Five Steps for user research

Imagine, this is what you know about me: College graduate, male, 35-45 years old, I have a Mac book pro, and an iphone 5. I use Google's Chrome browser to surf the internet. I use Weibo and blogs openly, and you can find that I like chocolate and puppies. I'm married. Driving a Toyota Corolla. I have brown hair and the same brown eyes. My credit card list shows the hotels I have booked most often and the places I like to dine out.

If your financial clients provide you with this information, can you tell them why I was just about to transfer my checks and deposits to a new bank? This seems implausible, only when drunk. But as an interactive designer dealing with user information statistics and Web site usage standards, you will face the same situation.

We can get a lot of useful information based on what the user does when they do it. Of course, that data did not answer why they did it, nor did it answer the question of how our website, products and services could be more effective in solving the user's problems. We need more relevant scenarios, and our user research provides us with more content.

We do user research to help us understand how other people live, so we can use a full, inspirational design solution to make faster feedback on their needs. The research also helps us avoid our own prejudices, because we must frequently design solutions for people who are very different from our lives.

So, how to do with research? Let me share with you a process of planning and implementation of the Frog. It is called "research and Learning spiral". This spiral was created by Erin Sanders, a senior interactive designer and design researcher. It has a clear five steps to fill your knowledge gap when you collect user information from people.

Sanders says the spiral is based on a learning process and the need for search. It is replicable and can be applied to any part of the design process. It is used to help designers to answer and understand the design of creative direction and design in the direction of the problems encountered and overcome interference.

Research and learning Spiral is a five-step guide to user Research process, by Erin Sanders in frog design invention.

The first three parts of the spiral are about system elaboration and answer questions, so you will know what you need to learn in your research process:

　　1. Target

Here are some questions we should try to answer. What do we need to know at this point in the design process? What are the gaps in knowledge we need to fill?

　　2. Imagine

These are the things we believe we already know. What is our team's vision? How do we understand our users? including their behavior and potential solutions to their needs.

　　3. Methods

These methods tell us how to fill the gaps in knowledge. Based on limited time and limited user, what method should we choose?

Once you have answered the questions above, organize a single page study plan for your shareholders, and you can start collecting the knowledge you need from the selected research methods:

　　4. Implementation

Collect data through the methods we have chosen.

　　5. The integrated

Solve our problem of using the research, confirm or overthrow our hypothesis. Explain the data we have gathered to find out what design can be done and where the hidden points are

When you interact with people, you are already using the process. Whether or not you consciously implement the research. Imagine meeting with a group of 12 clients you've never worked with. You want to know if these people have done user research before. You are sure that only one or two of them are guided by user research by you and your team. You decide to take a quick poll and then get answers to your questions, asking everyone in the room to raise their hands if they are led by user research. Five of them raised their hands. You ask them to share how they are guided by user research and to keep a short record of what they are doing. You will then incorporate this information into your next project plan.

For about a few minutes, you have answered a question through this spiral. However, when you plan and guide user research for an interactive project or product, each step of the spiral requires more time and effort, depending on the number and depth of questions you need to answer. So let's do a research using a spiral to do a deep grind. At each step of the spiral, I will share some of the activities and tools I use to help my team manage complex user research behavior plans. It will also include a sample project to analyze how these tools can support your team's user research.

I like to put my research framework issues on a post-it note so that I can sort and prioritize better. The most important issues will be translated into my research goals and appear in my research program.

　　1 Goal: The question we are trying to answer

Suppose you are in the process of creating the next-generation TV Guide for Western European audiences. Your team is talking about whether the combination of tablet and cell phone users will help them share their videos on social networks, along with their comments.

"Short film sharing", as team members call it, sounds cool, but you don't know exactly what this feature is intended for, and why users want to use it.

Drop wireframe and code writing, sit down with your team members and quickly discuss the product goals you already know and understand. To facilitate this discussion, ask your team members to prepare a set of questions to help them identify the knowledge gaps they need to fill. They'd better write these questions on a post-it note, a problem, and it's easier to manage and discuss.

These set questions are 5 "W" (WHAT, when, and so on) and an "H" (how) the structure of the beginning of the question, similar to a reporter to write a news report needs to answer some questions:

Who? (WHO) "questions help you determine the intended users of your design work, define their user information statistics, psychological statistics, and basic recruitment criteria."

What? (WHAT) "Questions tell you what users will do, what they use in your Web sites, applications, and products."

When? The question helps you decide when a user may use a particular product or technology, as well as some routine and behavioral habits that need to be explored.

where? The question helps you define user scenarios-the actual locations where users perform specific tasks or use key technologies-a potential destination on a network or device that a user might want to enter.

The question "Why (WHY)" helps you understand the underlying emotional and intellectual drivers of what users are doing, and the root cause of this.

How? (how) "questions help you understand the details of some of the steps that users take to perform a task or achieve a goal."

In less than one hours, you and your team can come up with a series of setup questions, such as:

"Who would share a short film?"

"How often does the audience share the video?"

"Why do viewers choose to share a short film?"

Discuss issues that need to be answered immediately and those that are useful for future development. "It's time to ask more ' where '," Lauren Serota, a frog creative deputy director, said, "What's the first reason viewers watch TV?" You can narrow the focus of your problem before you start research. But lateral thinking and broadening thinking are what your brain and your team should do. ”

When you have a series of good setup questions, you can prioritize and focus on the most important issues and turn them into research goals. Pay attention! Research goals are not questions. Instead, they are simple declarative sentences. For example, "Learn how users who watch TV for more than 20 hours a week in Western Europe share their favorite TV show clips." This research goal will limit your research and will appear in your one-page research plan.

Don't go beyond your goal. The types of questions you want to answer, and the sentences you turn them into your research goals, will become the scope of your team's research. A strictly defined research objective should focus on the specific tasks or goals that are prepared for users of a given product. ("Determine how often a television audience in Germany can record a program for later viewing"), an open user research goal that values users ' attitudes, behaviors and dependencies on a particular product ("Discovering how French students spend their free time"). You must reach your goal within the allotted time allocated to this research phase.

In some projects, the idea may be expressed as a number of written records, which will be referred to when selecting the method. But there are ideas that need to be built into the design framework that might be put into the research plan and be a contributing factor in the design approach.

　2. Imagine: What we believe we already know

You've identified the research goals, and you've got a potential design in your head, and your team has discussed that. Can't you realize these ideas and spread them out right now?

If that's what you think, you're not alone. All the designers have some early ideas and assumptions about their products. Some customers also have initial ideas that they want to test.

"Your thoughts often reflect your thoughts and feelings about the problems that need to be addressed, and they give impetus to the initial stage of work." "said Jon Freach,frog, a design research director. Don't be afraid to put forward these ideas and, when appropriate, integrate them into your research process to help you affirm or negate their value. This is the reason:

Materializing your vision is important for perceiving and reducing the impact of your team and your customers ' biases.

Knowing your ideas can help you choose the right way to accomplish your research goals.

You can use your initial ideas to help communicate what you have found in the research process. (We used to believe in this "inner vision", but we found this "intrinsic achievement" in our research)

It is easy to produce research ideas. Create a set of problems from the process of your argument. Everyone spends 5-8 minutes each to draw up some answers to these questions, whether it's to write your thoughts on the post-it, or sketch the design sketches, etc. Let's take an example, for example, that a short film share a guide to the next generation of TV programs, and your team members will brainstorm ideas to create the following:

Attitude related Ideas

"TV viewers who use social networks like to listen to their friends ' favorite TV shows. ”

Behavior-related assumptions

"TV viewers are only willing to share TV clips they often watch. ”

Feature related assumptions

"Viewers are more likely to share one of the most exciting parts of the interface with viewers who like to watch the show," he said. ”

　3. Method: How do we fill knowledge gaps

Once you've identified your research goals and a bunch of design assumptions, you also need to consider which research approach is appropriate to your goals. In general, in order to achieve the research objectives, I will select more than one method in the following categories to combine them for research. (Someone has written a whole book on the subject, and at the end of this article, you can find out more about user research methods and processes.) )

For example, you take time to live and work in a place where you can help build a basic understanding of their living environment and potential unmet needs.

　　Lay a good foundation

Methods in this area include surveys, field observations and interviews, market research and trend exploration. You can use these methods to conduct user research when you are not familiar with the users you set, whether they are a small group or a group of people who are moving quickly. If you can't answer these questions about your user community-where they live, what they're doing and why-then you can start by selecting ways to use them.

　Generate inspiration and ideas

Methods in this area include day-to-day research, card sorting, paper prototyping, and other participatory design activities. Once I have a good understanding of the expertise and beliefs of my users, I can begin to delve deeper into the content, features, and products that cater to their needs. These can be accomplished when potential design solutions are generated in close collaboration with the research participants, and, of course, when they are accepted in the initial design scenario.

It is worth mentioning that we can do this by creating or creating frameworks, abstract collages, rough interface examples, graphs and other types of stimulation, as well as classifying and optimizing information. These activities can help us understand how our users perceive the world, and what solutions we need to create to adapt to this view (such as "mental Model"). This helps us to answer the fixed questions of "what", "where", "when" and "how". The answers to these points are not meant to refine any rigorous design concepts or code prototypes. On the contrary, it creates new possibilities.

Usability testing methods, for example, can help us refine and improve existing design ideas, Web sites, and application designs, as well as uncover knowledge gaps that we don't think of. The above illustration shows a formal usability testing lab that has been set up, and there are many different tools for implementing similar tests, which can be measured at close range and remotely.

　Evaluation and delivery Design

Methods in this area include usability testing, heuristic evaluation, cognitive walking and paper prototyping. Once we have identified a content or function that is appropriate to the user, how do we present it to the user in a more useful and enjoyable way? I use this field to improve design proofs, simulation analysis and code prototypes. This helps us understand how users want to use the product or perform critical tasks. This feedback is critical and, as part of the iterative process, enables us to improve and improve the design concept so that it meets the needs of the user.

Let's take a look at the scenario so that you can see how your research goals and assumptions determine how your team chooses to study. Put all your ideas-I prefer to prepare at least 100 of them-in a continuum:

I like to put all my research ideas on a post-it note, and then gather them all together to identify what is proven and what is not, in different ways.

Put these ideas on the left: about who your users are, where they work and live, their goals, their needs, and so on. Put these ideas on the right: some user testing that identifies features or designs solutions. Put these ideas in the middle: you think of a number of different types of content and functionality related to the user. The job is not to classify and order the ideas that we already think of. The point is to have your team gather up these ideas and find important topics and relationships that will help you choose a particular approach. Serota said:

"Choosing and improving your approach is a design project in itself." It takes a lot of practice and time. Testing what works for your friends and co-workers is the best way to ask open questions. ”

Come back and take a look at our short film sharing study. When your team sees all the ideas you've created so far, there are two ways of doing it that are most valuable. The first approach is a participatory design activity in which you can create a timeline with users about when and where they share their favorite TV shows. This will help your team understand the basics of how the short film will be shared, and can also help you create opportunities to talk to users about the short film share.

The second approach is a paper prototyping activity where you will show the idea of how users can share a high fidelity paper prototype of a TV clip. This approach helps you focus your vision on which solution is most meaningful in sharing the scenario. (It's best to use both methods, because mixing ideas in a research section in different categories can make the participants confused.) )

When you communicate with users, you can use a variety of methods. I propose to use at least 2 methods, from listening to users sharing stories in their lives, to encouraging them to be more creative in their participation.

　4. Implementation: Collect data from the method we choose

The research project has been established and you can display your original ideas in the form. Now you have to start implementing the appropriate research methods. Your team will recruit 8 users and interview each other for three nights, one hour each. This gives you the opportunity to ask users when they want to watch TV most. Prepare some interview guidelines and motivational items, and test the draft version of the activity with your co-workers first. And then start implementing your research!

When you do these things, you make the research process easier: Get and analyze notes, photos, videos, and other materials you've collected in your research.

Serota has also had the confidence to comment: "In practice you change direction or transform something is OK, if you do not change a bit you will not learn things." "Ask yourself." Did I find something I needed to know to get there? Or did I just collect some information I already know? " If you do not add new knowledge, it may be caused by some of the following reasons:

You've got the answers to your research questions, but you don't take the time to plan new problems and ideas so you can dig deeper (or you can stop the actual research and turn it into a combination of knowledge).

You believe that the user is your target user, but in fact, not. You need to change the recruiting process (including your choice of user information statistics and psychological statistics).

Your original idea was imperfect. So you have to find ways to improve them or create more ideas.

The method you chose is not appropriate. So, adjust or change them.

You spend all your time on user research, not on balancing research and analyzing the information you find.

In the research process, our team tends to make the data we collect materialized. This can help us find fresh connections and patterns. Finally, more robust research results are usually available.

　　5. Synthesis: Answer research questions, positive or negative assumptions

Now that you've collected research data, it's time to get some knowledge to solve your research problems and improve your design goals. "In the overall phase, you're trying to find the real meaning of your data," Serota said. "This is usually a tedious process, meaning to read constantly and not to interpret value from what is seen on the surface." Often a data behind the "' Why ' is more important than what is."

The more time you use to synthesize, the more information you can extract from the research data. In the comprehensive phase, ask yourself and your team the following questions:

What am I learning?

Did what I learned change the way we initially built our research goals?

Have we confirmed or overturned our vision?

Is there a pattern in the data that provides a new design basis?

What's the meaning of what I've designed?

What kind of output is most important for us to communicate the points that have been discovered?

Do I need to change the design activities I'm going to do next?

I do not cover the knowledge gap is what, I need to study later?

So what did your team find in the research that shared the video clips? Television viewers do want to share short clips from their favorite TV shows, but they may also share them from programs they don't often watch, as long as they think the video is humorous. They share videos with friends on their social networks, but they don't want to give everyone a continuous spam message for their Facebook and Twitter subscriptions. They want to target their families, close friends, or individuals who like a specific video.

Based on the answers collected, your team should refine some of the executable discoveries and modify them into wireframes to reflect the necessary modifications. Now your team is more confident about the solution. When the features of your design have been developed, you can use a study spiral to evaluate the correctness of the existing scheme.

　　More about the practice and methods of user research

This spiral clearly tells us that user research does not simply refer to card sorting, paper prototyping, usability studies, and situational interviews. These are just the methods that researchers use to find the answers to key questions that provide fuel for their design work. But knowing which way is right for you requires some time to master these methods. These books and websites can help you explore deeper into the professional practice of user research processes and methodologies.