2. Interaction Design process; User research: Collecting user data I Flashcards
What are some examples of Interaction Design processes? (5)
User Centred Design (UCD)
Double diamond framework
Lean UX
Design sprints
Design thinking
What are the key activities in the UCD cycle? (5)
User research - Learn about users, their needs, goals, motivations, contexts etc
Define - Design goals, requirements and constraints
Conceptual design - Create and explore high level ideas
Detailed design - Create and prototype detailed designs
Evaluation - Test and evaluate usability and UX of designs
What are the key activities of Design Thinking? (5)
More user focused
Empathise - Explore the problem and learn about users
Define - Identify key user problems
Ideate - Brainstorm lots of ideas
Prototype - Produce inexpensive versions of the product?
Test - Test (and iterate) final product
Why do we conduct user research?
To understand who users are - their needs, goals, motivations, contexts, capabilities and limitations
To understand what users do - behaviours, how they achieve their goals, pain, points and opportunities
Define design goals
Identify constraints
How can we conduct user research? (5)
Observations - e.g. direct/indirect; contextual enquiry; diary studies
Query-based techniques - e.g. interviews; questionnaires; focus groups.
Tools - e.g. User Journey Maps, Empathy maps, Storyboards, Personas
Evaluation of existing systems
Reading literature
Why involve users in the design process? (3)
We are not the user - Designers and developers are not like the end-user
There is no such thing as the “average” user
Design principles are only guidelines
How can we minimise bias when conducting user research?
Acknowledge bias and how this may affect data
Work with others to gain different perspectives
Avoid leading questions
Avoid subjective survey responses eg ‘frequently, sometimes’. Ask questions that mean the same thing for everyone eg ‘everyday, once a week’
What is “direct observation”?
Observe and watch people carrying out an activity
Really valuable to understand what people really do (rather than what they say they do)
Supplement with other techniques e.g. user interviews
Can be in the field (naturalist observation) or in the lab
What are some strengths of direct observation? (4)
Detailed - Provides detailed information
Reliable - Tells us what people actually do, not what they say they do (or what people forget to say they do)
Observable - Good for gathering information about activities that are difficult to explain
Unpredictable - Can capture unknown activities
What is “naturalistic observation”?
Observing people in the real world/ wild
Researcher does not initiate or manipulate setting
Need to think carefully about who, what, where, when?
What is a “contextual inquiry”?
Takes place in the wild
Direct observation + 121 interviews with users
How to observe for user research?
Goal - Establish purpose of observation
Framework - Select framework to guide data collection e.g. basic (who, what, where)
Data - Decide how to record data e.g. notetaking or audio recording
Ethics - Think about ethics and access
Bias - Be objective. Separate assumptions from what actually happens
What are some disadvantages of direct observation? (4)
Time consuming
Insufficient - often needs to be supplemented by other techniques
Not useful when activities are cognitive rather than observable
Bias - requires a lot of inference from researcher which can introduce bias
What are “indirect observations” / diary studies?
A method to collect data on user behaviour and experience over time
Participants self report report longitudinally (over time) via text/ photos/ audio etc
What are some strengths of indirect observations/ diary studies?
Remote - Doesn’t require researcher to be present. Useful when participants are scattered
Time - Less time consuming
Longitudinal - Good for long term studies
