how we do research and product design sprints

USER RESEARCH SPRINT 1What products should we develop? Why should we develop them? And do we really have to develop them?

OBJECTIVES• Develop a new version of our web and mobile applications

that would support the ecosystem of devices in our roadmap

• Understand the habits, deeper underlying motivations and pain points of people who would actually use our products

• Mitigate the risk of incurring design waste by testing the efficacy and general usability of a prototype on actual people before committing to a full effort

• Mitigate the risk of incurring development waste by making sure we develop features our target market actually need and want

THE TRENDY WAY OF DOING THINGS

HOW IT REALLY PLAYS OUT

HOW THINGS SHOULD BE DONE

METHODOLOGY

THIS IS HOW WE GON’ ROLL• We’re using a modified version of Google Ventures’ 4-day Research Sprint

• We seek to build a massive list of potential interviewees

• Interview 10 users on the initial research sprint

• Test prototypes on 5 users

• Interview 5 users for each subsequent sprint (hat tip: Jakob Nielsen)

• Nominate features that should be included in the MVP

• Argue violently with the solutions architect on whether or not some of the nominated features are feasible

• Design low-fidelity prototypes like our lives depend on it (1 day!)

• Create a “good enough” prototype

• Test with actual users

• Rinse, Repeat

USER INTERVIEWS

SETTING THE STAGE• Define the properties of an “ideal” interviewee (i.e.

18-35, active, technologically ‘comfortable’)

• Post a Call for Interviewees ad on relevant networks

• Screen candidates using an Interview Screener

• Weed out candidates who may end up potentially biased or exhibit a proclivity for focusing on the wrong things.

• Deciding on an incentive

INTERVIEW DAY• understand how tasks beginning from when a user plans a

workout to what she does after and in between workouts are interrelated to form cohesive stories

• Identify common user pain points

• Consider user-generated solutions

• Identify how users prioritize biometric data being tracked

• Get insights on how users expect to use their recorded activity data to answer the “Now what?” and “So what?” questions.

“To start, we asked every participant to remember the last time they participated in their activity. This accomplishes a couple of things: one is that their memory of the event would be fresh enough and, two, there’s a chance that what they previously did would be a good reflection of what they usually do.”

Ain’t nobody got time to reinvent the

wheel

FINDINGS

Experience designers typically turn to journey maps to get a ‘big picture’ view actions, thoughts and feelings involved in existing

products or services. We are far from typical.

DOING, THINKING & FEELING• We created a visual map of how a typical user activity might look

like based on the insights and pain points we captured from our user interviews, competitive research, from reading published product reviews and from perusing published academic papers.

• Layering together “Doing”, “Feeling” and “Thinking” contexts, we identified points in the journey that may turn into valuable touch points for our product. (i.e. “I’m so tired, how far away am I from the workout goal I set?” <> Checking distance on her wearable)

• We review the same contexts and identify “Feature-worthy” points. (i.e. “Am I drinking enough fluids right now to mitigate the risk of cramping” <> Hydration tracking)

ACTIVITY PHASES

Preparation Activity Post-Activity In-Between

• Scheduling • Goal-Setting • Conditioning • Gear setup

• Warming up • Start tracking • Begin Activity • Mid-Activity • Almost done

with activity

• Cooling down • Checking Stats • Sharing Stats

and other media

• Monitoring Nutrition

• Going about her day

• Reviewing progress

• Seeking knowledge

PREPARATION

The preparation phase is typically composed of all the actions done by the user before going out for their set activity (which, in most cases during the interview, relates to running). Being able to set a schedule for their run, knowing what route to take, the total distance to be tackled, as well as being sufficiently hydrated and geared up all takes place during this phase.

PREPARATION PHASEWhat the Person is Doing

Scheduling Goal-Setting Conditioning Gear Setup

What the Person is Thinking

“I wonder what the temperature is going to be?”!“Do I have room in my schedule?”!“Is the weather conducive to my activity?”“What route should I take?”

“What distance should I run?”!“What pace should I keep?”“How long should I run?”“Can I beat my personal record?”

“How many liters of water should I drink/bring?”!“Do I carbo load before I run?”

“Do I have everything prepared?”!“What music should I listen to during my run?”!“How do I set up my gadget/app?”

What she’s Feeling Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral

KEY INSIGHTS - PREPARATION• That most runners have to schedule their training activity in juxtaposition with

their job. That being said, scheduling could prove to be a problem.

• Most emphasize that being hydrated and sleeping for at least 7-8 hours before the activity is important during their performance.

• One key hindrance for runners not being able to train is their mood before participating in the activity. One stressed that being tired after work greatly affects whether or not he could train.

• Multiple interviewees claim to create a music playlist as early as a day before working out. They also claim that they actively curate this play list.

• Being able to tell the weather and temperature also plays a factor on whether or not the participant would train.

• Several use maps to set his course, distance and route while preparing for a run.

ACTIVITY PHASE

This particular phase covers everything from the participant being on the track, warming-up for their activity, until the end of their run. Note that we’ve separated running into three, sub-phases as we found that runners tend to run at different intervals and/or paces.

Also, the question of fatigue comes in; and as such, even though the runner is practically doing the same activity, the level, intensity, and emotions of the runner are different from when she started, while she’s running, and right before she stops running.

ACTIVITY PHASEWhat the Person is Doing

Warming Up Begin Tracking Start Running Still Running Almost Done

What the Person is Thinking

“How’s my resting heart rate?”!“Did I stretch enough?”!Am I hydrated enough?”

“Is my device/app working?”!“Is my GPS tracking me?”!“Should I turn on my music?”

“Is my form correct?”!“Am I comfortable with my current pace?”!“Am I comfortable with my breathing?”

“How far am I in relation to my goal?”!“Is my pace quick enough?”!“Is my heart rate ok?”!“Am I following my intervals correctly?”!“Am I rehydrating enough?”

“Can I stop now?”!“Am I going to get cramps now?”!“How far til I finish?”!“How’s my pace?”!“Is my heart rate still ok?”!“Do I need water?”

What she’s Feeling Neutral Neutral Positive Positive Negative

KEY INSIGHTS - ACTIVITY PHASE• Runners have different views on warm ups. Some perform dynamic

stretching, others do static, while there are also some that don’t stretch at all.

• Hydration is also a key component of this phase.

• Most runners tend to emphasize that being able to check up on their heart rate, total distance covered, pace, intervals, and speed during and after their runs are important.

• Interval running, or more esoterically known as the Galloway Method, is a common training program amongst runners. That being said, being able to track their pace at different speeds throughout a set amount of time is of value to them.

• Some interviewees set their music playlist (through her phone) to dictate her pace as well as the total duration of their run.

POST-ACTIVITY

This is the phase immediately after the user’s run. Cooling down, assessing their progress, as well as sharing stats and media through social media are one of the common denominators among the interviewees.

POST-ACTIVITY PHASEWhat the Person is Doing

Cooling Down Checking Stats Sharing Stats

What the Person is Thinking

“What heart rate should I maintain? !“How long should I cool down?”“Should I drink more water?”

“Did I beat my personal record?”“How far did I go?”“Did I improve?”“How long did it take to complete my run?”“How does my performance affect my mood?”

“Do I share my stats?” !“Do I attach a picture?” !“Where would I share it?”

What she’s Feeling Positive Varies Varies

KEY INSIGHTS - POST ACTIVITY• Users who have devices/apps find it hard to establish

actionable insights on the stats given to them by their device. They fail to answer the “So what?” and “What now?” questions.

• This is the phase where users would immediately share their achievements through social media. Photos play a huge part in this phase

• Activity wise, the “Checking Stats” sub-phase is where the user would establish their mood and opinion on the outcome of their training. As such, the “feeling” of the user would largely differ according to the outcome of their stats.

IN BETWEEN ACTIVITIES

This is the phase where the user is “inactive” (i.e. not engaged in a workout). This could be while they are at work, or at home, etc. When asked about anything activity-related actions they perform during this phase, most of the time the users would answer that they just watch their weight, what they eat, log their stats, and sometimes research more about their training program.

Note that this phase sits between post-activity and the preparation phase.

IN BETWEEN ACTIVITIES PHASEWhat the Person is Doing

Dieting or Nutrition Going About My Day Reviewing Stats Research

What the Person is Thinking

“Am I consuming enough to keep me healthy?” !“Am I at a healthy weight range?”

“Am I being active enough?”

“How is my overall progress?” !“Should I exert more effort in my next run?” !“Should I adjust my training program?” !“Should I up the ante?”

“How can I improve?”

What He’s Feeling

Neutral Neutral Varies Neutral

KEY INSIGHTS - IN BETWEEN ACTIVITIES• Nutrition tracking varies according to the goals of the user. Those

who participate in running activities for the sake of weight loss emphasize on cutting out carbs from their diet while others who are already physically fit emphasize on maintaining (if not improving) their physical status and do not worry too much about nutrition

• Those who are training for a race event place importance on still being active even if they are not in a “training” environment.

• While reviewing stats, there are some users who report on utilizing different apps and sites just to record their data. Some even use personal logbooks. The reason for this is that there is no single site or app that could consolidate the biometric data they track nor could a single site extract insight from them.

WHAT’S NEXT?

IDENTIFY CRITICAL UI SCREENS TO TEST (NOMINATE FEATURE CANDIDATES & VIOLENTLY ARGUE WITH SA)

Hat tip: Ryan Singer/ 37Signals

LOW-FI SPEED ROUND

“GOOD ENOUGH” PROTOTYPING

TEST PROTOTYPE ON REAL USERS

EVALUATE, RINSE, REPEAT

FEATURE CANDIDATES SPECS REDACTED FROM PUBLISHING