Secondary Research: People and Contacts Preliminary research on common ways users manage and organize contacts Researched by: Maura Robinson Research Questions Goals Questions for Product Managers Findings How are users currently creating groups? Creating a group in google contacts Creating a circle in Google Plus Creating a group in Skype Creating a Distribution List in Outlook Creating a Group in Facebook Creating a Group in Box Creating a group in Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/guide/business/share/groups Intralinks Via Outlook Plugin
Research Questions 1. How users are maintaining their contacts (e.g., tools, lists, fields, personal/work, shared)? 2. How might those contacts weave into the Intralinks experience (e.g., people, groups)?
Goals ● ● ●
Capture as many questions as we can for product managers and others Identify how people are managing contacts today (Pain Points) Frame up how other tools help people manage contacts (Good/Bad) ○ Grouping Mechanisms in available products
Questions for Product Managers ● When the users gave feedback, did they reference any particular existing product to describe their needs? ● What specific capabilities are they seeking in terms of managing contacts? ● Did these wants/needs differ between users or was there a strong pattern of similar feedback across the board? ○ If responses did vary- what were the different needs users said they had for managing contacts?
● Do we have any information about how are users currently maintaining their contacts? ○ Apps or APIs ○ Spreadsheets ○ Directories ● What types of information do users normally collect per contact? ○ Name ○ Phone number ○ Email Address ● What are the biggest frustrations for users in their current contact management system ○ Difficulty updating ○ Difficulty forming groups ○ Difficulty sharing information/docs with a specific group of people ● How often do they update their contacts? ○ Update Information ○ Delete information ● What are common ways users search their contacts? ● What grouping mechanisms do users currently apply to segment or group their contacts? ○ Tools ○ Current Process ■ Can people in the group see who else is in the group? ■ Can they see the group name? ○ Painpoints: ■ Is it hard to add/ delete people from groups once formed? ■ Can people be in multiple groups at once ○ Do you manage the order in which groups are displayed? ■ Chronologically ■ By Impact ■ By Frequency ● Are contacts added manually by the user or are they pulled from another source? ex. email, administrator's input ● If contacts were to automatically populate when adding members to a group, what type of contacts would the user want to see? ○ All contacts in the company’s domain ○ All contacts in the user’s email ○ Contacts from other programs such as skype, gotomeeting etc. ● What device are users typically accessing these group from? ○ Desktop ○ Mobile ○ Are contacts automatically synced between the two?
● When searching for email contacts, what term/name do users commonly use to find them- first name, last name, or email address? ● Do users make contact groups based on department? Based on project? ● How does the user go about adding/removing members from a group
Findings Q1. How are users maintaining their contacts? ● Google Contacts ○ Stores and organizes contact information about the people users communicate with. ○ Each contact can contain basic information like names, email addresses, and phone numbers but can also include extended information like physical address, employer, department, or job title. ○ Integrates with all Google Apps, such as Gmail, Drive, and Calendar ○ Allows users to send email, share documents, and schedule appointments without having to look up contact information in a separate tab or window. Users can also synchronize contacts between Google Apps and a mobile device to see contacts outside of a browser. ○ Two Different Types of Contacts: ■ The Google Apps Directory (domain-wide contacts list managed by administrators) ● Lists contact information for domain users. It can also include
external contacts, such as contractors or suppliers, and Calendar resources if the administrator adds them via Google Apps Directory Sync, the Calendar Resource API, or the Shared Contacts API. A Google Apps account administrator manages the Google App s Directory . ● Available to everyone in the domain only if an account
administrator has enabl ed contact sharing . In the Contact Manager, users can s earch to find any domain profile, shared contact, calendar resource, or Group . Users can also browse the list of domain profiles, shared contacts, and calendar resources (but not Groups) by clicking on the Directory link on the left navigation panel. Directory entries also appear in the autocomplete function of every Google App, such as Gmail, Drive, and Calendar, enabled for the domain.
■ My Contacts (personal contacts managed by users) ● The list of people an individual user manages. Users add
contacts to this list manually or by copying and saving entries from the Google Apps Directory. A user can add, edit, and delete contacts and co ntact groups using the Contacts Manager. My Contacts are private and can't be shared with other users. But when a user sends email, recipients can see the names a user has saved for each contact.
Screen view of Google contacts
● Cloud Contact Managment Services ex.Cloudtact ○ Cloudtact, which allow users to store one’s contact details on a central server, which is then used to share the user profiles with other users of the same service. ● Applications ○ Easy mail contacts ● Painpoints: ○ The task of allowing people to easily synchronize contact details of acquaintances between different devices and applications over the Internet has led to the rise of cloud-based address repositories, where users can synchronize the local contact database of a device or application with a central server. Anyhow, such systems requires each user to maintain a distinct contact database on his own, resulting in multiple copies of each person’s contact information. As these copies need to be manually maintained, typographical errors and outdated data records are hard to be
found or deleted, which is why constant maintenance effort is required in order to stay up to date. (C2M: Open and Decentralized Cloud Contact Management Sebastian Gond ¨ or¨ a , Jeshurun Devendraraj) ○ http://ac.els-cdn.com/S1877050913005206/1-s2.0-S1877050913005206-main. pdf?_tid=01c947ea-202e-11e5-adbc-00000aacb35f&acdnat=1435781947_ddc4 b0383bf214ae46bcf54b4e760ca5 ● Excel Documents ● Distribution Lists
How are users currently creating groups? Creating a group in google contacts
In the left hand navigation, under the Groups tab users can view current groups and create new groups. The first step to creating a new group is to click groups, then select New Group.
A prompt then appears asking the user to enter the name of the group, then select create group.
The screen then brings the user inside the new group, and informs them that there are no contacts currently in the group, and directs them to the add person button to search for people to add.
After the user clicks the add people button, modal appears for the user to type the names of people they would like to add to the group. When text is typed into the textbox, the area below populates with Google+ users, and email addresses from the user’s contacts. Users can only add one person at a time.
Once a user selects a contact to add, they are brought back to the group screen. If they would like to add another contact, they must click the add person button again. In Google groups: 1. All Group members know the name of the group
2.
All Group members know the purpose of the group
3.
All members know who’s in the Group
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Google Circles ○ Google circles allow users to put various different contacts in specific groupings or lists. ○ This feature is intended to: ● Share relevant content with the right people ○ Allows Users to share content with a specific group of people ● Follow content posted by people you find interesting ○ Google circles differ from Google Groups: ■ No one in a circle can see who else is in the circle. Users also don’t know what the name of the circle is , or how many other people are in it. (meant to mimic social circles in real life) ■ Circles can be used for Google Hangout Invites, Following Google+ Content ■ Users can add anyone to a circle, even if they are not a friend in order to follow and share content
Creating a circle in Google Plus
The ability to create a circle lives in a user’s Google plus Profile.
Once in their profile, the user then selects People from left hand navigation.
This brings the user to the circles page, where the user may select the “Drop or Click to create circle icon� in order to form their circle.
Users are then able to add group members by either dragging them in, or Typing their name in the add a person text box, which auto populates. Once the user has added members the click circle.
The circle is then added to the user’s profile with a visual displaying the group members avatars and the number of people in the circle. Google circles can be used to: ● Share and view content ● Share Google Docs and other docs ● Create google hangouts ● Send emails
Creating a group in Skype
https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10956/howcaniorganizemycontactsintogroupsinskyp eforlinux
Creating a Distribution List in Outlook
On the Home Page, the user clicks Address Book to open the Address Book
This brings the user to the address book screen, which lists all of the user’s contacts and groups.
The user then clicks the drop down list below Address Book, and then selects Contacts.
The user then clicks the File menu, then New Entry.
Under Select the entry type, the user clicks New Contact Group.Under Put this Entry in, the user clicks Contacts. This selection determines where the new distribution list is saved. This is the default location. The user then selects OK.
The user then types the name of the new contact group into the Name field.
The user then clicks the Select Members button to add members from any of their Address Book entries or Contacts. Click Save And Close to save the new distribution list.
The name of the distribution list appears bold as compared to the other entries in the contact folder. In table views, the distribution list name appears in the Fill Name field. Users can view the members of the list by opening the entry.
Creating a Group in Facebook
Users view the left hand navigation to open the groups page. Once in the groups page, the user can see several categories of groups, the default setting being “Your Groups”. In order to create a group the user selects the green button “Create Group”
This brings the user to the “Create a Group” modal, which gives different setting options. The user fills in the group name, members, and various privacy on this form.
When a name is typed into the box, contacts that match the initial letters auto populate in a drop down list.
Facebook groups give users an extra layer of insurance for group privacy by requiring that if a group is set to an educational network only, all members invited must have a “.edu� email address associated with their account in order to join.
The user can then choose an icon to represent their group, or skip this step. This may help users quickly differentiate between groups when viewing them in the side navigation.
The user is then brought to the group’s page where they can visually customize the interface the participants see and add photos, text and other content.
Creating a Group in Box
The user begins by logging into their account and navigating to the Admin Console.
The user then clicks on the “Users” icon, and then navigates to the Groups tab.
To create a group, the user clicks the “Add New Group” button
This brings the user to the New Group Details screen, where the user enters the group name in the “Group Name” text box.
In the Access Level column, the user can select the type of access to each folder member of this new Group should have .
Users can then assign the appropriate contacts to the Group by entering their email addresses in the appropriate field. Keep in mind, Groups only apply to managed users. When you’ve finished, click Create Group to confirm your newly created Group.
Once a user creates a Group, they can appoint specific group members to be “Group Admins” from the Access Level drop-down. This will grant participants a certain level of administrative control over Group members and folder access settings. While Group admins are not able to change your account-wide settings, they can run activity reports and manage members in the Group.
Creating a group in Dropbox
The user begins by signing into the Dropbox for Business Account, and in the left sidebar, clicks on Sharing.
The user then Clicks the Groups tab and in the upper right corner, click the New group button.
In the New Groups page, a user may enter a name for the group. This is the name all team members will see and use to invite the group to new shared folders. As the owner of this group, the user can change the group's name at any time. The user then clicks the Create group​ button. ​
To add a new group member:
1. Sign in to your Dropbox for Business account. 2. In the left sidebar, click on Sharing . 3. Click the Groups tab, and select the name of the group you'd like to add members to.
4. In the upper right corner, click the Add members button. 5. Enter the name of the person you'd like to invite, and click the Add members button. https://www.dropbox.com/guide/business/share/groups
Intralinks Via Outlook Plugin
After a user downloads the VIA Desktop version, the Outlook plugin will attach directly into outlook if the user follows all of the default setting. This appears both in the top navigation and within emails.
The user begins by opening a new email in Outlook, then clicks the Upload & Share icon in the upper right hand corner, and selects Intralinks VIA. in email the user goes to open a new email then Upload and Share Option in the intralinks VIA box. The VIA options will appear above the email fields. The user then clicks 'Attach File' button in the Outlook menu to select files to upload to the shared folder.
In the 'Workspace Folder' section, the user clicks the 'Browse' button.
In the 'Select Location in Intralinks VIA' window that opens, the user can click a Workspace in which to create the new shared folder.​ The user ​ clicks the arrow before the Workspace name and selects an existing folder. Clicking the '+ Folder' button at the top of the page creates a new folder in the selected Workspace. Enter a name for the folder and click the checkmark button. Click the 'Select' button to proceed
In the 'Participants' section, the user can select the role that the recipients will have in the new shared folder. • Editor : Can read, download, and comment on files, as well as creating folders, renaming folders/files, adding files, and moving/deleting files they add. • Viewer : Can read, download, and comment on files. • Invisible Viewer : Can read and download files. Users with this role will not be visible to editors and other viewers. Notes on shared folder roles: • If a user shares a folder with a participant who already has existing Workspace-level access, his/her Workspace-level role will override the role the user selects for the shared folder. • If a user shares a subfolder (of an existing folder) with a participant who already has existing folder-level access, his/her folder-level role will override the role the user selects for the shared subfolder. • If a user has existing folder-level access only (to other, separate folders) in the Workspace, the role he/she has in the new shared folder is unaffected by the roles assigned in the other folders.
Clicking the upload large files button brings the user to the upload screen in order to select the file of their choosing . ​ Click the 'Upload large files' button in the 'Options' section if you will be including larger files in the shared folder.
Switch the 'IRM protection' option to 'On' if you wish to encrypt the files (supports PDF and Microsoft Office files). If the IRM option is already set to 'On' and cannot be changed, then IRM protection is enabled either on the Workspace level or on the folder level (if you are creating a shared subfolder).
Enter the recipients' email addresses or groups created in Outlook. If you selected the 'Invisible Viewer' role for the recipients, you must add their email addresses to the 'BBC' field. If they are entered in the 'To' field, they will be added to the shared folder as standard viewers.
Enter a subject in the email. The subject will appear as the name of the new shared folder in the Workspace. Enter a message in the body of the email. The message will appear in the shared folder invitation email the users receive.
When the user clicks 'Send’ the email will appear in the 'Intralinks VIA Outbox' folder in Outlook while it is processing. When complete, the email will move to the user’s 'Sent' folder. If the user closes Outlook before the VIA process is complete, the process will automatically resume the next time the user opens Outlook.
If a user invites a participant that already has access to the file, Via will alert the user with a pop up notification.
Via sends each participant an email notifying them that a file has been shared with them by the user with a link to the folder/file/workspace.
Users that are not logged into VIA are brought to the login screen. Once the user is logged in, the user is brought directly to the shared workspace or folder.
https://intralinks.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4388/kw/Outlook%20plugin https://intralinks.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4374/kw/Outlook%20plugin