Using Remote Workshops to Promote Collaborative Work in the Context of a UX Process Improvement

Based on the new collaborative work conditions and previous research, the need to establish a process of evaluation of the User Experience in its remote modality was evidenced. In this sense, it was considered to take an approach oriented to improving processes to elaborate a proposal. As part of the proposal, it was identified that it would be necessary to facilitate a workshop with the stakeholders involved in these processes to work collaboratively. As a case study, a virtual workshop was held with the stakeholders (UX research specialists, HCI specialists, UX designers, and Developers) to obtain feedback and pain points of the AS-IS process and proposed improvement opportunities for the TO-BE process. With the participation of 5 specialists, 19 improvements were identified for the tree testing process (8 improvements for the virtual process and 11 improvements for the face-to-face process) and 18 improvements for the face-to-face process of heuristic evaluation. Given their experience in evaluations and user experience design, the participants could prioritize the high-impact improvements for the evaluation processes analyzed. Because of the results achieved, the inputs to propose the TO-BE process, as well as the feedback received during the facilitation of the workshop, and as well at the end, the team can affirm that the whole objectives of the workshop were achieved. Besides, we can affirm that the facilitation of remote workshops allows for obtaining valuable information from key actors. Finally, we affirm as well that remote workshops allow collaboration and knowledge sharing between the participants, despite the limitations of distance, and their non-physical presence.