user observation

User Observation

Design insights through watchingChris Bernard, User Experience Evangelist, Microsoft

How can user observation help you be more

insightful. What techniques can be used for this.

This presentation covers methods used at the

Institute of Design and with a class project that

was done for Bose.

February 2008

2 User Observation | Design Methods 04/10/23

Topics for discussion

• Our session goals

• Design methods defined

• A design methods toolkit

• A sampling of methods

• A sample application: user research

• Discussion on level of effort, skills required

• Listing of resources and where to learn more


Our goals for today’s session

• Know what design methods are and why they are valuable

• Know where they can bring extra value and differentiation to what you do

• Know where to apply them

• Know where to go to learn more about methods and the active design, development and business community that supports them


Design methods defined

The goal of design methods is to gain key insights or unique essential truths that can create more holistic solutions to improve products and services as well as create better experiences for users. Insight is derived from a process that is structured and linear but also flexible and iterative.

Source: Nate Burgos and Adam Kallish, WikiPedia


Design methods encompass a broad area that focuses on:

• Redefining the specifications of design solutions which can lead to better guidelines for traditional design activities (graphic, industrial, architectural, web, etc.);





(Incremental Innovations, Best Practices, Asset or Component-based Solutions)






• Exploring possibilities and constraints by focusing critical thinking skills to research and define problem spaces for existing products or services—or the creation of new categories;







(Breakthrough Innovations)








• Managing the process of exploring, defining, creating artifacts continually over time








• Managing the process of exploring, defining, creating artifacts continually over time

• Prototyping scenarios and solutions that incrementally or significantly address the problem



Incremental innovation

• Builds on an existing product or model

• Creates incremental improvements that can differentiate


Breakthrough innovation

• Combine multiple factors (such as product design, branding and service)

• Can create new value propositions (time savings)


Disruptive innovations

Source: Doblin Group

• Are usually ‘platform’ based and are a ‘collection’ of innovations that may fall out of the typical ‘offering’ category


What is a ‘typical’ design method process?

Source: Vijay Kumar, Institute of Design


The process is iterative



…And typically uses a toolkit-based approach



A focus on knowing users



How a toolkit is applied: Knowing users

Source: Vijay Kumar & Patrick Whitney, Institute of Design


Collecting data around insights and needs





Frameworks can be used to sort, massage and prioritize data


POEMS Framework

• The POEMS framework is a structure that classifies data against modes that can impact the object or item being created and the human factors of an individual interacting with the object or item being created.



Insights and needs to patterns



Patterns to criteria



From criteria to concepts



From criteria to concepts (Let’s not move too fast)



How can we make it relevant to what we do?

Project Vision

User Profiles & Scenarios

Feature Map

Information Architecture

Visual Design

Graphic Production

Design Style Guide

Content Assessment

Content Matrix

Content Plan / Strategy

Accessibility Review

Usability Test Plan

Usability Test Report

User Support Materials

Usability / Accessibility

Content

Visual Design



Design methods can be used to augment our traditional requirements definition in a more meaningful way and provide traceability and validation for design decisions that is more accurate than JRDs and stakeholder interviews

Project Vision

User Profiles & Scenarios

Feature Map


Visual Design

Graphic Production

Design Style Guide

Content Assessment

Content Matrix

Content Plan / Strategy

Accessibility Review

Usability Test Plan

Usability Test Report

User Support Materials

Usability / Accessibility

Content

Visual Design



Design methods can also be used to figure out the what and not just the how of solving a problem

Case Study for Bose:Enhancing the buying experience for the Personal Amplification System

Source: Chris Bernard, Institute of Design


Project topics

• Understanding of the product

• Traditional amplification

• Bose Personal Amplification (PAS)

• Understanding the customer

• Plans, methods, and analysis

• Findings

• Synthesis

• Recommendations



How the Bose personal amplification system differs from traditional amplification

Public Address or

PA speakers




Instrument Amplifiers




Monitors or Wedge

Speakers




Mixing Board





1 2 3


Protocol: Plan

Information about the consumer electronics industry and “music-based” products. BOSE

Bose background information PAS

Musicians’ experience with BOSE and PAS; strengths and weaknesses of PAS; purchasing

What do we know about musicians?

Apple store; B&O store; ABT store; Bose experience; purchasing experience; set-up experience; performing experience; experience with other musical products

What is important to musicians?

How can we better sell the Personal Amplification System to musicians?

Phase 1 - Secondary Research

Phase 2 - Primary Research

Secondary Research

Phase 3 - Analysis

Phase 4 - Synthesis

Recommendations



Protocol: Methods & analytics

• Ethnographic methods• Survey: 14 respondents

• Interview: 3 musicians

• Videotape

• Digital Camera: 4 stores Apple, B&O, ABT, Guitar Center)

• 1 household

• 1 concert

• Field Notes

• Participatory methods

• Shadowing methods



Protocol: The Journey

Areas of focus



Themes

• ‘The collector’

• ‘Worship your hero’

• ‘This isn’t art, it’s my job’

• ‘Extreme hobbyist’

• AEIOU Defined

• Activities

• Environments

• Interactions

• Objects

• Users


• ELITO Defined

• Metaphor

• Observation

• Judgment

• Value

• Concept


Themes

Key Metaphor Observation Judgments Value Concept or Criteria

Worship your hero

People buy gear because their heros or performers they like use it.

If they are a 'purist' they may reject the Bose approach outright.

Connection musicians to more musicians

Make this product what your 'hero' uses.

Some of this gear is old so they go on eBay to get it.

Adoption of the PAS may depend on age and technographic.

Flexibility, you can mimic all of your 'heros.'

Make it easier to worship.

This is stuff buy and don't rent.

Back to basics.

There is new technology that can mimic the sound of 'classic' equipment. Like the Line 6 PodXT and the Varilex Guitars.



Themes

Key Metaphor Observation Judgments Value Concept or Criteria

This isn't art, it's my job (Cynical professional or Institutional User)

People play in churches

Some people want it cheap. Money matters.

Simplicity on the equipment site/easy setup

Develop your audience

People play in schools Comes apart without tools

Portable

The PAS would be considerably easier for a new beginner.

Connect audience to musicians

Difference practice and performance environment.

Flexibility

People play Gospel



ThemesKey Metaphor

Observation Judgments Value Concept or Criteria

This isn't art, it's my job

Some people play multiple venues

Comes apart without any tools

Sound quality, clarity

Music sponsorship

Some people play multiple music genres

The artists are not in control of the traditional set up

Simplicity on the equipment side/easy set-up

Jam session in retail environment

The PAS would be considerable easier to set up for a show for a beginner

And big starts won't use it.

Portable Focus general business musicians

Musicians and audience hear two different sounds.

One system for electric and acoustic guitars.

Connecting musicians

Doesn't take up a lot of space.

Connecting audience to musicians

You can play it quiet. Connecting musicians and audience

New tech that mimic classic sound.

Audiovisual consistency/Eys and ears and harmony

Existing equipment can be too loud, vicious cycle.



ThemesKey Metaphor

Observation Judgments Value Concept or Criteria

Extreme hobbyist

People play multiple music genres

Some people are more about the technology than the music

Connecting musicians

Endorsement by the "Heros."

New technology Some people want it cheap -money matter.

Flexibility Underlying tactic/Work of mouth

Sometimes you want to mess with your gear, sometimes you want to Play!

One system for electronic and acoustic guitars

Simplicity on the equipment side/easy set-up

Jam session in specific retail environment.

Most people own as opposed to renting

Comes apart without any tools

People purchase equipment on ebay and guitar center.

You can play it quiet

New technology that can mimic classic sound

Musicians like to play around with equipment in the purchase environment



Who decides how the sound is?

• Musicians or…

• Venues (i.e ‘techs’ or sound engineers)



Who decides how the sound is?

• Is is likely that venues that targeted musicians play in will adopt this system?




• Endorsement by heroes

• Culture of having stuff




• Trust word-of-mouth

• Proprietary sound



Current retail channel

Problems:

• Current retail store is not helping consumers learn about the system

• People don't know the difference between Bose’s personal amplification system and other amplifiers



Where is the Bose amplifier?



Recommendations

Sell to the existing market by:

• Setting up demo areas

• Setting up and subsidizing practice environments

• Selling products on ebay



Set up demo areas

• Use already established distribution channel (Guitar Center)

• Educate consumers

• Improved display area to showcase and explain the Bose personal amp system

• Knowledgeable sales staff

• Try Bose system

• Demo areas to compare both systems

• Allow musicians to practice with equipment



Subsidize a practice environment

“It’s expensive to rent practice rooms, so we rent a practice room with a few other bands to split the cost and create a schedule for our practice times.”

“If one of the bands has equipment they are willing to share with the rest of the bands, they leave it in the practice room. In exchange for letting us use their equipment, they pay a smaller portion of the rent.”

Jenny Choi & Phillip Stone of Sanawan



Sell product on eBay

• Many musicians buy equipment on eBay, but do not associate Bose with guitar amps


61

Redefine your market

• The current Bose marketing strategy for the PAS is too Rock-focused.

• The culture of the Rock musician doesn’t directly relate to the nature of the Bose PAS.

• The guy in this picture is NOT the guy that would buy a PAS


62

Redefine your market

• The image of rock music is exhibited in the large speakers, large spools of wire, large sound boards—the large image of rock in general seems to have become fundamental to the artist.

• The PAS is solving the fundamental problems of unnecessarily large amounts of equipment. In doing so, it immediately pushes itself out of the marketing range of a mainstream Rock market.


63

Suggestions for how to redefine the target market:

• Major venue placement

• Major entertainment programming with musical acts

• Musical festivals (with a focus on different genres)


Summary


Design methods summary

• Design methods aren’t a replacement for your existing processes, they are a set

of techniques and methods for improving the quality of the data and insights

that go into existing artifacts we create everyday and drive the creation of

business strategy, requirements, vision, user profiles, user scenarios and

information design.



• Design methods aren’t a replacement for our existing processes, they are a set




information design.

• Design methods aren’t just for web sites or application development, they can

be used to shape and define business problems and the space in which solutions

can reside



• Design methods aren’t a replacement for our existing processes, they are a set




information design.

• Design methods aren’t just for web sites or application development, they can

be used to shape and define business problems and the space in which solutions

can reside

• Design methods (when more fully developed into our practice) can enable our

user experience team to work on a larger variety of projects and provide a new

dimension of customer value through their ability to generate tangible and

insightful solutions


So, how much does it cost?

• Design methods are a collection of techniques that can be added to any project

• Small, modest efforts for focused problems (i.e. how to improve a registration process) can be completed with 1 to 2 FTEs in 2 to 3 week in 4 to 6 days

• Moderate efforts (i.e. how to improve an online shopping cart) require 2 to 3 FTEs and can be completed in 4 to 6 weeks

• Transformational efforts that look at an entire enterprise (i.e. what business should we be in) can take 6 to 8 FTEs and require up to six months to complete


What’s the skill set?

• Individuals that have the following skills can usually pick up design methods quickly

• Interaction designers

• Information designers

• User researchers (ethnographers and anthropologists)

• Analysts

• User experience leaders

• User interaction designers and developers


Resources

• Web• Design methods in detail, Wikipedia• Design Consulting Services, IBM• Design at SAP, Hasso Plattner (Keynote)• Institute of Design• Institute of Design Strategy Conference• The D-School at Stanford• BusinessWeek Innovation Design Channel• Elito Framework• POEMS Framework• AEIOU Framework (Framework discussion around ethnography)

• Related Books• Designing for Interaction, Dan Saffer• Designing Interaction, Bill Moggridge

• Tools• IDEO, Method Cards

• …or my blog, www.designthinkingdigest.com/

user observation

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