User Experience Information Gathering Methods

Gathering Information

* Design research is often used at the early stages or conception of a project. However certain methods can be used at later stages for testing and verifying. Design research is made up of a number of different user research methods. *Engine Service Design * * Qualitative research methods enable the design team to develop deep empathy for people they are designing for, to question assumptions, and to inspire new solutions. At the early stages of the process, research is generative — used to inspire imagination and inform intuition about new opportunities and ideas. In later phases, these methods can be evaluative—used to learn quickly about people’s response to ideas and proposed solutions. ** IDEO HCD Toolkit

Enthnographic Research The purpose of user research is to gain a thorough understanding of users. Its serves to unlock the reasons why users do the things they do (drivers), the reasons why they don’t do things (hurdles). It also seeks to uncover and understand their lifestyles, behaviours and attitudes. In design the journeys users take are important, the moods they are in and the modes they adopt. Qualitative methods can uncover deeply held, needs, desires, and aspirations. ‘Ethnographic studies are holistic, founded on the idea that humans are best understood in the fullest possible context’* * www.wikipedia.com

Note: Qualitative methods are not statistically focused and will not determine “average” behaviors/attitudes or answer questions such as: “Are people in X region more likely to do this than in Y region?” This is because qualitative methods do not cover a sample large enough to be statistically significant.

Who ? What ? Where ? When ? Why ?

Methods of Gathering User Information Participation Observation Text messages Customer diaries/ Probes Interviews Focus Groups Empathy Product in Use Scenarios of Use Discreet Observations User trials

In participant observation studies the researcher spends time observing and recording the behaviour of an individual or group, "listening to their interactions and immersing him/herself in the context of the participant’s daily life“* *Naked Eye Research (2007) Video ethnography, http://www.naked‐eye‐research.co.uk/tech.html (accessed January 2008) participant observation

Encouraging participants in a study to send text messages describing or recording events, actions or thoughts allows for immediate, real feedback. text messages

Activity diaries are an inexpensive method of gaining an insight into the everyday use of products and the associated habits, behaviours, problems and difficulties. They are especially useful for evaluating existing products and practices in "situations where researchers find it difficult to observe customers first hand" *"and within contexts where it would be inappropriate for an ethnographer to do so“** *Evans, S., Burns, A. and Barrett, R. (2002) Empathic Design Tutor, Cranfield, IERC, Cranfield University, UK ** Naked Eye Research (2007) Video Diaries, http://www.naked‐eye‐research.co.uk/tech.html (accessed May 2008) customer diaries

Interviewing the user, particularly after conducting other user centred research studies, can be beneficial in understanding their perceptions of situations, behaviours, products or services. Using prompts can help in interviews. interviews

Empathy tools assist in finding out not just what people are saying and doing, but also what they are thinking and feeling. They offer an opportunity to really understand the limitations of certain users. Empathy

The ‘mobilistrictor’ mobility restricting body suit simulates the effects of old age. It enables designers, who may be fully fit and active, to empathise with older people and assess how their designs work in practice for people with some loss of mobility or declining sensory perception Mobilistrictor

Using scenarios, props and costumes to assist in 'character building' and furniture arrangement to represent the product environment, ‘Scenario‐of‐Use’ aims to uncover previously unvoiced needs using role play as a cue for recall scenario building

The Consumer Vision System, developed by Kimberly Clark, is a research tool which enables designers to see products through the consumers eyes. * www.kimberlyclarke.com accessed May 2008 consumer vision system

Discreet observation is a method of identifying real design needs by discreetly observing people interacting with people and objects in public spaces. discreet observations

User trials, sometimes called task analysis exercises, are simulations of product usage in which subjects are asked to fulfil specified tasks using a product or product simulation.* * Vermeeren, A. P. O. S. (1999) Designing Scenarios and Tasks for User Trials of Home Electronic Devices, In: Green. W.S and Jordan P.W (1999) Human Factors in Product Design: Current Practice and Future Trends, Taylor and Francis, London, pp. 47‐55. user trials

Product‐in‐Use is an interactive, naturalistic, observational method designed to "capture peoples’ behaviour in real‐life contexts" providing an "account of the behaviour surrounding a product or activity" * * Evans, S., Burns, A. and Barrett, R. (2002) Empathic Design Tutor, Cranfield, IERC, Cranfield University, UK product‐in‐use

Focus groups create a format which brings together a selection of participants to contribute in a two way debate on a particular issue whilst allowing the researcher to investigate and identify group norms and explore conflicting views *. Focus groups can be useful at various stages of a project, to establish user needs, test product designs and evaluate final concepts. * May, T. (2001) Social Research: Issues, methods and process, Open University Press, Buckingham. focus groups

Cultural probes are one way to access environments that are difficult to observe directly and also to capture more of this 'felt life‘*. Users are given packs containing recording devices designed to stimulate thought as well as capture experiences and asked to record their activities over a period of time. The information is real and experiental. This method is useful at the initial stage of a project in an effort to identify opportunities and gain a deeper understanding of behaviour. *http://www.hcibook.com/e3/casestudy/cultural-probes/. cultural probes

cultural probes

Personas are visual and anecdotal profiles. They may be based on ‘real people’ from research or they may have been ‘made‐up’ in a brainstorm session. By profile it means specific information about the person that is illustrative and useful to the project ‐ it should identify the key characteristics of the person. Posing questions and answering them as the persona character is often helpful to build up a character ‐ quirky or unusual questions are often more insightful. Very useful at the early stages of a project and through the idea generation and evaluation. personas

http://www.ideo.com/images/uploads/work/case- studies/pdfs/IDEO_HCD_ToolKit_Complete_for_Download. pdf

The Science Bit

Anthropometry Body Sizes Strength Dexterity Flex/Twist Measurements Angles of tilt Limits to Movement Abilities/ Disabilities Weight………………

Organising information

User Experience Information Gathering Methods

0 comments

Notes on slide 1

1 Favorite