lecture to 3rd year new media students: university of leeds
DESCRIPTION
Lecture delivered on 15th October 2014 for the Final Project module of the New Media degree. Focused on exploring opportunities and ideas for students to address on their final year project. Highlighting how user research techniques can help to understand who their users are/will be, and how to design a project that meets user needs and delivers high impact.TRANSCRIPT
Hello, I’m Ana. (New Media, COMM3710 - 15th October 2014)
@anaceciliaboman www.feedmefeedback.me
“The importance of designing the right thing before designing the thing right.”
Today.
how I got here my final year project user research + 4 tools questions
How i got here.
Porto, Portugal
2006-2007
Leeds, UK
unruly.co
Hyper Island
ceciliaishyper.tumblr.com
IDEO
Bruce Mau Design
Isaac Pinnock
Made By Many
customers need it grows the business
the right productgrow markets with
48 people
14 designers
16 developers
8 strategists
L O N D O N N E W Y O R K&
10 producers
people technology+
people
technology+
3 ‘real world’ projects.
(not by me!)
Push for Pizza app
Resident Cab driver
City mapper
Airbnb
customers need it grows the business
the right productgrow markets with
Approaching user research
user research
is about
listening, observing
and being empathic
user research
is about
identifying user needs
and challenges
user research
is about
creating experiments
to test your hypothesis
user research
is about
revealing opportunity
spaces
User research in product development
VISION AND DISCOVERY
PROTOTYPING PRODUCTION LAUNCH AND SCALE
Establish vision and explore opportunities
Refine proposition and business model
Iterate towards market ready
product
Launch and grow in market place
Depth interviews, desk research, day in the life
Workshops, guerrilla testing
Measure analytics, usability testing, depth interviews
Surveys, usability testing
LEARN MAKE TEST
In 2010 Skype came to us and asked us to design a digital marketing campaign around teachers using
Skype in innovative ways in their classrooms.
image credit: www.engagethelearner.net
“Err… well, what if we could make Skype more useful for teachers?”
Existing teacher behaviour
Interviewed pioneer teachers
1 2 3
654
Testing early ideas with teachers
Finding other classes to Skype
with was the biggest challenge
for teachers.
Start with where you can
provide the most value.
A destination for telling PR stories about some of the amazing teachers using Skype around the world
A destination for telling PR stories about some of the amazing teachers using Skype around the world
A platform building long-term value for the brand by making Skype even more useful for teachers
‣ Don’t build things just because you can. (Yo Pizza)
‣ Design for sustainability - products should be here for the long run.
‣ Are you addressing the right problem? (Skype)
‣ Find out how you’re going to deliver the most value.
‣ The best user researchers are great detectives at heart.
‣ Purpose of research changes as your objectives change.
Quick recap so far.
User research tools1. Depth interviews 2. Day in the life 3. User journeys 4. Experience prototyping
1. Depth interviewsUseful to: get to know your users. Discover
latent needs, perceptions, values, opinions,
explicit and concealed information,
interactions and idea inspiration.
• Find the right people to talk to
• Create a discussion guide for your interviews
• Take notes or record the interview
• Highlight interesting emotions/quotes on the fly
• Start with broader topics
• Use open ended questions
• Be neutral, don’t influence your interviewees
Checklist
2. User journeyUseful to: understand major touch
points of an existing or new service,
from the point of view of the user.
Aware Join Pay Advocate Exit
How can we help?
email: Submit
Hello We've received a request for support on Macmillan Skype Buddy. To get started, please confirm your email address.
From: Bobby
Click here
Joan
Hello! Tell us a little about yourselfyour age
Your first name
male female
Other information
Joan
Subject: Macmillan newsletter
www.skype-mamcillan.com
Get support
Submit
User ID +
Age, Sex +
Info, Name +
Request
Data
Email +
Request
Data
www www
Discovery Request Authenticate Profile
Volunteer farming
Hello Karen, We received a request for help from a lady called Joan. She’s 65 years old. Here’s what she needs:
🕑
Karen Lucy Gary
Are you able to speak with her?
Click here
Not right? Help us match you with the most suitable people.
User ID +
Requester ID +
Open time +
Response time action
Data
I can help Not for me
To confirm that you can help Joan, please click the link below.
From: Bobby
www
www
Confirm
www
Thank you. We’ve notified Joan that you can help.
✓
3. ‘Day in the life’Useful to: understand a user through a typical day in their life. Detect behavioural habits (e.g. technological) and help inform the design process by observation of real activities.
Helpful to illustrate how a users time is assigned to various activities.
Katy’s day in the life highlights: !• Retired, filling spare time with lots of activities: zumba • Has a share on a narrowboat - close to community • Regular outdoor activities: gardening and dog walking • Good friends with other ‘Skype grannies’ via Facebook • Regularly organises to meet up friends through SMS
Understand how your idea might fit into peoples’ lives.
!
Understand how peoples’ lives might influence your idea.
4. Experience prototypingUseful to: see what it's like to 'use' a service and what it's like to 'be' the service. Appreciate the complexity of the users needs and how difficult they are to meet.
*Don’t be too precious. !
If you put too much design into a prototype people will focus on the design rather than the interaction. !
Time for obsessing over layout, type choices and colour palette does not exist.
Prototypes should be low fidelity, tangible and quick to make.
Here are some examples of real world prototypes used to simulate an experience. !
They are not just telling a story, they are giving us an experience.
PAPER PROTOTYPE
PAPER PROTOTYPE WEBPAGE
ON LAND
ON LAND ON WATER
PARABOLIC FLIGHT
PARABOLIC FLIGHT ISS
All of these examples give users a taste of an experience of something to come.
Experience prototyping is:
• About creating an experienceable event • A rapid learning/refinement technique • A way to see if you’re on the right track • Simulations, not stories
Recap: user research tools1. Depth interviews 2. Day in the life 3. User journeys 4. Experience prototyping
To give yourself the greatest chance of success, you need to understand who you are designing for.
Design the right thing, before designing the thing right.
Useful links + reading !!Designing with users: http://madebymany.com/blog/designing-with-users-an-exercise-in-empathy !5 tips on conducing depth interviews: http://madebymany.com/blog/5-thoughts-on-conducting-in-depth-interviews !UX research - a manual http://boxesandarrows.com/ux-researcher-a-users-manual/ !Project charter: http://www.isixsigma.com/tools-templates/project-charter/six-sigma-project-charter-vital-control-document/ !Google Ventures - the research sprint: http://www.gv.com/lib/the-gv-research-sprint-a-4-day-process-for-answering-important-startup-questions !User research methods wiki, by Government Digital Service: https://userresearchmethods.hackpad.com/Welcome-to-User-Research-Methods-Wiki-S0j1jM7vrcp !A List Apart - great blog about designing and developing for the web with users; http://alistapart.com/
Help us understand user behaviour by tracking touch points.
Tell us what is happening, not why.
Analytics tools
google analytics kiss metrics mix panel
FACEBOOK + ITV EXAMPLE
