UXD minor 0809Q4 theme ‘user research’
INVOLVE USERS IN YOUR
EXPERIENCE DESIGN PROCESS

Theme program ‘user research’
June 8: Assignment kick-off
June 15: Theme introduction (Hans) and
assignment progress
June 22: Presentation and discussion of
assignment progress
June 29: Final presentations and workshop with
Ferry den Dopper (TamTam)

Theme in the scheme of things
User research can be
used to validate any
aspect of the user
experience
Traditionally, research
has focused on
usability research

Analysis, exploration and co-creation
Usability research (‘user testing’) is addressing
usability flaws in an interface
Its aim is to provide a thorough analysis to
pinpoint the problem

Analysis, exploration and co-creation
Designers are focused on creating solutions
For a designer, the aim of (user) research is to
explore these solutions, see how even better
solutions can be created (iterate)
In a way, involving users in this creation process
is co-creation, also referred to as
participatory design

Analysis, exploration and co-creation
User involvement in the creation process will
bring you (as a designer):
 More empathy for users
 Make you more aware of the context of use
 Knowing the unexpected
 Inspiration for solutions

Analysis, exploration and co-creation
Crucial for its value: designers need to be
directly involved in user research, preferably
conducting the research
Here’s a fundamental difference with analysis:
bias gives you tainted results
However, curiosity and openness are core
competencies for designers

Prototyping
Every designer needs
to communicate its
design in every
phase of the design
process

Prototyping
The sole purpose of a
prototype is to
explore the solution,
with or without the
involvement of users
The fidelity of a
prototype is
determined by the
purpose of the
exploration

Cost and effect of design changes
Impact van Kosten van
veranderingen aan veranderingen aan
het ontwerp het ontwerp
Vordering van het ontwerp-/ontwikkelproces

Toolkit
Repository for user research and design
methodology
http://project.cmd.hro.nl/cmi/hci/toolkit/index.
php

Testing during the design process (Steve Krug)
From: ‘Don’t Make Me Think’, Steve Krug (2006)

Usability heuristics
General principles for user interface design
Visibility of system status
Match between system and the real world
User control and freedom
Consistency and standards
Error prevention
Recognition rather than recall
Flexibility and efficiency of use
Aesthetic and minimalist design
Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
Help and documentation

Heuristic evaluation
Type of expert review using usability heuristics
as criteria for inspection
Pros: easy to conduct, little effort/low cost
Cons: no context of use, no rich data
http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristi
c_evaluation.html

In-lab research
Research by inviting respondents to laboratory setting
 Thinking aloud
 Co-discovery
Pros: controlled environment, low-fi prototype is no problem,
high quality data capture
Cons: no context of use, time consuming/expensive
http://www.digital-
web.com/articles/practical_usability_testing/

Remote research
Qualitative research using remote technology to
capture data and interact with respondents
Pros: relatively cheap, in context of use
Cons: hi-fi prototype required, limited data
capture
http://boltpeters.com/services/index.html

Assignment
 Conduct an expert review based on Nielsen’s
heuristic evaluation
 Conduct a usability test using either:
 In-lab research
 Remote research
 Compare the two, looking at quality of results
and effort
 Team presentation and individual blog post
with team report plus individual reflection