PURPOSE:

In our continuing pursuit to meet the needs of TTAC staff, the immersion team conducted a focus group for the purpose of gathering data about the target audience’s preferences, experiences, and priorities in regards to software training. The mainresearch goalsof the focus group were to:

  • Determine the user’s preference for instructional style
  • Identify the user’s preferred method of support
  • Determine what features the users feel are a priority
  • Establish where the user prefers to receive this training

DEMOGRAPHICS OF FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANTS:

All 5 of the focus group participants were TTAC staff members who have created webshops for TTAC Online. Three of the 5 participants were from TTAC region 4 while one was from region 1 and 8, and one was from region 2 and 3. All five participants were women.

METHODOLOGY

Our goal when planning the focus group was to get data from as many webshop authors as possible from across the 8 TTAC regions. Originally, a face-to-face focus group was scheduled for Monday, March 2nd because several members of the AT Priority Project were coming to George Mason that day for another meeting. However, severe weather led to the cancellation of that meeting and consequently our focus group was cancelled as well. In order to accommodate the busy schedules of our target audience while allowing for maximum participation from members of other regions, the immersion team decided to conduct a focus group online. An email was sent to 21 TTAC staff members across all eight regions requesting their participation in a focus group. 14 staff members responded to that email. Several dates were put forth and Monday, March 16th was chosen as 7 respondents indicated they could participate on that day. Subsequently one of the 7 respondents notified us that she could not participate as planned and another was absent on the day the meeting was conducted. Thus, 5 TTAC staff members actually participated virtually in the focus group on March 16th.

TTAC staff members who agreed to participate in the focus group were sent an introductory email which confirmed their expected participation, explained the purpose of the focus group, and gave directions for logging into the meeting website. The focus group was conducted online using GoToMeeting.com. GoToMeeting.com was chosen after it was determined that the audio in this forum was more reliable than Adobe Connect. During the meeting, 4 of the 5 participants used audio and one participant connected using the chat feature. The audio portion of the focus group was recorded and the chat portion of the meeting was saved. One immersion team member served as the moderator of the meeting while the other team members listened and took detailed notes. Participants were asked prepared questions based on the research questions listed above. In order to ascertain as much information as possible about the participants’ experiences and preferences in regards to online training, in addition to being asked about their previous experience with online training participants were provided with a “new experience.” The new experience consisted of showing the participants professional tutorials and asking about their reactions to those tutorials. At some points in the conversation information was shared that prompted unplanned questions. Immersion team members wrote those questions on sticky-notes and gave them to the moderator to ask as warranted. At the conclusion of the meeting each participant was thanked for their participation and each received a thank you email.

Immediately following the focus group each immersion team member spent time adding to his/her own individual notes. A group discussion of salient points then followed. Each team member was tasked with listening to the recorded audio again that evening and posting their notes on the key findings in a table on the Wiki. Further group discussion of the data and its impact on our design direction followed.

Summary of Conclusions

The information from our focus group supported several previous design ideas regarding the tutorials. Reactions to the Captivate tutorials from Adobe supported the need for better training for this software than is currently available for free from Adobe. However, the subjects responded very well to the Camtasia videos, and many said they would change very little about them.

After viewing the Camtasia tutorial, subjects indicated that they would use that style of tutorial for help if it was available on T/TAC Online. However, earlier in the discussion they indicated that a) they had not previously used online tutorials and b) they would not go looking for a tutorial. Generally, the respondents taught themselves software individually by experimenting until they got stuck, and then seeking additional help. What the subjects really needed was an overview of the software, a way to quickly find quality resources that could give them the answers to the questions they had, and ideas on how the best way to use the software.

Therefore, the Immersion Team concluded that its resources should be diverted from the development of Camtasia tutorials to development of the Support Page designed and prototyped at the end of the 2008 Fall Semester. Because the tutorials freely available from TechSmith on Captivate were judged to be adequate, these tutorials will be linked to from the Support Page. In addition, the page will include links to resources on best practices for eLearning in conjunction with Captivate and Camtasia. Because respondents responded negatively to the Captivate training, efforts to create specialized training tutorials on Captivate will be continued. Training on Audacity (created in Captivate) is nearly completed and will also be included as a resource. The Support Page will be designed to include both the Audacity and Captivate tutorials that will be created, in order to house all resources in a single location on T/TAC Online.

In addition, there was a strong emphasis on collaboration. Many subjects indicated that, when they get stuck with a problem they ask someone in the organization who has used the software before for a solution. Therefore the Immersion Team will review the Virtual Collaboration Center prototype and make recommendations about how to focus future development, and how it can be used in conjunction with the Support Page.

The table below shows commonly identified themes from the discussion and how those themes drove the team’s design decisions. Design decisions related to the development of tutorials are shown in red; evidence supporting the need for the development of the Support Page are in green.

Themes / Data / Supporting Quotes / Design Ideas
Time / Don’t have a lot of time
Want control in their hands (pace)
Only look for help when there is specific need pertaining the job
Don’t want to spend a lot of time looking for the information / "Control inthe hands of the user"
When looking for help I "hone in on a keyword"
“The biggest value is the ease of learning" / Chunk tutorials and resource links by skills so that users can quickly access what they need
Make tutorials and resources searchable
Accessing Help / Use others within T/TAC who have the software before
Use cheat sheets
Go to software developer’s site
Like paper in front of them / “When I get stuck, I try to find someone who knows the software”
“I like to print out directions and have them in front of me while I practice” / Provide video, paper, and links to outside resources to support identified needs
Include collaborative element on Staff Page
Support section of staff page will include printable resources
Template Issues / Don’t support file-types / “I started creating Webshops in using these programs, but stopped because the templates don’t support them” / Begin working with Shuangbao to create an additional template that will allow the upload up Flash files
Add the ability to include audio on existing templates
Chunking / Want to get what they want and nothing extra
Plays into Time Issue as well / "Chunks by category"
“I’m a visual and kinesthetic learner
“show me, not explain to me” / Tutorials will be broken up into small pieces that can be accessed individually – Object Oriented Design.
Pieces will include one task per piece
Presentation / Like learning objectives up front
Simple presentation (don’t like “busy-ness”)
Like Narration
Tutorials should be video, not just text
Like to practice while they watch
Want it “interactive” / “I don’t want to be an expert”
(Response to Captivate tutorial)-"I wasn't sure what to focus on."
Don’t want to see “screen after screen after screen"
Camtasia video "made me want to pay attention because of the narrator’s enthusiastic tone"
"No bells and whistles necessary"
Likes to "practice at the moment"
“Learn by doing” - watch tutorial and practice on live software / Include learning objectives at the beginning of each piece shown as a quick slide rather than spoken to
Demonstrations will be simple slides rather than complicated slides with multiple elements
Narration should be at a slow pace, conversational and enthusiastic
Tutorials will be “simulations” – users will be required to perform actions within the tutorials
Content / One person said she just wanted to know what the software could do, how to use it best, and where to get resources to learn it rather than a tutorial / “Give me an overview of the functions” / Support Page will include introduction to software and its capabilities, best practices, and links to additional existing resources
“Housing” for Support / “One-stop-shop” in T/TAC / Would like tutorials to be in T/TAC, that way it would be a "One stop shop"
“People are overwhelmed with all the different places to go to get information” / Flesh out Support Page
House tutorials on Support Page