miLifeResearch PlanDan Saffer • Jennifer Anderson • Phi-Hong Ha • Chun-Yi Chen

Graduate Design Studio II

Our Team

• Dan SafferWith technical expertise and experience as an interaction designer, Dan will oversee and/or conduct any coding and web-related activities. Dan will also manage the blog to provide our client with weekly updates on the project.

• Jennifer AndersonWith a strong background in client relations, Jennifer will act as liaison to the client. She will also be focusing on the communication design aspect of the project.

• Phi-Hong HaInformation design is Phi-Hong’s forte, and she will lead any activities that cover this aspect, as well as product flows and usability. She will also be gathering the team’s work and creating compelling presentations for each phase of the project.

• Chun-Yi ChenHaving received a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Chun-Yi will be responsible for creating the majority of our models and drawings. She will provide especially valuable expertise in the product’s physical form.

Concept Map

Research Plan

• Who are the users for this product?

• What are their unmet needs?

• What kind of product can we create that will best suit these needs?

Questions Driving Our Research

Research Plan

User ResearchDefine a user group(s)

through a variety of traditional and adaptive research methods.

Overview

Product ResearchExamine product and

technology landscape through contextual research methods.

User Research

• In-depth Interviews• Questionnaires• Fly-on-the-Wall

Observations• Personal Artifact

Inventories• Character Profiles

Overview

User Research

• Conducted in person or over telephone, if necessary• Questions will be broad, covering topics such as:

– Technologies participant currently uses– Kinds of product and services they wish existed– Activities they engage in– When and where they want to be connected

• Participants: – Ages 18-60, primarily targeting active 18-35 yr olds– Male and Female– From diverse areas within United States– Rural, suburban, and urban regions

• Approximately 5 participants

In-Depth Interviews

User Research

• Conducted using an online program called Survey Monkey• Specific, multiple-choice versions of questions adapted from

the in-depth interviews (e.g. how many hours per day a participant uses a computer)

• Email requests, targeting roughly 100 diverse participants• Survey Monkey compiles and analyzes the data • Approximately 35-50 responses estimated

Questionnaires

User Research

• We will select three diverse public places, such as a mall, a coffee shop, and an ice skating rink

• One team member will sit for approximately two hours observing people as they interact with each other, their environments, and any technology they have at their disposal

• That team member will take notes on what transpires, and we will discuss these results as a group, looking for clues that may assist us in designing the product

Fly-on-the-Wall Observations

User Research

• Two team members will locate themselves in a public place, stopping random and varied people and asking them to show us what they carry in their purses and pockets

• We will take inventory of and photograph these artifacts, using results to identify patterns

• We will choose one or two places where we expect to find the most variety, such as a Giant Eagle, or the Waterfront

• Approximately 7 diverse people

Personal Artifact Inventories

User Research

• This activity will occur toward the end of this phase, as it will be based upon findings from the other research methods we conduct

• As we see patterns in the kinds of people who would benefit most from the miLife project, we will create imaginary individuals drawn from actual people we’ve met in the field

• We will use these characters to help drive the remaining phases of the project

• Approximately 5 profiles

Character Profiles

Product Research

• Competitive/Parallel Product Profiles

• Archival Research• Unfocus Groups• Company Research

Overview

Product Research

• We will conduct a field trip to Best Buy, as well as an online “window shopping trip” to gizmodo.com

• We will investigate related products such as PDA’s, digital cameras, and cell phones, to determine current competitive, complementary and parallel products on the market

• This inventory of products will be documented and will help to inform our archival research

Competitive/Parallel Product Profiles

Product Research

• Using the internet and the library, we will research the history of related products, upcoming technologies, and demographics of technology users

• The research will be summarized in a findings document that will inform the design process

Archival Research

Product Research

• In conjunction with the other teams, we will hold workshops based upon a pre-determined theme

• The theme will be directly related to the project, but will be somewhat broad

• We will invite interdisciplinary experts to speak to that theme in a series of short workshops, in order to come up with more innovative and inspiring designs

• We will collect data by taking notes about key points that emerge during the workshops, and how they may relate to the product

Unfocus Groups

Product Research

• We will primarily conduct this research online• We will be looking at Microsoft’s goals and trends, as well as

their existing and upcoming technologies and products• From this research, we will gain valuable knowledge about the

resources available for the development of this product, as well as the direction Microsoft would benefit from most

Company Research