From Observation to Inspiration: User Research as a Design Tool

@fred_beecher :: #designcamp ® Fred Beecher 2013

FROM OBSERVATION TO INSPIRATIONUSER RESEARCH AS A DESIGN TOOL :: BY FRED BEECHER


...the process of designing an interactive system such that it is easy and engaging to use for the people it is intended for.

USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN IS...


USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN IS...


INFORMED DECISIONS SATISFY CUSTOMERS

DELIGHT RIGHT PROBLEM? RIGHT SOLUTION?

Edward BoatmanMateo Zitar Andrew J Young

Brennan Novak

Austin Condiff Austin Condiff

Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger


QUALITATIVE3 TYPES OF RESEARCH METHODS

QUANTITATIVE EVALUATIVE


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger

Luis Prado

Edward BoatmanMateo ZitarAndrew J Young

Brennan Novak

Austin CondiffAustin Condiff

Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger

Luis PradoLuis Prado


QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger

Luis Prado


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger


• Observe individual behavior

• Investigate motivation

• Establish psychographic profile

• Answer “who,” “how,” & “why”

CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY • INTERVIEWING • DIARY STUDIES • NON-DIRECTED TESTING • FLY-ON-THE-WALL • ETHNOGRAPHY • SCENARIOS • CONCEPT MAPPING


QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger


• Identify behavior patterns

• Compare performance

• Validate qualitative findings

• Answer “what” & “how much”

SURVEYS • WEB ANALYTICS • KEYWORD ANALYSIS • CARD SORTING • COMPETITIVE TESTING • A/B TESTING • MULTIVARIATE TESTING


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger


EVALUATIVE METHODS


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger


• Can be qualitative, quantitative, or a mix of both

• Can be research methods or design methods (formative/summative)

• Illuminates what’s working, what’s not, & what’s missing

USABILITY TESTING • REVERSE CARD SORTING • UNMODERATED USABILITY TESTING • HEURISTIC REVIEW • PROTOTYPE TESTING


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger

Luis Prado Luis Prado


CONTEXTUAL INQUIRYIs good for...

• Identifying and understanding behavior in context

• Observing behavior without the error of recall

• Uncovering unknown unknowns

Reveals data like...

• Things people don’t know they do

• Why people do what they do

• Environmental factors like space restrictions, access to net & power

• Workarounds & hacks

• Workflows & processes


INTERVIEWINGIs good for...

• Pretty much everything

• Open-ended, exploratory research

Reveals data like...

• Things people know they do

• Things that people have done in the past

• Things people think they might like in the future

• Feelings, motivations, & goals


AFFINITY MAPTHREE DATA ANALYSIS METHODS

SPREADSHEET MENTAL MODEL


AFFINITY MAPPING


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger


• Physically manipulate observations to find patterns

• PRO: Reveals hidden patterns

• PRO: Highly collaborative

• CON: Not portable

• CON: Less rigor; can miss stuff

• CON?: Sharpie high

• TIP: Be succinct & write BIG!

• TIP: Start in some sort of order


SPREADSHEETING


Brennan Novak


Austin Condiff

Amelia Wattenberger


• Enter data into spreadsheet, tag with metadata, identify themes, sort & filter on themes

• PRO: Very rigorous

• PRO: Highly portable

• CON: Can be tedious

• CON: Researcher disagreement

• TIP: Use Google Spreadsheet

• TIP: Add theme definitions

• TIP: Enter data first, then tag it


DROGONICORPBuy our products or flee from them in terror!A military contractor that specializes in breeding mil-spec dragons and training soldiers to ride them in air-to-ground and air-to-air combat


DROGONICORP

• Drogonicorp is expanding, and they need to keep their training program consistent across multiple locations

• They’ve decided to implement a Learning Management System (LMS)

• Their internal UX team interviewed several cadets, but they don’t have time to analyze the data

• You must conduct this analysis and use it as inspiration for LMS features!

ANALYZE ONLINE LEARNING RESEARCH


• (10 min) Read raw notes and identify up to 20 key observations

• (10 min) Summarize and post key observations on post-its

• (10 min) Stare at post-its, arrange similar observations in groups

• (10 min) Discuss the themes as a group

• (10 min) Identify features to support four key themes & post in “Features” area (one color post-it per theme)

AFFINITY MAPPERS SPREADSHEETERS

• (10 min) Read through dataset and note any themes you see arising

• (10 min) Finalize themes and write the appropriate theme next to each data point

• (20 min) Work with your group to identify 4 key themes, write this theme next to relevant data points, highlight in 1 of 4 colors

• (10 min) Work with your group to create features to address the four themes; write them on your theme pages


Fred [email protected]@fred_beecherhttp://nerdery.com/people/#fbhttp://slideshare.net/fred_beecher

Icons by NounprojectDatabase Search :: Brennan NovakSmile :: Austin CondiffBig Smile :: Austin CondiffFactory :: Amelia WattenbergerCameraman :: Luis PradoStatistics :: Mateo ZitarUser :: Luis Prado

(All others public domain or custom made)

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://nerdery.com/people/#fb

http://nerdery.com/people/#fb

http://slideshare.net/fred_beecher

http://slideshare.net/fred_beecher

From Observation to Inspiration: User Research as a Design Tool

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