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User Research

User Research. HCDE 518 & INDE 545 Winter 2012. With credit to Jake Wobbrock, Dave Hendry, Andy Ko, Jennifer Turns, & Mark Zachry. Agenda. Announcements Lecture & Discussion – Design Methods Break – 5 mins Lecture & Discussion – CI & Ethnography Next class. Announcements.

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User Research

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  1. User Research HCDE 518 & INDE 545 Winter 2012 With credit to Jake Wobbrock, Dave Hendry, Andy Ko, Jennifer Turns, & Mark Zachry

  2. Agenda • Announcements • Lecture & Discussion – Design Methods • Break – 5 mins • Lecture & Discussion – CI & Ethnography • Next class

  3. Announcements • P0, R1, R2 graded • A1 shortly • This Wednesday – no class meeting • Group work day • A2 deadline extended to next Monday • Next week is normal (I hope!)

  4. Design Methods

  5. Observing People • What do we “see”? • Opportunities for new designs • Breakdowns • Workarounds • Mismatches between what users say and do

  6. Relying on what users say • Can we rely on what users say about what they want in a new design? • Very carefully • Henry Ford: “If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse." • It is better to watch what they do than to go only on what they say • Mismatches may hold keys to new designs

  7. Users’ words are unreliable • People are notoriously bad at predicting what they would use or would prefer when it is only hypothetical • They can much better respond to actual, concrete things, or make comparisons • This highlights the importance of observation and of prototypes

  8. Users can however… • Tell you what they are doing right now • Tell you how they are feeling right now • Tell you what their goal is right now

  9. IDEO Method Cards • Available from William Stout publishers ($49)

  10. LEARN from the facts you gather

  11. LOOK at what users really do

  12. ASK users to help

  13. TRY it yourself

  14. Triangulation • All user research techniques have their own limitations • Use multiple techniques to fully understand a design scenario • Choose techniques that account for the weaknesses of each other • Choose techniques to cover both a breadth and depth of the user experience

  15. Design Activity – 10 minutes • Using the Method Cards, come up with two methods that could be useful in each of the following contexts, and two that would not be useful for the following design question. Make sure they triangulate! • How can cell phones help older adults communicate with their young grandchildren over a distance? • Cards: • http://courses.washington.edu/hcde518/readings/IDEOMethodCards.pdf • http://courses.washington.edu/hcde518/readings/IDEOMethodCards.pptx

  16. What did you come up with?

  17. A2 – Look, Learn, Ask, Try • Similar to what you just did! • You’ll be given 3 design scenarios and you’ll be asked to come up with 4 methods that would be appropriate and 1 that would not • How can a new system support communication for emergency room nurses? • How can a mobile system help long-distance bicyclists to find restaurants and amenities? • How can a video game help educate kids in Grades 1-5 on healthy eating • You’ll be asked to explain your choices • Due next Monday (1/30)

  18. Diana’s Discussion Questions • 1.     Is it better to start with looking, asking, learning or trying? • 2.     Which method(s) from the 51 cards best addresses the appearance of an artifact? • 3.     Which method(s) from the 51 cards best addresses the culture of a population? • 4.     What method(s) is less time consuming? In general, how much time does a designer needs to save for this phase? • 5.     Methods like surveys are easy to mass distribute, whereas interviews are more difficult to obtain. How meaningful is the information from one another?

  19. Diana’s Discussion Questions • 6.     If design shapes human experience, why not let the user come up with the first prototype? Wouldn’t that say more about how they perceive the product? • 7.     Goals like organic work flow cannot always be achieved. From the four orders of design, what should take priority? • 8.     When does the designer develop the working hypothesis? (That is, what kind of research is originally done?) • 9.      How does thinking of technology as systematic thinking differ to thinking of it as products? • 10.  Most of the reading seem to describe ideal processes for knowing people and designing, why are they not followed?

  20. Break – 5 minutes

  21. P1 – Due Monday, Feb. 8th • Define stakeholders • Choose and execute 3 user research techniques (make sure they complement each other) • Cannot be from the “Try” category • Define design requirements • Create personas • Re-visit design question

  22. Ethnography • Observational science attempts to understand a group or individual objectively • Understand the subject of study from the outside in a way that can be explained to “anyone” • Generate “thick description” painting a vivid holistic picture • Ethnography attempts to understand a group or individual phenomenologically • Understand the subject of study as the subject of study understands himself/herself

  23. Design Ethnography • Quicker than traditional ethnography • Usually days, weeks, or months, not years • Sometimes called “concurrent ethnography” • The ethnography is being done at the same time that design is under way • Goal is to generate insights for informing inspiring design • Translating from raw field data to design ideas can be difficult

  24. Four Ethnographic Principles

  25. Natural Settings • Conducted in the setting of the participant • Focus on naturally occurring, everyday talk and action • Cannot use laboratory or experimental settings to gather this type of data

  26. Holism • Behavior can only be understood in its larger social context • That is, holistically

  27. Descriptive • Study how people actually behave, not how they ought to behave • Defer judgment • Data is not usually quantitative, but qualitative

  28. Subjects' Point-of-View • See through participants' eyes in order to grasp how they interpret and act in their world • Phenomenological

  29. Personal Example • Studying autism therapists • Trained to be a therapist, acted as one for 6 months • Immensely helpful ingaining trust and accessto users • Could easily test outprototypes

  30. Contextual Inquiry • What does context refer to?

  31. Key Concepts • “The users cannot describe what they really do because they are not conscious of it and do not reflect on it.” • “The core premise of Contextual Inquiry is very simple: go where the customer works, observe the customer as he or she works, and talk to the customer about the work. Do that, and you can’t help but gain a better understanding of your customer.”

  32. Principles of Contextual Inquiry • Context • Must be done in the setting of the participant • Partnership • Master/apprentice model; investigator is humble • Interpretation • Observed facts must be regarded for their design implications. Raw facts without interpretation aren't very useful • Focus • Themes that emerge during the inquiry. You can't pay attention to all facets of someone's work at all times!

  33. Master/Apprentice • You are the apprentice • The informant is your master • What does this relationship imply? • Keen observation • Unafraid to ask questions • Eager to learn • Admire the master • Aspire to see the world as they do • Adopting the master/apprentice model during your CI will mean you don't have to pre-prepare a set of interview questions • Reduces pressure to “get it right.”

  34. Interviewing in CI • Go for concrete details obtained in-context, not abstract generalities • Don't ask participants to summarize their work • Ask them specific details about real, concrete, observable things • Have them “think aloud” as they work through their tasks • Pepper them with short, easily answerable questions • Avoid high-level philosophical questions that will just cause them to “talk” instead of “do”

  35. Interpretation Checking • It is good to regularly check your interpretations • “I saw you just do X. Is that because of Y?” • “I believe X. Is that correct?” • “If you had a technology that did X, would that solve the problem we just encountered?” • As long as you check your interpretations in context, participants will respond accurately • Outside of context, they may be more inclined to agree or answer in generalities rather than specifics

  36. Ways to Mess Up a CI • Not being inquisitive/nosy enough • If you have the impulse to ask, do it right away! • Overly disrupting the task • Questions are great, but don’t ask so many so fast that the participant stops doing their tasks. • Turning it into a regular interview • If you could have done it in a coffee shop, you didn’t do a contextual inquiry. • Failing to be discrete • Participants must feel safe, free, and anonymous. • Failing to respect your participants • Failing to observe closely and take good notes • Over-focusing on the wrong details • Slipping into abstraction • Keep it concrete, in the work, in the details.

  37. Summary • The Design Cards, Design Ethnography, and CI are all ways of understanding your users’ goals and needs better • Focus on: • Understanding what they’re trying to accomplish • How they do it now • What works • What doesn’t work -> Design opportunity! • More info -> See backup slides

  38. Siri’s Questions • https://catalyst.uw.edu/gopost/conversation/jkientz/599293

  39. Case Studies • Huang & Truong • Questionnaire and Interviews • Focus on understanding how and why people dispose of their old mobile phones • Identify design opportunities • Tee, Brush, & Inkpen • Interviews, family trees • Understand ways that families currently communicate • Identify design opportunities

  40. Next Class Topics • Wednesday, January 25th • No class lecture – group work time • Monday, January 30th • Personas • Discussant - Patrick • Upcoming Work • Get started on P1 user research! • A2, R4

  41. Group Project time

  42. backup

  43. Data Recording Approaches • Notes • Notes + still camera • Notes + Audio • Notes + Audio + still camera • Video What are the advantages and disadvantages to each of these?

  44. Interviews Purpose: Collect detailed information about tasks, activities, technologies. Understand the why behind activities, rather than the what. Suitable for relatively small number of people (5 – 30) - Shoot for ~12 to reach data saturation, though not always feasible

  45. Interviews • UnstructuredBroad questions concerning some general area • StructuredNarrow questions concerning specific area • Semi-structuredBalance between broad/narrow questions • Focus groupsGroup discussion around a topic

  46. Creating an Interview Guide • Who do you need to interview and why? • Demographic questions • Open questions • Closed questions • Activities • Sketching • Demonstrations • Reliability and validity • Be careful about leading questions

  47. Running an Interview 0. Recruitment • Introduction • Warm up session • Main session • Cool-off period • Closing session

  48. Example – Huang & Truong • https://courses.washington.edu/hcde518/readings/MobilePhoneInterviewProtocol.pdf

  49. Questionnaires/Surveys • Purpose: Deepen understanding by collecting information from a broad range of people • Suitable for large number of people • 20 – 1,000+

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