The UX Lab
Building UX Research Infrastructure at Iowa State
Role
Co-founder, Concept, UX Research Methods, Instruction of UX Research and Design Methods
Problem
Iowa State University was an engineering college that lacked a User Experience and User Experience research discipline. When I started my Human Computer Interaction PhD, we didn't have a place to conduct usability tests and get hands-on experience with current software, hardware, research methods, etc. - not even a class on usability methods.
Solution
We created The UX Lab from the ground up. A core group of grad students came together to build a centralized place with the hardware, software, and the know-how to build useful usability studies for all students wanting to learn about usability in every facet (design, research, methodology). This was open to all other students (not just HCI) to foster well-designed studies across disciplines. From a grassroots grad student project, this spun off into actual classes within the core HCI course!
The UX Lab Details
The UX Lab was founded to bring and spread UX methodology. It is not simply the hardware, but introducing the correct process of using that hardware and outputting a meaningful body of UX research. It was only a few grad students, but we made big changes within the University as a whole with the introduction of UX methods across other departments, truly bringing UX into a cross-disciplinary bridge.
Services We Offered
General User Experience Consulting
Incorporate your users into more of your design and development
Usability Testing
Measure how users navigate and accomplish tasks on a system
Heuristic Analysis / Expert Review
System could be easier to use for your customers
Interaction Design
Maximize the user experience for your system
Prototyping
Low-cost representation of the user interface to a system to mock up quickly
User Experience Research
Best variables to collect to measure user experience?
Context of Use Analysis
Behaviors, processes and needs of your user base as they relate to your system
Eye Tracking
Visualize what users see on screen via heatmap
Interactive Learning Modules
We created interactive learning modules that helped people new to UX learn how to navigate user feedback, as shown below. This is a screenshot of the original Flash website that was interactive and linked videos and resources for comprehensive UX education.
Eye Tracking Research
Built a Fully Functional Eye Tracking System
Hardware:
Eye-Tech VT2 - Advanced eye tracking hardware for precise gaze measurement
Software:
iMotions Platform - Comprehensive biometric research platform integrating eye tracking with other behavioral measures
Research Impact
I put together this eye tracking system for free as iMotions was just starting (it was one person, Peter, the founder) and the VT2 was still new tech. I agreed to write white papers about the technology and research methods.
Ended up being a very capable system and now sold as a package to this day.I completed many user tests and having eye tracking data overlays on top of think-aloud testing sessions was immensely helpful.
In the screenshot above you can see how pictures of people's faces draws the human eye, and how users read through the main navigation. This data provided invaluable insights for improving user interface design.
TOBII & iMotions Collaboration
Worked directly with TOBII eye tracking hardware and iMotions software platform to publish white papers on eye tracking methodologies in user experience research. This collaboration helped establish best practices for integrating biometric data with traditional usability testing methods, creating durable research materials that are still referenced today.
Users Tested
In the UX Lab
Eyes Tracked
Gaze patterns analyzed
Prototypes Built
For user testing
Departments
Consulted across campus
Building UX Infrastructure from the Ground Up
From Engineering to User-Centered Design
The UX Lab transformed Iowa State from an engineering college with no UX discipline into a comprehensive research facility. We built course materials, developed research methodologies, and established eye-tracking studies that created lasting impact across 32 departments and hundreds of users.