3. User research for AR and VR:
A growing toolkit
● Usability testing
● Remote usability testing
● Motion tracking
● Eye tracking
● Quantitative surveys
● Interviews
○ Open-ended
○ Directed
● Observation
● VR as a setting for user
research
5. Why use qualitative data?
● Strength in small numbers
● Depth and nuance
● Generating new questions
● Find opportunities for future research and development
● Discover market opportunities
6. Why use qualitative data?
● Find mismatches between designer & user expectations
● Understand the range of abilities, attitudes,
expectations people will bring to an experience
● “Reality check” that helps drive design for users
● Some will call the above “empathy”
9. The user researcher’s mindset
● Curious about people as unique individuals
● Finding patterns in expectations, attitudes, and
behaviors
● Understanding the meaning of what people do
● Work collaboratively to translate findings into next steps
for development
10. The #1 Priority:
Step back from your
own investment in the
product to genuinely
listen to people.
12. Two techniques for qualitative user research
Open-ended interviews
● Guided by protocol
● No predetermined answers
● Information gathered guided
by rapport with participant
Participant observation
(Ethnography)
● “Naturalistic” observation
● Range from hands-off
observation to interactive and
cooperative exploration
13. Open-ended interviews: Strategies
● Questions address topics/themes of interest but do
NOT invite specific responses
● Questions address an overarching research question
● Questions answered through organic conversation,
rapport
● Go deep rather than broad
14. Open-ended interviews: Tactics
● LISTEN
● Start with questions about “what” and “how”
○ Follow up with questions about “why”
● Ask for examples, more information, demonstrations
● Propose connections between different comments
16. Ethnographers excel at studying
“the imponderabilia of everyday life”
- Bronislaw Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western
Pacific, 1922
17. Participant observation: Strategy
● Approach research with a “research question”
○ Why do people come to a virtual reality cinema?
● Initial findings may produce more specific questions
○ Why do people come to a VR cinema in groups?
○ What experiences do people prefer based on their purpose for
coming?
18. Participant observation: Tactics
● DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT
○ Notes, audio recordings, video, photos, or a combination
● Often combined with interviews or demographic survey
● Helpful to plan “stages” of research to respond to
surprises along the way
20. Understanding qualitative data
● Data will be heterogeneous
○ Multiple formats: otes, photos, video, audio, etc
○ Each participant will answer slightly differently
● Analysis will start out frustrating, become rewarding as
patterns become clear
21. Understanding qualitative data
● Qualitative data analysis is time-consuming
● Multiple methods for analysis
○ Tech tools to find and document patterns: Atlas.ti, pivot tables,
automated transcription software, Airtable
○ Design research methods: sticky notes for thematic analysis
○ Thematic analysis by hand: searching for “ethnographic
moments” in the data
22. Thanks for
learning with us!
Danya Glabau, PhD
Implosion Labs, LLC
Brooklyn, NY
danya@implosionlabs.com
Implosionlabs.com