Component P1: User Research

Overview

You now have a project space, but exactly what are the problems/issues that people encounter in this context? And, how can technology help to address this problem?

This project component focuses on employing methods for understanding your potential users in the context of your project. You may choose any three methods from the IDEO methods, such as contextual inquiry, surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, etc. It is important to choose appropriate methods that complement one another -- for example, interviews could be complemented with observation. After collecting the data here, you will analyze it to develop design requirements for your system that you will use in later components.

Major Activities

  • Identify your project idea. Succinctly describe the nature of the project, how you expect your system to be used, by whom, and the context under which you expect it to be used.
  • Identify stakeholders and users. Figure out who is impacted (in one way or another) by this system -- these are stakeholders. Note that stakeholders and users overlap, but are not always the same. For example, the primary users of self-checkout at a grocery store are customers, but cashiers still make use of the system, and the owner of a grocery store (who is likely paying for its installation) is someone who cares about the system, too. Create a list of these stakeholders, and describe them (particularly the users) in terms of: how much training/experience they might have, their background knowledge, etc.
  • Conduct three user research methods. Select three user research methods from the methods we covered in class (or are in the IDEO cards) that complement one another. Justify your choice of each of these research methods in terms of why they are appropriate for your context. Conduct the methods with potential users and/or stakeholders. Make notes about your experience conducting these methods: what are your users' problems, what is their context of use, what would they like to do, etc.? Consider issues of what the use context will be (e.g. typical situations). Summarize your method, and your findings from each of these methods.

Since this is a class project, you need not to necessarily interview as many users as suggested in the literature; instead, focus on selecting good techniques, and learning something from their application. If you're not sure, talk to me long before the deadline.

  • Define design requirements. As you collect your data, look at your data together with your teammates, and compile a list of requirements for your system. Order them in terms of importance: what is absolutely important to have (must have), what should the system be able to do (should have), and what could be left for "version 2" (could have)? Identify major insights, such as where there could be major breakdowns, places where this would be used. This should be in the form of a bulleted list, labeled with the "must have"/"should have"/"could have".

When describing these requirements, describe them concretely: how often will these be done, and by whom?

Deliverable

  • Turn in a written summary document in your portoflio binder (along with the appropriate grading sheet on top). This should be a single spaced, double sided, 12 pt Times Roman document with 1" margins. Sections should be clearly labeled for each activity in this project component. This should be handed in at the beginning of the class on the day it is due. As with assignments, you have a 10 minute window from the start of class -- handing it in after this 10 minute window will result in a grade of 0.
  • Provide the following: (a) a succinct description of your project idea, how you expect your system to be used, by whom, and the context under which you expect it to be used; (b) provide a list of stakeholders, and describe them as they relate to the design of the system; (c) discuss the user research methods you used, provide justification for them, and provide a summary of your findings from each of these methods, and (d) define the basic design requirements for your system.
  • As a rough guideline, this assignment should result in a 4-6 page document. The maximum is 8 pages.
  • You should also provide an appendix of any materials used in your user research to serve as proof that you conducted the research methods. Note that these do not count against your page count, and do not need to be formatted nicely. Examples could include (but are not limited to): interview questions, raw notes from observations, photos from ethnography, survey questions, etc.

Grading Sheet

  • Ensure that your grading sheet is placed in front of the section of this component.

Resources

More insight into how to conduct certain methods