A case study of running a live UX lab at a tradeshow. Rather than running product demos on our stand, we decided to try something different! Taking inspiration from Lean Startup and The Nordstrum Innovation Lab case study, we came up with the 'Live Lab' concept. We developed a prototype for a new tool, for source controlling database schemas, in 3 days at an Oracle Developer conference in Texas. On the stand I ran UX feedback sessions using a paper prototype, collected customer feedback and made changes to the prototype on the fly. I then fed back to the developer who was working on an HTML version of the prototype. We ran 9 mini 'sprints' and had a kanban board to track our development progress throughout the conference. This was a great way to get early feedback from customers on a product design concept. In the slides I share some lessons learned.

1. Michele Ide-Smith, User Experience Specialist

2. A bit about Red Gate
• Tools for database developers, software
developers and database administrators (DBAs)
• Use Agile / Lean Startup methods
• UX team of 15, with senior management
support for UX as a function
• “Ingeniously simple tools”

3. A typical tradeshow…
Demoing tools, selling to customers…

4. ‚By the time the product is ready to be distributed
widely, it will already have established
customers.‛
The Lean Startup

5. ‚We wanted to make sure we were getting
customer feedback as we worked so that we
were never working on anything that wasn’t
valued by the customer.‛
Nordstrom Innovation Lab: Sunglasses iPad
App Case Study

6. ‚Create meaningful connections – marketing that
customers choose to engage with.‛
The Next Evolution of Marketing: Marketing
with Meaning

7. Our hypothesis
• Oracle Developers & DBAs need a better way to get
their database schemas into source control
>70% interest – develop a tool a.s.a.p.

8. Reaching potential customers
• Kscope12, the Oracle Development Tools User Group
(ODTUG) annual conference, June 24 – 28 in Texas
• Attracts mainly devs and DBAs, but also managers
• An opportunity to test our hypothesis, get feedback and
create meaningful connections with customers

9. UX feedback area Dev area
9 (mini) sprints, 3 days, 1 prototype

10. 25 feedback sessions*
Not usability tests!
*

11. Paper prototyping
Easy to get feedback and quick to change

12. Empathy Map
Helped build personas and a talking point!

13. Affinity Mapping
People returned to see the feedback we had gathered!

14. Sketching processes and workflows
A great way to identify pain points and create scenarios

15. Gathering data on environments
Validation of our survey results

16. Stand-up meetings
Be prepared to be interrupted

17. The Dev part of the stand
Feedback went directly into the HTML version

18. HTML prototype
Twitter’s bootstrap is awesome!

19. Testing the prototype
On day 3 we tested the HTML version

20. Lessons learned
• Great for feedback on early designs, not usability testing
• Paper prototyping is compelling and ideal for ‘on the fly’
changes during feedback sessions
• If possible have someone doing design and someone
facilitating feedback sessions (I had limited design time)
• Capture participant profile details and relate them to
requirements / feedback gathered

21. Lessons learned
• Affinity mapping was ideal for on-going analysis
• Keep a note of repeat requirements / issues, to help
prioritise features and design changes
• Hard to record audio / video of feedback sessions –
awkward to ask for consent and very noisy environment
• Hard to keep to scheduled sprints and provide feedback
to developers

22. Lessons learned
• The whole team needs to be on board and wear multiple
hats (be prepared to do product demos, interviews etc.)
• A Live Lab is a great way of engaging with customers at a
tradeshow
• The UX team is a powerful marketing asset
• Don’t expect time for coffee breaks!

23. Questions?

24. References
• Lean Startup: http://theleanstartup.com
• Nordstrum Innovation Lab: www.youtube.com/watch?v=szr0ezLyQHY
• The Next Evolution of Marketing: www.marketingwithmeaning.com/the-book/
• Pawson & Greenburg (2009), Extremely Rapid Usability Testing:
www.upassoc.org/upa_publications/jus/2009may/pawson1.html
• Our product page: www.red-gate.com/source-control-for-oracle
• Our blog: www.allthingsoracle.com/red-gate-live-lab-source-control-for-oracle