KLA Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 If you saw the Royal Caribbean C&A Newsletter, there was a link to sign up for a Website Usability Test coming up in March in South Florida. Now, as a QA software professional, I 100% wish I could do this and give all kinds of commentary on the site!!! But alas, I am in Ohio and cannot. Double check your inbox for your C&A Newsletter! It looks like a really cool opportunity if you are local! It also looks like lunch on a ship is included as a perk. The link is towards the bottom of the email under 'Millie's Corner' DunkelBierJay 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coneyraven Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 This would be so much fun .... I feel your pain Kayla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 14 minutes ago, KLAconQueso said: Now, as a QA software professional, I 100% wish I could do this and give all kinds of commentary on the site!!! Hah! I’d LOVE to see your feedback as an official QA rep! ? Frankly, even as a software architect and web app UI developer, I’d also love to give them some honest feedback. I feel like without even seeing their original requirements doc, I could flag at least half a dozen use cases they never considered. I do hope if they’re truly doing a usability test that they are also looking for users with various disabilities (requires a screen reader, needs to view in large type, requires a high contrast display mode, etc). ADA compliance is not something that should just be on their ships. KLA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 By the way @KLAconQueso, I got my C&A email and it just says “if you’ll be in the area”, not specifically that you have to be a resident. So maybe you could arrange some kind of work trip? Consulting session for @Matt‘s employer, maybe? Or interview @monorailmedic for an opening? ? monorailmedic and KLA 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLA Posted February 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 1 minute ago, JLMoran said: By the way @KLAconQueso, I got my C&A email and it just says “if you’ll be in the area”, not specifically that you have to be a resident. So maybe you could arrange some kind of work trip? Consulting session for @Matt‘s employer, maybe? Or interview @monorailmedic for an opening? ? "Hey, uh, I know I just got back from vacation.. but can I work remotely from Florida rather than my home office for a week doing testing on my own for another company?" :| FLGooner and RestingBird 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 pretty neat...just another reason I lived down there....the list keeps growing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coneyraven Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 Plus having lunch on one of the ships would be reward enough for me ...... I'm just curious why you HAVE to be there to test it out...... seems to me, since it's the web site, you could test it out from pretty much any where. @Matt @mpoole3 - Are you two going? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 27 minutes ago, coneyraven said: Plus having lunch on one of the ships would be reward enough for me ...... I'm just curious why you HAVE to be there to test it out...... seems to me, since it's the web site, you could test it out from pretty much any where. @Matt @mpoole3 - Are you two going? @coneyraven, if it’s a formal usability study, the testers will be in a room with specially prepared computers that include sensors to track eye movements (to get a sense of how much time people are taking to find some item on the screen), as well as mouse and key loggers. I think some tests also include video cameras to record the session, as there is typically a person there asking them to do specific tests and guiding them if things start taking too long (itself a test failure that should be recorded and analyzed with the other data). Usability tests, as I recall, aren’t generally things where you’re free to do whatever you’d like. There are prescribed tests that the participants have to follow (e.g., find a cruise to the Mediterranean; now narrow it down to a Radiance class ship; now book a balcony on deck 10), although how they choose to do so is up to them (and often reveals surprising information about how the users actually think how the site should work, vs how the designers thought they would think). It’s actually a pretty complicated subject, and setting up a proper set of tests to avoid confirmation bias or unintentional leading is harder than it looks at first glance. RestingBird 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 1 hour ago, JLMoran said: @coneyraven, if it’s a formal usability study, the testers will be in a room with specially prepared computers that include sensors to track eye movements (to get a sense of how much time people are taking to find some item on the screen), as well as mouse and key loggers. I think some tests also include video cameras to record the session, as there is typically a person there asking them to do specific tests and guiding them if things start taking too long (itself a test failure that should be recorded and analyzed with the other data). Usability tests, as I recall, aren’t generally things where you’re free to do whatever you’d like. There are prescribed tests that the participants have to follow (e.g., find a cruise to the Mediterranean; now narrow it down to a Radiance class ship; now book a balcony on deck 10), although how they choose to do so is up to them (and often reveals surprising information about how the users actually think how the site should work, vs how the designers thought they would think). It’s actually a pretty complicated subject, and setting up a proper set of tests to avoid confirmation bias or unintentional leading is harder than it looks at first glance. Chucking to myself thinking about things being described as a "pretty complicated subject" and involving the Royal IT crew in them .... the phrase "this is not going to end well" keeps rolling through my mind. Thinking positively though, at least they apparently 1) recognize the website needs improvement and 2) think testing might help .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 10 minutes ago, jticarruthers said: Chucking to myself thinking about things being described as a "pretty complicated subject" and involving the Royal IT crew in them .... the phrase "this is not going to end well" keeps rolling through my mind. Yeah, we’ll, do recall I started off with “if it’s a formal usability study”... ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLA Posted February 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 3 minutes ago, JLMoran said: Yeah, we’ll, do recall I started off with “if it’s a formal usability study”... ?? Even if it isn't formal, I'm sure they'll get enough people flat out saying "this is frustrating as heck" to kind of drive that point home that something needs to be done, and hopefully be the starting point for some solid change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toodle68 Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 I have always found it frustrating when a company I use and like, has such a terrible website and user experience. The recent change they did to some pages where you could not open the itinerary in a sep tab, and they filled the page with massive amounts of crap instead of just a simple, clean view, pretty much sent me to email some abuse at them.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 3 hours ago, coneyraven said: @Matt @mpoole3 - Are you two going? I thought about it, but South Florida Miami is a hike, and I'll bet it's on weekdays, so I don't have vacation days to spend on it. Honestly, I feel a sense of a conflict of interest if I were to do it. Not sure why, but that's been my gut reaction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coneyraven Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 Just now, Matt said: I thought about it, but South Florida Miami is a hike, and I'll bet it's on weekdays, so I don't have vacation days to spend on it. Honestly, I feel a sense of a conflict of interest if I were to do it. Not sure why, but that's been my gut reaction. If anything, I would think you're one of the more qualified persons to test it ..... You know what you're doing, you know what to expect, and you have the ability to convey your thoughts on it in terms they would understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 Just now, coneyraven said: If anything, I would think you're one of the more qualified persons to test it ..... You know what you're doing, you know what to expect, and you have the ability to convey your thoughts on it in terms they would understand. Just a guess, but I've always felt RC values new cruisers' opinions much more than veteran cruisers. After all, they already "got" us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coneyraven Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 5 minutes ago, Matt said: Just a guess, but I've always felt RC values new cruisers' opinions much more than veteran cruisers. After all, they already "got" us! That is true ....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 5 minutes ago, Matt said: Just a guess, but I've always felt RC values new cruisers' opinions much more than veteran cruisers. After all, they already "got" us! Bingo!!.....I think that is the answer and the reason why to many questions that we have about Royal...from pricing to discounts to loyalty to quality of the service we get or feel has diminished... etc They already have the repeat guests.....driving new customers in is more important at the end of the day and bottom line. coneyraven 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jce2 Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 2 hours ago, JLMoran said: @coneyraven, if it’s a formal usability study, the testers will be in a room with specially prepared computers that include sensors to track eye movements (to get a sense of how much time people are taking to find some item on the screen), as well as mouse and key loggers. I think some tests also include video cameras to record the session, as there is typically a person there asking them to do specific tests and guiding them if things start taking too long (itself a test failure that should be recorded and analyzed with the other data). Usability tests, as I recall, aren’t generally things where you’re free to do whatever you’d like. There are prescribed tests that the participants have to follow (e.g., find a cruise to the Mediterranean; now narrow it down to a Radiance class ship; now book a balcony on deck 10), although how they choose to do so is up to them (and often reveals surprising information about how the users actually think how the site should work, vs how the designers thought they would think). It’s actually a pretty complicated subject, and setting up a proper set of tests to avoid confirmation bias or unintentional leading is harder than it looks at first glance. 100% correct sir! Usability tests and Beta tests are but two types of testing and are NOT the same thing. A true Usability test requires a controlled environment and heavy monitoring whereas a Beta test is the exact opposite...Do whatever you want, including things you suspect are not right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 I am toying with throwing my name on the list ... drop my son at school at 7am, 4.5 drive to HQ in Miami ... quick round of testing and lunch ... home around 7pm ... my wife might not even notice ... my other boss probably will though :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobroo Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 I think this is a great idea to use RCL fans to participate in company development in exchange for some kummelweck sandwiches. I'd like to see more openings of this type of interaction. Good job RCL! <pat on the back> From there my opinion goes downhill fast and that is just because of years of RCL IT disappointment. I have lost all faith that Royal cares one iota about a users online experience. Royal has dragged their feet for years in making their land based, ships online, or passengers communications anywhere in the same decade as the ship sails. For that matter, the computer terminals used at Guest Services (and each ships separate internal computer system) still run on that neon green blinking hyphen....DOS. I know IT is expensive. I know it's difficult for companies to keep their systems running, much less updated. And all this IT stuff, at least on the surface, all it does is take away from earnings. On the other hand it's 2018. It shouldn't be a confusing story whether a mother can text her teenage daughter while onboard. A potential customer should NEVER find that the website is down. And for Christ Sake, can more than one person be in a reservation???? Particularly when you call and one of them is a Royal employee who works in customer service? <face palm> Over the years Royal has made me feel this way. Royal has shown me they will finance billion dollar ship after billion dollar ship. They will spend some $300 million dollars to make their own private pair in Miami that is a mere 200' longer than the one they already use. In the meantime, they use the same crummy pictures to illustrate excursions, I have to "pretend to make a booking" just to find out what a cruise will cost me--with ever increasing key strokes, and the wait for my cruise points to post is how long??? I gave up a long time ago. It's a nice thought that Royal (or who ever their contractor is) would go through a usability test or show care and concern to make their system better; even a refresh. But to be honest, that is giving them too much credit; I think this is a test to see if having several people do the same thing causes the whole system to become unstable. Or, does the system give out the same pricing if two different users ask simultaneously. I'd guess they are they are trying to accomplish much, much simpler tasks. I hope I am wrong and a positive surprise would be more than welcome. <gets off soapbox, walks quietly away> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRC Posted February 21, 2018 Report Share Posted February 21, 2018 I return from Oasis the Sunday before, but I'd drive down to Miami any day that week! We'll see... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenline627 Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 I did not get the newsletter not sure whats going on just got off phone with C+A they said they reset my email address but could not send me that newsletter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpoole3 Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 9 hours ago, coneyraven said: Plus having lunch on one of the ships would be reward enough for me ...... I'm just curious why you HAVE to be there to test it out...... seems to me, since it's the web site, you could test it out from pretty much any where. @Matt @mpoole3 - Are you two going? I looked at going, but it starts when I get off Brilliance B2B. I'll be crazy busy at work that week playing catch up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 3 hours ago, greenline627 said: I did not get the newsletter not sure whats going on just got off phone with C+A they said they reset my email address but could not send me that newsletter. I've had that conversation with C&A before. They reset it several times. Two years later and I still don't get the emails ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 8 hours ago, Matt said: Just a guess, but I've always felt RC values new cruisers' opinions much more than veteran cruisers. After all, they already "got" us! Then why send it to C&A members? If they wanted newbies they would advertise in the local media or use their guest database to limit the target to gold. 53 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said: I've had that conversation with C&A before. They reset it several times. Two years later and I still don't get the emails ? Me neither. Perhaps they'll have an email usability focus group next. Of course I won't get the email... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1guynz Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 I don’t get the emails either. Looks like @Matt will need to have an email page as well as cruise compass and menus to keep all of us in the loop ? Probably most content wouldn’t be relevant to this side of the world anyway With regards to their testing I just wish they would hurry up and fix the NZ website. Still with IT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 9 hours ago, twangster said: Then why send it to C&A members? If they wanted newbies they would advertise in the local media or use their guest database to limit the target to gold. Ah, that's a really good point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 9 minutes ago, Matt said: Ah, that's a really good point. In fact if you think about it, who has four free weekdays to attend this event? People who are unemployed (and therefore unlikely to book a cruise), people who are retired, people who have won the lottery, pre-school children (assuming parents can drop them off). Not so much a cross section of the entire user community. I sure hope those retired people represent us well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 The other thought that just popped into my head... FOUR days of staring at the RCI website all. day. long. That sounds like a special kind of torture. Deedeelynn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 14 minutes ago, twangster said: In fact if you think about it, who has four free weekdays to attend this event? People who are unemployed (and therefore unlikely to book a cruise), people who are retired, people who have won the lottery, pre-school children (assuming parents can drop them off). Not so much a cross section of the entire user community. I sure hope those retired people represent us well! This is exactly the thought I had, I don't think they will get a very good cross section of users. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 10 hours ago, twangster said: Then why send it to C&A members? If they wanted newbies they would advertise in the local media or use their guest database to limit the target to gold. The C&A Members list includes people like me who signed up for C&A with our cruise booking, but haven't yet sailed even once and don't have a ranking yet. I don't know what percentage of the overall C&A membership people like me make up vs actual ranked individuals, but they certainly aren't wasting their time trying to reach "cruise noobs" by sending that email. And thinking about it -- would it be fair to say that the newest members are the most likely to read those emails because of "new member excitement" or just general increased interest in contacts from Royal, compared to the seasoned veterans who may very well ignore most of those emails or stop after reading the promotions at the top? Or does getting the C&A letter still elicit some level excitement even in Pinnacle members? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 2 hours ago, twangster said: In fact if you think about it, who has four free weekdays to attend this event? @monorailmedic does! monorailmedic and coneyraven 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1guynz Posted February 22, 2018 Report Share Posted February 22, 2018 I don't find their website that difficult to navigate and use (caveat: I am not sure how different it is from the U.S website) but I do think there a lot of screens you need to go through to find the price of your cruise (around 10 I think). It would be nice to consolidate this information into 1 or 2 screens. Of course everyone is different so maybe in one of their previous workshops this was the preferred design. Even if they removed a lot of the basic bugs that would be a good start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1guynz Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 I hope the website is working properly for their user testing next week. ? i wonder what sort of feedback they will get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 Seems odd to have launched the "website" on all their unsuspecting customers this week while planning on doing testing at corporate next week ... anyone else think they might have skipped a step in the manual ? HeWhoWaits, bcarney and Shari 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobroo Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 To anyone who thought my post on February 21 was being too hard on Royal...... I told you so! mkrem 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 Yeah..I don't get much of anything from Royal at all....but Celebrity sends me stuff all the time.....perhaps after one 3 day cruise they want me to come back..where as after 10 cruises Royal doesn't care so much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLA Posted March 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 40 minutes ago, jticarruthers said: Seems odd to have launched the "website" on all their unsuspecting customers this week while planning on doing testing at corporate next week ... anyone else think they might have skipped a step in the manual ? What probably happened: Senior Management: "So... can we go live now or what?" QA: "Well we still have some test to r..." Development: "Works on my machine!" QA: "Wait hang on..." Senior Management: "OKAY LET'S ROLL IT OUT!" bcarney, Lovetocruise2002, twangster and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jticarruthers Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 1 hour ago, KLAconQueso said: What probably happened: Senior Management: "So... can we go live now or what?" QA: "Well we still have some test to r..." Development: "Works on my machine!" QA: "Wait hang on..." Senior Management: "OKAY LET'S ROLL IT OUT!" Seems like SOP for Royal IT projects though ... you would think at some point one of the Senior Managers would have noticed that .... oh wait ... Senior Managers ... yep makes sense again :) KLA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted March 10, 2018 Report Share Posted March 10, 2018 On 3/9/2018 at 5:42 AM, jticarruthers said: Seems odd to have launched the "website" on all their unsuspecting customers this week while planning on doing testing at corporate next week ... anyone else think they might have skipped a step in the manual ? Someone misunderstood and thought website testing was for everyone on the internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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