Virtual Personal Assistant in the Digital Workplace. User Research and Requirements. Test
A Study on the Impact of Virtual Personal Assistant in Unified Communication Software on Motivation, Satisfaction, Communication, and Collaboration of Remote Employees.
Pilot test
To validate the created prototypes, pilot tests were conducted to obtain more reliable usability testing results, following the methodology outlined by Schade (2015). The pilot testing aimed to test all the scenarios and tasks, assess the time required to complete the session, and gather feedback through questionnaires. Fourteen users participated in the pilot test, with each VPA prototype being tested by a different group of seven participants.
Scenario 1:
Imagine you work as a project manager. It is Monday morning, and your workday begins at 9:00 am. You turn on your VPA and start checking your notifications. You come across two important notifications that you add to your To-do list as high-priority tasks:
1. Missed call from John.
2. Message from Daria requesting a meeting today regarding project PM-123.
You decide to call John first. After the conversation with John, you realize that it would be beneficial to invite him and the front-end team to the meeting with Daria. You ask your VPA to schedule a meeting for today, and it suggests a few suitable times that work for everyone. You choose one of the proposed times. During the meeting with John, Daria, and the front-end team, you discuss ideas to improve communication between teams working on project PM-123. You decide to add this idea to your goals.
Scenario 2:
It is Monday morning, and your workday starts at 9:00 am. After turning on your VPA and checking your notifications, you feel less motivated and lazy after the weekend. You ask your VPA to motivate you, and it suggests motivational podcasts, videos, music, and quotes. You decide to listen to inspiring music and ask your VPA to play some focus music. You also browse through motivational quotes for the day.
After a while, you decide to add two high-priority tasks to your To-Do list. Next, you review your To-Do list and exit the task. You now have two high-priority tasks to complete today. First, you choose to call John O’Conny. After the call with John, you check your next task, which is to schedule a meeting with Daria Smith. You decide to invite John and the front-end team to this meeting as well.
During the meeting with John, Daria, and the front-end team, you discuss ideas on how to improve communication between teams working on project PM-123. You find some valuable insights and decide to add this idea to your goals.
By conducting the pilot tests with these scenarios, the project team aimed to gather user feedback and validate the functionality, usability, and overall user experience of the VPA prototypes. The collected data and insights from the pilot tests would inform further refinements and improvements in the design of the VPAs.
Based on the feedback and insights gathered from the pilot testing, several design decisions were made to address the identified problems and improve the user experience of the VPAs. The following decisions were made:
1. Checking new notifications
— Problem: Participants did not see the option to check new notifications in the VPA, as they were used to accessing notifications within MS Teams.
— Solution: Remove this scenario and task from the testing to avoid confusion. The focus will be on other core functionalities of the VPAs.
2. Adding to the To-do list
— Problem: Participants found it complicated to add each task to the To-do list individually.
— Solution: Simplify the process of adding tasks to the To-do list. The VPA will check the new notifications and suggest which tasks to add to the list. Additionally, provide an option to add all suggested tasks to the To-do list at once, streamlining the process.
3. Making a call
— Problem: Participants expressed a preference for asking the VPA to make a call rather than clicking a “Make a call” button, as it would make the process more efficient.
— Solution: Add an option for users to directly ask the VPA to make a call to a specific contact. This will provide a quicker and more natural way to achieve the goal of making a call.
4. VPAs tips with motivation
— Solution: Incorporate motivational tips and advice into the VPA’s interactions. This feature will help boost users’ motivation and provide additional support and guidance beyond the basic functionalities of the VPAs.
These design decisions aim to address the usability issues raised during the pilot testing and enhance the overall user experience of the VPAs. By refining and adapting the design based on user feedback, the project team seeks to create a more user-friendly and effective conversational interface for the UC software.
Ucita Overview
Ucita is a virtual personal assistant designed to provide natural and intelligent interaction within Unified Communication software and other communication and collaboration tools. By securely logging in with your personal or work account, Ucita ensures the privacy and security of your data.
Ucita utilizes a chat-based user interface, allowing you to interact by typing questions or clicking on buttons for a seamless experience. It offers a range of helpful features to assist you in your daily tasks:
1. Creating a To-do list- Ucita simplifies task management by checking new notifications from various communication and collaboration tools like Slack, Jira, and Confluence. It suggests adding high-priority tasks to your To-do list, making it easy to keep track of everything that needs to get done.
2. Making calls — Ucita enables you to initiate calls and helps you find the people you need to contact. It provides information about user availability and can even send reminders for scheduled calls.
3. Scheduling meetings — Ucita streamlines the process of managing your calendar, ensuring you stay organized. It saves you time by assisting in scheduling meetings involving multiple participants. By finding suitable dates and times that work for everyone, Ucita simplifies the task of arranging online meetings within your Unified Communication software.
4. Finding motivation tools — When you’re feeling less motivated, Ucita offers a dedicated Motivation section. It suggests various tools and resources to help you find the motivation you need. You can also search for specific motivational content based on your preferences.
5. Setting goals — Ucita provides the option to set goals and offers advice on why and how to create SMART goals. This feature assists you in defining meaningful objectives and provides guidance to help you achieve them.
As your virtual personal assistant, Ucita aims to streamline your workflow, save you time, and empower you to focus on your priorities. With its diverse range of capabilities, Ucita enhances your productivity and efficiency within the Unified Communication and collaboration environment.
Final Experiment
The experiment aimed to answer two research questions related to remote employees’ attitudes towards the Virtual Personal Assistant (VPA) in Unified Communication (UC) software and their interactions with the potential impact of the VPA on communication and collaboration. The experiment manipulated the VPA into two levels: VPA task-oriented and VPA motivator. The dependent variables assessed were motivation and satisfaction.
Q1: What is the remote employees’ attitude towards the VPA in UC software?
Q2: What are users’ interactions to the potential impact that VPA in UC software could have on their communication and collaboration?
The experiment tested the following hypotheses:
H1: There will be no significant difference in employees’ motivation when using the UC software with VPA between VPA with motivation and VPA without.
H2: There will be a no significant difference in employees’ satisfaction when using UC software with VPA between VPA with motivation and VPA without.
H3: There will be a no significant difference in usability in UC software with VPA with motivation and VPA without.
H4: There will be a significant relationship between VPA’s usability and employees’ motivation when using the UC software with both VPAs.
H5: There will be a significant relationship between employees’ motivation and satisfaction when using the UC software with both VPAs.
In addition to testing these hypotheses, data was collected on participants’ attitudes towards using the VPA and its potential influence on their motivation, satisfaction, communication, and collaboration in the digital workplace.
Participants who used UC software at work were recruited through email, targeting individuals aged 18 years and above. The participants were divided into two groups, with each group consisting of 22 testers. Each group was assigned to test a different version of the VPA interface: one group tested the task-oriented VPA, while the second group tested the VPA motivator. Both groups were presented with the same form and questions to gather data for comparison.
By conducting this experiment, the researchers aimed to gain insights into employees’ perceptions and interactions with the VPA in UC software, with a focus on its impact on motivation, satisfaction, and usability.
References
Schade, A. (2015). Pilot Testing: Getting It Right (Before) the First Time. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/pilot-testing/
