1. User Research:
Planning & Conducting

2. Learning Objectives:
At the end of this presentation, you will be able
to:
1. Set appropriate goals for user research.
2. Choose among data collection techniques.

3. Please review the next 6 slides to remember:
1. The goals of UCD (the UCD cake).
2. The major steps of the UCD process.
Before we begin:
Review UCD Process

4. 3 paradigms
Engineering: Things should work.1
Usability: and Things should be easy to use.2
User experience: and Things should be
pleasant to use.
3

5. How ?

6. User-centered
design
process
Requirements
Analysis
Conceptual
Design
Production
Launch

7. Research & Evaluation
Requirements
Analysis
Conceptual
Design
Production Launch
Identify users / user groups
Understand user goals & needs
Understand client goals & needs
Technical requirements &
limitations
Research previous versions
Research competition

8. Research & Evaluation
Requirements
Analysis
Conceptual
Design
Production Launch
Sketches
Mockups, wireframes, prototypes
Prototype evaluation
Information architecture
Brainstorming

9. Research & Evaluation
Requirements
Analysis
Conceptual
Design
Production Launch
Production
Evaluation: usability testing

10. Research & Evaluation
Requirements
Analysis
Conceptual
Design
Production Launch
Quality assurance
User problem tracking

11. iterative
process
users
Understanding usersApply process
Next
steps:

12. Understanding users
User-centered design
Understanding users is
the foundation of UCD

13. Understanding users
User-centered design
Understanding users is
the foundation of UCD
But if that is the case, then why:

14. "You can't just ask customers
what they want and then try
to give that to them. By the
time you get it built, they'll
want something new."

15. “If I had asked people
what they wanted, they
would have said faster
horses.”

16. Understanding users
User-centered design
Understanding users is
the foundation of UCD
WHY is it then a bad idea to ask
users what they want?

17. “Users are not designers.”
Jakob Nielsen

18. Who is
Jakob Nielsen??

19. Understanding users is
the foundation of UCD
It is a bad idea to ask
users what they want.
WHAT do we
ask them?!

20. What do you ask?
Ask about: Do not ask:
• Users’ general goals
• Activities related to
interest area
Difficulties,
frustrations (what’s
easy/difficult)
• What do you want?
• How would you
design it?

21. Let’s try it out
Its goal
seems to
be to
make
teachers
look
STUPID.
Meet every
teacher’s
enemy.

22. Teacher’s enemy:
How many PhDs does it take to get it
to work???!!

23. Teacher’s enemy:
Your goal:
• Make it better
• Help the teacher not look stupid

24. What user research would you
do?
What would you ask?

25. How about ask nothing, just observe:

26. How about: Ask nothing, just
observe: • What visual info does the teacher
share? How? Projector,
handouts, etc.?
• How is the teacher using the
current system? Difficulties?
What works well?
• How about the students? Can
they see well? Are they paying
attention?

27. Let’s try it out again
Your goal:
• Make a better car entertainment &
nav interface

28. What user research would you
do?
What would you ask?

29. How about: Ride with people &
observe: • How do they use existing
devices?
• What other devices do they use?
• How distracted are drivers?
• What do they want to do/know
but can’t with existing devices?
• What’s too dangerous?

30. = Observation
Observation is one of the most
valuable techniques for user
research.

31. Observation
+ Asking
questions
Contextual inquiry

32. Contextual
inquiry
Go out in the users’ context (in the field).
Observe, ask, be an apprentice. Users know
their lives best but can’t always articulate
them.

33. http://www.interaction-
design.org/encyclopedia
/contextual_design.html
Contextual
inquiry
See also:

34. However,
sometimes
observation
is not feasible
e.g.
• Long processes
– e.g. college
decision, or
buying a house
• Private,
confidential
processes

35. When contextual inquiry is not
possible, we use other
techniques for user research.

36. E.G.: How do families decide which
college children should attend?
(project: promote new degree
program)
Interview
the entire
family

37. E.G.: How do mothers pick a doctor
for their children? (project: create a
health reviews site)
Individual
Interview

38. E.G.: What do instructors need in a
course management system?
(project: improve the CN)
Focus
group

39. Summary: The major techniques for
user research are:
• Observation
• Contextual inquiry
• Interview
• Focus group

40. How about
SURVEYS?

41. Surveys can
work, too.
But we prefer in-depth qualitative
research that provides detail, nuance,
& context, not just a number.

42. In-depth qualitative research
that provides detail, nuance,
& context, not just a number
really helps to
Understand the users

43. Understanding users is the foundation of UCD.
Remember
Users are not designers.
Don’t ask users what they want.
Understand them so well that you know what
they need – sometimes better than they do.

44. Observe. Study people. Some of the best
designers are psychologists – e.g. Norman.
Remember
Main techniques for user research:
Interviewing
Contextual inquiry
Observation
Focus groups

45. Learning Objectives:
At the end of this presentation, you will be able
to:
1. Set appropriate goals for user research.
2. Choose among data collection techniques.

46. Questions?
• Review the presentation again; corroborate it
with textbook readings.
• Make a list with questions you want to ask in
class – put them in your reading notes.