing products, Expert Reviews of product mockups/test instances, and other methods can help you to prioritize development efforts and refine the product as per users’ requirements.

Prototype

Once you’ve prototyped and launched your product or service, conducting user experience research can provide crucial insight into whether the product meets users’ needs. Usability Testing to assess design features and user interfaces by observing users’ interactions with them, Card Sorting to validate information architecture by aligning it with user perceptions, and User Journey Mapping to empathize with users’ click paths and emotional responses will help you identify any design issues and improve accordingly.

Test

Investing additional resources in a product or service without knowing if users value them can be risky. Conducting user experience research before investing more significant resources can help to identify any issues and validate the product team’s assumptions. Gathering qualitative and quantitative data through observation of users, interviews with stakeholders and users, A/B testing of features or messaging, surveys that gather open-ended responses/produce Net Promoter and System Usability Scores, and more will help you to understand user feedback as you iterate through updates.

Iterate

Good products evolve over time. If you’re making changes to your product or service, conducting user experience research can be transformative, no matter how insignificant the change might seem. Analyzing gathered data by monitoring incoming information for patterns and trends and listening throughout the research and design cycle will help your team understand existing problems and uncover new avenues for improvement.

Final Thoughts

The reality is this: UX research is more than just a nice-to-have. It’s a vital part of the product development process that should be ongoing and integrated into every stage of development, particularly at the start, after launching a product or service, and when making significant changes. By conducting user experience research, informed decisions can be made to improve the design and functionality of your product based on user needs and preferences, ultimately leading to a positive user experience. For more information on how enterprise is making the customer voice a centerpiece of product planning, download the report today.

Let us know if the concepts in this article or the report pique your interest. The REEA Global User Experience Research team can deliver studies that inform the next iteration of your product with nuanced user feedback and then engage an in-house team of 140+ engineers to bring it to life. For more information or to talk to one of our specialists, contact us at info@reeaglobal.com.

References

https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/10-ecommerce-ab-tests/

https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-research-cheat-sheet/#:~:text=Ideally%20this%20research%20should%20be,an%20existing%20product%20or%20service

Posted May 23, 2023 to REEA Global Blog

In today’s fast-paced digital era, businesses constantly seek innovative ways to streamline operations and enhance customer experiences. With advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), one groundbreaking technology that has gained significant attention is ChatGPT. ChatGPT is an advanced AI language model developed by OpenAI that has garnered significant attention for its ability to engage in human-like conversations. It leverages natural language processing and machine learning to understand and respond to various queries and prompts. ChatGPT brings a new level of sophistication to human-computer interactions, opening up a realm of possibilities for businesses to leverage its capabilities. In this article, we will explore the various applications of ChatGPT and how they can transform how businesses engage with their customers, streamline support systems, and empower decision-making processes.

Potential Uses and Advantages

Enhanced Customer Support: ChatGPT serves as a reliable virtual assistant in customer support, augmenting human agents and delivering efficient, personalized assistance around the clock. For instance, imagine a telecommunications company utilizing ChatGPT to handle many customer inquiries. With its natural language processing capabilities, ChatGPT can understand and respond to a wide range of customer queries, such as troubleshooting internet connectivity issues or explaining billing details. Because natural language processing is a core function of ChatGPT, customers can expect a personable support experience that enhances customer satisfaction. By alleviating the burden on human agents, businesses can significantly reduce response times and operate more efficiently.

Interactive Virtual Shopping Experience: With the rise of e-commerce, businesses strive to provide customers with an engaging and personalized online shopping experience. ChatGPT offers an opportunity to take this experience to the next level. For example, a fashion retailer can integrate ChatGPT into their website’s chatbot, allowing customers to interact with a virtual stylist. By asking questions about their style preferences, occasion, and budget, ChatGPT can provide tailored recommendations that guide customers through their shopping journey. This personalized touch increases the likelihood of conversion, repeat purchases, and meeting exceeding customers’ expectations.

Intelligent Decision Support: The business landscape is complex, so decision-makers often require valuable insights to make informed choices. ChatGPT can serve as a valuable tool in this process. Imagine a marketing manager leverages ChatGPT to analyze market trends, customer sentiment, and competitors’ strategies – by processing vast amounts of data and providing real-time recommendations, ChatGPT empowers decision-makers to swiftly adapt their marketing strategies, identify untapped opportunities, and stay ahead of the competition.

Language Translation and Localization: In an increasingly globalized world, businesses must communicate effectively across language barriers. ChatGPT’s language translation capabilities can bridge this gap seamlessly. For example, a multinational corporation conducting business across different countries can integrate ChatGPT into its communication platforms to provide instant translations in real-time. Whether it’s translating emails, customer inquiries, or collaborating with international teams, ChatGPT facilitates efficient communication by breaking down language barriers and fostering global collaboration. Though ChatGPT may not be completely accurate ( it is currently limited when it comes to contextual, cultural, and linguistic knowledge) the nature of the algorithm implies that the gaps in ChatGPTs knowledge will shrink over time, especially if businesses train the ChatGPT model with relevant data.

As businesses embrace the transformative potential of ChatGPT, the question arises: How can organizations leverage this technology to gain a competitive edge? From enhancing customer support to providing personalized shopping experiences, facilitating decision-making, and bridging language gaps, ChatGPT offers a multitude of applications that can revolutionize the way businesses operate and engage with their customers.

Where to start?

To embark on the journey of integrating ChatGPT, businesses must first familiarize themselves with its capabilities and define their objectives. From data preparation and choosing integration approaches to training, testing, and deployment, each step is vital in unlocking the true potential of ChatGPT within the business context.

1. Determine Objectives: Clearly define the goals and objectives for using ChatGPT. Identify specific areas where it can add value, such as customer support, decision-making, or enhancing user experiences.

2. Data Preparation: Gather relevant data or examples that align with the intended use of ChatGPT. This data will help train the model to generate accurate and contextually appropriate responses.

3. Choose an Integration Approach: Decide how to integrate ChatGPT into existing systems or platforms. Opt for chatbot integration, API integration, or utilize pre-built solutions tailored to the specific needs of the business.

4. Set Up the Development Environment: Set up the necessary development environment, including software frameworks and tools, to facilitate the integration and deployment of ChatGPT.

5. Training and Fine-tuning: Train the ChatGPT model using prepared data and fine-tune it to align with a desired conversational style and business requirements. This step is crucial for ensuring accurate and contextually relevant responses.

6. Testing and Iteration: Test implementation thoroughly by soliciting feedback and iterating on the model’s performance. This iterative process will help enhance the accuracy, reliability, and effectiveness of ChatGPT in addressing the business’s needs.

7. Deployment and Monitoring: Once satisfied with the performance, deploy ChatGPT into live systems. Continuously monitor its interactions, performance, and user feedback to make ongoing improvements and optimize its usage.

Potential Limitations

Despite the tremendous promise of ChatGPT, it is not without its fair share of controversies. The most prominent concerns raised by critics are potential biases, unethical use of the technology, and the dissemination of misinformation. Using AI-powered chatbots also raises questions about job displacement and the diminishing need for human interaction. While it seems that technology is far away from replacing the human touch, keep these conversations in mind when investigating and using ChatGPT.

The era of AI-powered conversations has arrived, and businesses must adapt to stay relevant. How can businesses integrate ChatGPT into existing workflows and strategies? The possibilities are vast, and the rewards are substantial. Embrace the power of ChatGPT and unlock new dimensions of efficiency, innovation, and customer satisfaction. REEA Global harnessed ChatGBT to produce the bulk of this article.

REEA Global is a global, full-service user experience research and software development firm. For more information or to talk to one of our specialists, contact us at info@reeaglobal.com.

Posted June 23, 2023 to REEA Global Blog

In today’s fast-paced software development landscape, companies constantly seek ways to improve their applications and deliver exceptional user experiences. As technologies evolve, so do the frameworks and tools available to developers. Regarding modern web development, Angular and React are two popular JavaScript frameworks offering powerful capabilities. However, as companies strive to stay ahead of the curve, there comes a time when migrating Angular apps to React becomes an attractive option.

This article will explore the considerations a company should make when contemplating a migration from Angular to React. We will delve into various migration strategies, weigh the advantages and disadvantages of migrating, and discuss why a company might want to embark on this journey. Additionally, we will provide a step-by-step walkthrough of the process of converting an Angular app to React. So, if you’re curious about the path to a more efficient and flexible front end, let’s dive in.

Considerations for Converting Angular Apps to React:

Before embarking on a migration project, it is crucial to evaluate several key areas. Understanding these factors will help you make an informed decision and plan your migration strategy effectively. Some of the essential considerations include:

1. Scalability and Performance: Assess whether the current Angular app meets scalability and performance requirements, then determine if migrating to React would offer better performance optimizations and enable the application to scale seamlessly.

2. Community Support and Ecosystem: Consider the size and vibrancy of the React community and its vast ecosystem of libraries, tools, and resources. Assess if the availability of community support aligns with your development needs and goals.

3. Development Team Skill Set: Evaluate your team’s familiarity and expertise with Angular and React to determine if upskilling the team in React would be viable or if hiring new talent would be necessary.

4. Long-term Goals and Maintenance: Analyze your application’s long-term vision and compatibility with either Angular or React. Assess the ease of maintenance and the ability to attract developers with the relevant skill sets.

Why Migrate from Angular to React:

There are several compelling reasons why a company might choose to migrate from Angular to React:

1. Vulnerability Management: As a Google product, Angular’s security is primarily managed by Google’s security team. While Google has a strong track record in security, some companies prefer a framework with a larger open-source community actively monitoring and addressing security vulnerabilities. On the other hand, React benefits from a vast and diverse community that actively contributes to security audits, bug fixes, and timely updates.

2.  Improved Performance and Scalability: React’s efficient rendering and virtual DOM often result in faster page load times and improved scalability, especially for larger applications.

3. Enhanced Developer Productivity: React’s component-based architecture, reusable UI elements, and extensive ecosystem contribute to increased developer productivity and faster iteration cycles.

4. Flexibility and Future-Proofing: React’s popularity and wide adoption ensure long-term community support and active development, reducing the risk of framework obsolescence.

5. Seamless Integration: React’s integration capabilities enable smooth integration with other libraries and frameworks, making incorporating new features and technologies into your application easier.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Migrating:

Advantages:

1. Enhanced Performance: React’s virtual DOM and efficient rendering mechanisms often perform better than Angular.

2. Improved Developer Experience: React’s component-based architecture and declarative nature make it more intuitive and developer-friendly, fostering increased productivity.

3. Rich Ecosystem: React’s vast ecosystem offers a plethora of libraries and tools that enable rapid development and integration with other frameworks.

4. Better UI Interactivity: React’s unidirectional data flow allows for easier state management, making UI interactions more responsive and intuitive.

Disadvantages:

1. Learning Curve: Migrating to React requires developers to learn new concepts and patterns, which may temporarily slow development speed.

2. Time and Cost: Depending on the size and complexity of the Angular app, migrating to React can be a time-consuming and costly endeavor, requiring careful planning and execution.

3. Potential Bugs and Compatibility Issues: Transferring existing code to a new framework can introduce bugs and compatibility challenges that must be addressed during migration.

Converting an Angular App to React:

Now, let’s walk through the process of converting an Angular app to React, outlining the key steps involved:

1. Analysis and Planning:

• Assess the complexity and size of the Angular app to determine the scope of the migration project.
• Identify the dependencies, external libraries, and custom components used in the Angular app.
• Plan the migration strategy, considering whether to migrate the entire application at once or adopt a gradual, component-by-component approach.

2. Set up the React Environment:

• Install the necessary tools and dependencies, including Node.js and React.
• Create a new React project structure that mirrors the existing Angular app’s organization.
• Set up the required build configuration and package management.

3. Component Migration:

• Begin with migrating individual Angular components to their React equivalents.
• Rewrite Angular templates using JSX syntax and convert Angular directives and bindings to React syntax.
• Update component state management using React’s state or state management libraries like Redux or MobX.
• Adapt Angular services to their React counterparts or reimplement functionality using React’s preferred patterns.

4. Reusing Existing Code:

• Identify reusable business logic, utility functions, and shared components in the Angular app.
• Extract and refactor these components and services to be framework-agnostic.
• Create wrapper components or utilities to bridge the gap between Angular and React, enabling the reuse of existing code.

5. Testing and Refinement:

• Develop comprehensive test cases to validate the functionality and behavior of the migrated components.
• Execute unit, integration, and end-to-end tests to ensure the application works as expected.
• Iteratively refine and optimize the migrated components based on test results and user feedback.

6. Gradual Adoption and Integration:

• As components are migrated, gradually integrate them into the existing Angular app, ensuring compatibility and smooth transitions.
• Update routing and navigation to align with React’s routing libraries, such as React Router.
• Continuously test and validate the application’s functionality during the integration process.

7. Optimization and Performance:

• Utilize React’s performance optimization techniques, such as memoization, virtualization, and code splitting, to improve application performance.
• Identify and address any performance bottlenecks or rendering inefficiencies that arise during the migration process.

Migrating an Angular app to React can be a transformative process that offers enhanced performance, improved developer experience, and long-term flexibility. However, it requires careful consideration, planning, and execution to ensure a successful transition. Your company can embark on a seamless migration journey by evaluating key considerations, understanding the advantages and disadvantages, and following a systematic walkthrough.

So, if you’re ready to unlock the potential of React and future-proof your frontend development, begin assessing your Angular app today and explore the possibilities that await.

REEA Global is a full-service user experience research and software development firm. For more information or to talk to one of our specialists, contact us at info@reeaglobal.com.

Posted July 19, 2023 to REEA Global Blog

Building a new software application is like constructing a new home. It’s an exciting process as you envision the end result and the benefits it will bring. But once the initial excitement fades, the work is far from over. Just as your home requires ongoing maintenance to stay in good condition, your software needs regular upkeep to remain functional and relevant to users, especially if it’s a software-as-a-service product.

Unlike adding new features, maintenance may not be as exciting, but it’s crucial for the long-term success of your software. Proper maintenance involves careful planning, budgeting, and execution, often happening behind the scenes without anyone noticing. Neglecting maintenance tasks can have serious consequences for your software in the future.

Many teams are eager to bring their product to market quickly to attract users and generate revenue. However, rushing through important steps in the development process can be costly and even disastrous in the long run. It’s essential to take the time to build a solid foundation, just like a house needs a strong concrete base before construction can begin.

Similar to how a home undergoes inspection before it’s sold, software applications also go through a due diligence process, where potential investors evaluate the business and its assets. This process includes security risk assessments and code reviews. If the software hasn’t been properly maintained and accumulated significant technical debt (the consequences of poorly written code and neglected upgrades), the deal can be jeopardized.

Technical debt, like financial debt, accumulates and can result in higher costs and potential loss of assets if left unpaid. Prospective buyers will thoroughly assess the software stack to estimate the total technical debt. To avoid this, committing to regular maintenance and risk analysis from the beginning is crucial rather than waiting for a due diligence event.

This article argues that an experienced team of technologists and product owners is best equipped to foresee risks and implement processes to avoid or mitigate them. Entrusting maintenance tasks to such a partner, whether internal or external, ensures the longevity and success of your software while maintaining high valuations.

The foundation of your software product refers to its infrastructure. Opting for a self-hosting solution may seem cost-effective initially, but it introduces risks and complexity. If the server goes down, the software becomes unusable unless backup resources and teams are working around the clock. Prospective buyers will assess the existing infrastructure if they plan to leave the application in place. A technology partner can advise on choosing reliable hosting providers with distributed networks and content delivery systems, ensuring high uptime, security, and incident management.

The application environment, particularly the software framework, is a significant component. Frameworks provide the structure for application software development and require maintenance for security and bug fixes. It’s important to keep the framework version up to date, as older versions can accumulate technical debt. Regular testing of the application with each new framework release is necessary. Choosing the right framework from the beginning is crucial, as migrating to a different one can be time-consuming and expensive. An experienced partner can guide you in selecting a framework with broad-based support, documentation, and a long projected lifespan.

Code review is an essential practice that confirms the use of best software development practices during application creation. Similar to a property inspection report for a home, a code review provides a baseline understanding of accumulated technical debt, scalability, and code maintainability. It helps determine what it takes to modify or add new functionality. A code review examines system design, architecture, codebase size, technologies used, complexity, privacy and security risks, and third-party dependencies. It also evaluates the robustness of algorithms and data models for future growth.

Data security is critical, and potential acquirers, larger customers, and investors often demand security assessments. These assessments analyze security patches, incident and defect analysis, privacy and security risks, third-party dependencies, and infrastructure risks. In some industries, companies must meet data security standards, and failure to do so can result in penalties. Security plans based on established frameworks and proper corporate governance documentation are essential.

A well-defined product roadmap is crucial for the future of your software during due diligence. Just as a house has a future, your software must have a documented plan for future technology maintenance. Documentation and procedures should mitigate the risk of losing a key person and ensure the application can operate without them.

Product teams can plan future maintenance work effectively and impress during due diligence by integrating maintenance activities into feature enhancements and new releases. Experienced entrepreneurs and technical product owners can provide valuable guidance based on their own experiences, helping combine expectations with the reality of software development.

At REEA Global, our team members are experienced entrepreneurs who have launched numerous products, started and sold companies. We’re not just consultants; we’re builders and entrepreneurs who partner with you to optimize your software’s health, accelerate product development, and maximize its value. Contact us to discover how we can help increase your valuation and reduce technical debt.

Click Here to read the piece posted October 7, 2021 to TheThings

Click Here to read the piece posted October 5, 2021 to TheThings

Click Here to read the piece posted September 29, 2021 to TheThings

Click Here to read the piece posted September 23, 2021 to TheThings

Exploring Institutionalized Colorism and MoreExploring Institutionalized Colorism and More / October 18, 2019

First ‘Uncomfortable Conversations’ Lecture Covers the Electoral College / September 27, 2019

Who’s Who in the 2018 Midterm Elections: Governors / September 19, 2018

2nd Amendment: Inside the Most Heated Topic of 2018 / April 4, 2018

A Classic Returns: “The Dark Crystal’ Re-Released in Theaters / February 28, 2018

Black History Comes Alive on the Edinboro Campus / February 21, 2018

Partisan Politics Square Off with US Stability in Recent Shutdown / February 7, 2018

Edinboro group presents domestic violence awareness / November 15, 2017

Edinboro professors discuss NFL ‘Take a Knee’ controversy / November 8, 2017

Click Here to read the news compilations posted January – March 2018 to Pasquines.us

Huge strides regarding racial equality have been made in the United States. In the last few centuries, people of color have fought for freedom: the right to pursue life, liberty and happiness with the same vigor and support as their white counterparts.  However, a country built on the backs of slaves and designed for inequality due to that fact is not easily changed. The insidious nature of racism permeates every structure of society; everything from science, to legislation, to public school curriculums, to entertainment media have had to evolve out of presenting racist ideology. 

Some would argue that racial inequality is over and that evidence to the contrary furthers divisive “identity politics” and renders us all “snowflakes.” It is true that people of color are no longer enslaved and that legal protections now exist against hate speech and hate crimes. It is true that theoretically, a black person and a white person should have the same chance of success in America. Unfortunately, there are still inequalities to address in our society, and shying away from them only perpetuates those inequalities. 

For example, people of color are disproportionately arrested and imprisoned compared to other demographics. As per the NAACP, African Americans are imprisoned at 5x the rate of white people. “If African Americans and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rates as whites,” reads the NAACP website, “prison and jail populations would decline by almost 40%.” Furthermore, people of color receive harsher sentences for committing the same crimes as white people. “African Americans and whites use drugs at similar rates, but the imprisonment rate of African Americans for drug charges is almost 6 times that of whites,” according to the NAACP. This disparity is among the most obvious signs of continued structural racism in the United States.

As per the Glossary for Understanding the Dismantling Structural Racism/Promoting Racial Equity Analysis, published by The Aspen Institute, structural racism is defined as, “A system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity. It identifies dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “color” to endure and adapt over time.

The term structural racism is arguably synonymous with the term systemic racism, according to the Aspen Institute. The site reads: “If there is a difference between the terms, it can be said to exist in the fact that a structural racism analysis pays more attention to the historical, cultural and social psychological aspects of our currently racialized society.” These terms can be used interchangeably to relate the implications of a less obvious form of systemic racism: the biased algorithms now impacting communities of color. 

Studies show the negative impact of racial bias on the effectiveness of facial recognition technology used by law enforcement and self-driving cars, as well as an algorithm used to determine the need for health care follow-ups. It seems that as technological advancements further our society, so too do they promote the archaic notions of race embedded in our cultural subconscious. According to Clare Garvie and Jonathan Frankle of The Atlantic, a 2012 study conducted on mug-shots in Pinellas County, Florida to test the algorithms used by police in California, Maryland, Pennsylvania and others “found that all three algorithms consistently performed 5-to-10 percent worse on African Americans than on Caucasians. One algorithm, which failed to identify the right person in 1 out of 10 encounters with Caucasian subjects, failed nearly twice as often when the photo was of an African American.” As reported by Garvie and Frankle, African Americas are up to 2.5x more likely to be targeted by police surveillance than members of other races, according to some estimates. “This overrepresentation in both mug shot databases and surveillance photos will compound the impact of that 5-to-10 percent difference in accuracy rates. In other words, not only are African Americans more likely to be misidentified by a facial recognition system, they’re also more likely to be enrolled in those systems and be subject to their processing.” wrote Garvie and Frankle.

Facial recognition technology is marketed as highly effective. in 2023, but according to Garvey and Frankle, claims of effectiveness are nearly impossible to verify. The unfortunate and terrifying truth they outline is that “the facial-recognition algorithms used by police are not required to undergo public or independent testing to determine accuracy or check for bias before being deployed on everyday citizens.” They continued, “More worrying still, the limited testing that has been done on these systems has uncovered a pattern of racial bias.”

Incarceration epidemic aside, these flaws in the algorithms that comprise facial recognition software can have dire physical consequences for people of color. In her article, “Self-driving cars may be more likely to hit you if you have dark skin,” Karen Hao of Technology Review summarized a study done by the Georgia Institute of Technology on the racial biases found in facial recognition software controlling self-driving cars. 

“The researchers tested eight image-recognition systems (each trained on a standard data set) against a large pool of pedestrian images. They divided the pedestrians into two groups for lighter and darker skin tones according to the Fitzpatrick skin type scale, a way of classifying human skin color.” She said.

 The results were unsavory. “The detection accuracy of the systems was found to be lower by an average of five percentage points for the group with darker skin. This held true even when controlling for time of day and obstructed view.” Said Hao. 

After getting hit by a racially biased self-driving car, a person of color may still find herself at the mercy of algorithms when receiving medical care. Research on a widely used algorithm for follow-up care in hospitals revealed, “Overall, only 18% of the patients identified by the algorithm as needing more care were black, compared to about 82% of white patients. If the algorithm were to reflect the true proportion of the sickest black and white patients, those figures should have been about 46% and 53%, respectively.” According to Shraddha Chakradhar of Stat, who summarized the study, “Dissecting racial bias in an algorithm used to manage the health of populations,” published in Science in October 2019. The algorithm in question is used by health systems for over 100 million people across the United States. 

The authors of the study attempted to mitigate the bias of the algorithm by retraining it with the biological data of patients instead of the insurance claims data utilized by the original program. This revamp of the algorithm “found an 84% reduction in bias,” according to Chakradhar. She continued, “Previously, the algorithm was failing to account for a collective nearly 50,000 chronic conditions experienced by black patients. After rejiggering the algorithm, that number dropped to fewer than 8,000. The reduction in bias emphasized what many in the health technology field believe: Algorithms may only be as good as the data behind them.”

Unfortunately, the data behind them tends to be skewed. In his interview with Chakradhar, Sendhil Mullainathan, Professor of Computation and Behavioral Science at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and co-author of the study on the health follow-up algorithm, said “In general, these algorithms are built on data and those reflect systemic biases, and so won’t the algorithm also reflect the biases?” 

Indeed, the systemic racism inherent to American society perpetuates itself. Like a starfish regenerating its missing limb, structural racism loses one foothold only to grab another one somewhere else. Still, work can be done to mitigate its effects. The first step? Awareness. According to Garvey and Frankle, “the conditions in which an algorithm is created—particularly the racial makeup of its development team and test photo databases—can influence the accuracy of its results.” To change the initial conditions that allow bias to infect the algorithms, we must first recognize that a change is needed and act accordingly. 

Garvey and Frankle wrote, “Facial-recognition systems are more likely to either misidentify or fail to identify African Americans than other races, errors that could result in innocent citizens being marked as suspects in crimes. And though this technology is being rolled out by law enforcement across the country, little is being done to explore—or correct—for the bias.” This carelessness is exactly what allows structural racism to continue poisoning the free world.

“Structural racism is not something that a few people or institutions choose to practice.” According to the Aspen Institute. Rather, it is a racially motivated undertone that blankets the entirety of a culture. It is a safe bet to assume the designers of the biased algorithms mentioned herein are not racists; that does not negate the fact that their products further implicit racial biases and systemic racism. From whips and nooses, to police dogs and fire hoses, to handcuffs and healthcare, the means for the oppression of people of color are ever-changing. The only constant is the inability of the majority of Americans to recognize systemic racism for what it is.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” I applaud the researchers who noticed, studied, and attempted to correct the racial biases found in algorithms used for facial recognition and health care follow ups. As a nation, we must constantly look at our habits, structures, and processes with a critical eye to avoid complacency. 

Click Here to purchase a copy of Unpublished Zine Issue 2: Movement printed in January 2020

The following is

the enduring legacy

of (former) President Trump:

“You have to treat [girls]

like shit,” to the New York Mag,

nineteen ninety-two.

Dinner not ready?

Trump said he’d “go through the roof.”

Nineteen ninety-four.

Could he have nailed late

Princess Di? “I think I could

have.” ‘Ninety-seven.

“[Women] are far worse

than men.. and boy, can they be

smart!” ‘Ninety-seven.

“My daughter, she has

the best body.” To H. Stern,

two thousand and three.

“If she was not my

daughter.. I’d be dating her.”

To The View, ‘oh-six.

On The Apprentice,

victories by women were

about “sex appeal.”

They all flirted with

Trump; “That’s to be expected.”

From How to Get Rich.

On teenage Lohan,

“She is probably deeply 

troubled..” In ‘oh-four.

Then mused: “How come the

deeply troubled women.. they’re 

always good in bed.”

Women can’t resist

him. “They will flip their panties.”

To H. Stern, ‘oh-eight. 

On militant rape:

“What did these geniuses

expect?” Tweet, ’thirteen.

To a reporter:

“…you wouldn’t have your job if

you weren’t beautiful.”

The President spoke

those words in twenty fourteen.

Why? “The look.. matters.”

Megyn Kelly has

“Blood.. out of her ‘wherever.’”

CNN, ’fifteen.

On Fiorina,

“..next president? I mean, she’s

a woman.” ‘Fifteen.

“Heidi Klum. Sadly,

she is no longer a ten.”

NYT, ’Fifteen.

“Nobody has more

respect for women than

I do.” Twenty sixteen.

“Grab her right by the

pussy.” Caught on video

in twenty sixteen.

The #MeToo Movement?

“..a scary time for young men,” 

said President Trump.

“You’ve got to be strong..

to deny anything that’s

said.. Never admit.”

“When you’re a star, they

let you do it.” Don’t forget

to treat girls like shit.

Sources: 

https://theweek.com/articles/655770/61-things-donald-trump-said-about-women

https://apps.voxmedia.com/graphics/vox-trump-misogny-timeline/

Click Here to purchase a copy of Unpublished Zine Issue 2: Movement printed in January 2020

Mr. Peters was always impeccably dressed. Every day, his shirt and tie were ironed to perfection and his signature khakis were stiffly starched. Despite the concrete look of his pants, Mr. Peters could cross his large classroom in seconds and though he had a mousy look about him, his voice was exuberant. His voice was my favorite thing about him; warm and versatile, his naturally feminine tone could instantly change pitch to make even the blandest characters come alive when he read aloud.  Mr. Peters was always incredibly cheerful. Every day, his smile was the first thing to greet his students and his laugh was soon to follow. Mr. Peters’ laugh was my second favorite thing about him. Unnaturally loud coming from such a small man, his cackle was contagious and undeniably authentic; it peppered every weekday with joy. 

Except for one.

 On that day, I walked into Mr. Peters’ room unannounced to eat lunch with him as I sometimes did, and he wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t laughing. He was crying. Embarrassed, I stopped with one foot inside the classroom and knocked on the open door. Mr. Peters started slightly and wiped his reddening face, telling me to enter in a gravelly voice I did not recognize. His tie was loose, and his shirt was wrinkled in the front.  I sat farther away from him than I usually did and stared at “Peters’ Corner” across the room to avoid meeting his gaze. Spanning the entirety of one wall, Peters’ Corner was a private library in his classroom that students could borrow books from.

 I took advantage of Peters’ Corner more than any other student. We would have discussions about what I had read, just he and I. Mr. Peters understood my love for words more than any teacher had previously; he allowed me to relate the material to my own life and explored complex topics with me, making the information so easily digestible that my appetite for knowledge⁠—  especially uncomfortable truths like the history of slavery or the basis for the War on Terror⁠— became insatiable. Except on that day. When I asked him why he was crying, Mr. Peters said, “Some parents are upset with me.” I was dumbfounded. For the first time, I didn’t understand words that had exited Mr. Peters’ mouth. True to form as the Teacher’s Pet, I told him that I thought he was the most wonderful English teacher in the district and was relieved when his smile returned.  

Seeing him rattled made me profoundly uncomfortable for reasons I could not explain, and I felt anger toward anyone that could make my mentor seem vulnerable. We ate lunch as we normally did, and the memory of his sadness faded almost entirely as we dissected my latest read. That day in class, he was his normal bubbly self as we discussed The Hunger Games and acted out different scenes from it. I looked around at my classmates; every kid was smiling and had the glimmer of understanding in their eyes as he explained how “theme” and “motif” related to the scenes we were recreating. Mr. Peters’ tear-streaked face flashed through my mind, and I couldn’t help but wonder whose parents could possibly be offended by a man who made learning as fun as he did.

***

“Mr. P, why do you talk like that?” asked Jerry Dugan, a greasy jock strap with a mop of hair and a crooked smile. Outside of English class, Jerry and his buddies constantly mocked Mr. Peters’ high-pitched voice and the graceful way his hands gesticulated to punctuate his every word. It was clear from the moment you first spoke to Mr. Peters that he was not like the other male teachers. The man in question stopped writing on the white board abruptly, halting his impassioned speech about that week’s vocabulary terms, and turned to look down at Jerry where he sat on the floor behind me. Mr. Peters had a variety of pillows and bean-bag chairs, letting us sit on the floor and take notes if we were so inclined. It was the only aspect of the class that Jerry seemed to enjoy. 

“Jeremy, I don’t think I speak any certain way.” Mr. Peters said, some of the shine gone from his kind eyes.  “I mean why do you talk like a girl?” Jerry crowed, not bothering to feign innocence this time. His friends snickered behind their hands. A nervous titter swept through the rest of the class. Mr. Peters said nothing. The giggles died off as he looked Jerry directly in the eye. An awkward silence stretched through the classroom.

Every student jumped when Mr. Peters shattered the quiet with a short, hard-edged laugh. “HA! I don’t think doing anything ‘like a girl’ is a bad thing.” He said airily, turning again to the vocabulary terms and resuming his lecture. The girls in the class exchanged smug smiles and crimson crept up Jerry’s neck as boys and girls alike looked at him out of the corners of our eyes. He slumped into his bean bag chair, deflated and maybe even a little ashamed. 

Later, after the bell signaled our release from English, I walked behind Jerry and his friends as we left the classroom. I felt my stomach drop to the carpet when I heard what they were crudely whispering to each other, their heads nearly smacking together like three greasy bowling pins. Empty words like “faggot,” and “I’m going to tell my dad that Mr. P is a queer,” wafted towards me on their breath as Mr. Peters waved us off, seemingly oblivious. The corners of his mouth twitched – whether it was a smile or a grimace that tugged at his lips, I’ll never know. 

Eating lunch in his classroom one Friday, I listened to Mr. Peters hum under his breath as he added new books to Peters’ Corner. He’d stick each one into its new home and slide a finger down its spine adoringly. He left a couple of them tucked into the crook of his arm and sat down at the desk in front of me. A slight man with no wrinkles, he could’ve been a college student tutoring me. “This week’s haul.” He said cheerfully, plopping the novels in front of my tuna salad sandwich with a grin. His happiness was infectious. I smiled too and sifted through my options. Matthew Tobin Anderson’s Feed and John Green’s Looking for Alaska caught my eye⁠— two books that would eventually live among my favorites. 

I read the back covers and bagged them, giddy over the prospect of two new stories. I looked over at Mr. Peters, who had migrated to his desk a few feet away. He was looking tenderly at a small photograph of himself standing next to a handsome young man, one with a stubbly beard and bushy eyebrows over soft eyes. I’d somehow never noticed the photo on his desk before. Though I hadn’t said anything, I felt I was intruding on a private moment between Mr. Peters and the nameless man. I shifted awkwardly in my seat; not sure I should interrupt him. After what felt like five minutes but was likely only a few seconds, I tentatively asked, “Who’s that?” Mr. Peters turned abruptly and gave me a tight smile, saying only, “He’s a good friend of mine.”

That year, I read at least two books a week from his Corner, apart from the in-class reading assignments. Prior to his class I was an uncommonly avid reader, but I came out of eighth grade English a literary addict.  He inspired me to inspect the elements of a novel and see how every part contributes to the whole. He taught me to recognize the beautiful, subtle nuances of literature, and to use my own words to create magic like the authors I so admired. When I told him how much I loved Feed and Looking for Alaska, he let me keep them and wrote “The world is yours for the reading. -Mr. P,” on the first page of each one, citing one of my favorite Betty Smith quotes from a novel of hers that I had read at his recommendation, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: “From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood.” Thank you, Mr. P, for introducing me to so many new friends, and for being one of them.

 The English class that unveiled how enjoyable school can be, and helped me realize that my words have importance, was taught by a homosexual. I will never know for certain, but I believe his sexual orientation made some parents so uncomfortable that his brilliance as an educator and person was disregarded. It’s likely that he chose to leave, but I wonder if there’s any real choice in a “resign or be a pariah” situation.  Maybe he decided to teach a younger grade, one with children less likely to patronize him with rude comments  or ostracize him with complaints to their parents. Regardless, his refusal to conform his character  to the culture of my school district had a profound impact on me. As an adolescent struggling with my own sexual identity, I disclosed to Mr. Peters that I believed I was bisexual. I had shaved my head, and though I had the eighth grade equivalent of a boyfriend, other students often called me a dyke or lesbian. 

Quaking in my high-top converse, I’d asked him if I was “that obvious.” Mr. Peters reassured me that it was probably just the haircut, emphasizing that I was a wonderful and important person regardless of who I chose to be romantic with. He never said, “I get it because I’m gay, too.” He didn’t have to.  When I returned to the eighth grade English hall to say hello the following year, Mr. Peters and his books were gone, replaced by a young woman with a charming smile. She had moved the bookshelves, now empty, to different parts of the room. Ms. Charming-Smile had no idea where the room’s previous occupant had gone. Three years after taking his class, I came out to my entire high school as bisexual via the school newspaper, deciding I would speak up not just for myself and the other queer students in the district, but for Mr. Peters, too.

There are good teachers and bad teachers, but to me, Mr. Peters was something else entirely. My first real mentor. My favorite librarian. My lunchmate and confidant. The first adult I came out to. He was born to be an educator, and I fervently hope he continued to teach after leaving my school district. I don’t know where Mr. Peters went and frankly, I haven’t looked. I don’t even know his first name. What I do know is that I loved his class, and that I grieved his absence as I began high school. I also know that wherever he is, he is impeccably dressed and smiling, likely at a handsome man with bushy eyebrows over soft eyes⁠— surely, his laugh is still soon to follow.