william h. bowers – [email protected] understanding users: qualitative research cooper 4
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William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
Understanding Users:Understanding Users:Qualitative ResearchQualitative Research
Cooper 4Cooper 4
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
TopicsTopics Qualitative vs. QuantitativeQualitative vs. Quantitative Qualitative ExplainsQualitative Explains Qualitative ProvidesQualitative Provides Qualitative BenefitsQualitative Benefits Types of Qualitative ResearchTypes of Qualitative Research
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
TopicsTopics Stakeholders DefinedStakeholders Defined Stakeholder InterviewsStakeholder Interviews Subject Matter Experts (SME) Subject Matter Experts (SME)
InterviewsInterviews User And Customer InterviewsUser And Customer Interviews User InterviewsUser Interviews User Observation/Field StudiesUser Observation/Field Studies
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
TopicsTopics Literature ReviewsLiterature Reviews Competitive Audits/AnalysisCompetitive Audits/Analysis Conducting InterviewsConducting Interviews Improving on Contextual InquiryImproving on Contextual Inquiry Identifying CandidatesIdentifying Candidates Ethnographic InterviewsEthnographic Interviews
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
TopicsTopics Basic Interview MethodsBasic Interview Methods Basic Interview QuestionsBasic Interview Questions Post InterviewPost Interview Other ResearchOther Research Usability and User TestingUsability and User Testing Questions & DiscussionQuestions & Discussion
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
Qualitative vs. Qualitative vs. QuantitativeQuantitative Qualitative explainsQualitative explains Quantitative countsQuantitative counts Statistics are quantitativeStatistics are quantitative Human behavior is too complex Human behavior is too complex
for quantitativefor quantitative
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
Qualitative ExplainsQualitative Explains How existing products are usedHow existing products are used The domain for the product useThe domain for the product use
– TechnicalTechnical– BusinessBusiness– EnvironmentalEnvironmental– Vocabulary of the domainVocabulary of the domain– Social aspects of the domainSocial aspects of the domain
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
Qualitative ProvidesQualitative Provides Creditability and authority to Creditability and authority to
design teamdesign team Provide common understanding Provide common understanding
ofof– User concernsUser concerns– Domain issuesDomain issues
Empowers decision makingEmpowers decision making
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
Qualitative BenefitsQualitative Benefits FasterFaster Less expensiveLess expensive FlexibleFlexible More useful answersMore useful answers Reveals current problemsReveals current problems Identifies basic goals and current tasksIdentifies basic goals and current tasks Explains broader aspects of product Explains broader aspects of product
useuse
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
Types of Qualitative Types of Qualitative ResearchResearch Stakeholder interviewsStakeholder interviews Subject matter experts (SME) Subject matter experts (SME)
interviewsinterviews User and customer interviewsUser and customer interviews User observation/field studiesUser observation/field studies Literature reviewsLiterature reviews Competitive audits/analysisCompetitive audits/analysis
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
Stakeholders DefinedStakeholders Defined Key members of organizationKey members of organization
– ManagersManagers– EngineeringEngineering– MarketingMarketing– SalesSales– CommunicationsCommunications– Customer supportCustomer support
ExternalExternal
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Stakeholder InterviewsStakeholder Interviews Primary vision of the productPrimary vision of the product BudgetBudget ScheduleSchedule Technical constraintsTechnical constraints Business driversBusiness drivers Perceptions of usersPerceptions of users
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
Subject Matter Experts Subject Matter Experts (SME) Interviews(SME) Interviews SMEs are expert usersSMEs are expert users Knowledgeable, but not designersKnowledgeable, but not designers Necessary in specialized designsNecessary in specialized designs Access throughout the entire design Access throughout the entire design
processprocess
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User And Customer User And Customer InterviewsInterviews Customer and user may be different peopleCustomer and user may be different people Identify goalsIdentify goals Elicit frustrations with current processes Elicit frustrations with current processes
and toolsand tools Understand the purchasing decision Understand the purchasing decision
processprocess Installation, maintenance and managementInstallation, maintenance and management Domain issuesDomain issues
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User InterviewsUser Interviews
Problems and frustrations with current Problems and frustrations with current system or processsystem or process
Context of useContext of use Patterns of user behaviorPatterns of user behavior Domain knowledgeDomain knowledge Understanding of current goals and Understanding of current goals and
taskstasks
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
User Observation/Field User Observation/Field StudiesStudies People are inaccurate in self People are inaccurate in self
descriptiondescription Observation is crucialObservation is crucial Video and audio taping can be usefulVideo and audio taping can be useful
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
Literature ReviewsLiterature Reviews Product or domain specificProduct or domain specific Existing versions or competing Existing versions or competing
productsproducts Marketing materialsMarketing materials Existing researchExisting research White papersWhite papers Business and industry journalsBusiness and industry journals Trade publicationsTrade publications
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Competitive Competitive Audits/AnalysisAudits/Analysis Examine existing productsExamine existing products Failed approaches or productsFailed approaches or products Expert/user reviews of competing Expert/user reviews of competing
productsproducts
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Conducting InterviewsConducting Interviews Master/apprentice modelMaster/apprentice model ContextContext PartnershipPartnership InterpretationInterpretation FocusFocus
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Improving on Contextual Improving on Contextual InquiryInquiry Keep it shortKeep it short Use smaller design teamsUse smaller design teams Identify goals firstIdentify goals first Look beyond business contextsLook beyond business contexts
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
Identifying CandidatesIdentifying Candidates Get a diverse sample of usersGet a diverse sample of users Persona hypothesisPersona hypothesis
– What sort of people are the users?What sort of people are the users?– How might their needs and How might their needs and
behaviors vary?behaviors vary?– What ranges of behaviors are there?What ranges of behaviors are there?– What is the range of environments?What is the range of environments?
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
Identifying CandidatesIdentifying Candidates Based on behavior, not Based on behavior, not
demographicsdemographics Vary by product typeVary by product type Business users are different than Business users are different than
consumersconsumers Business roles frequently map to Business roles frequently map to
jobsjobs
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Identifying CandidatesIdentifying Candidates Consumer roles map to lifestylesConsumer roles map to lifestyles Identify behavioral variablesIdentify behavioral variables Domain vs. technical expertiseDomain vs. technical expertise Environmental considerationsEnvironmental considerations
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Ethnographic InterviewsEthnographic Interviews Gets stakeholder involvementGets stakeholder involvement Early phase interviews are Early phase interviews are
exploratoryexploratory Mid-phase interviews identify Mid-phase interviews identify
patterns of usepatterns of use Late-phase interviews confirm Late-phase interviews confirm
observationsobservations
William H. Bowers – [email protected] H. Bowers – [email protected]
Basic Interview MethodsBasic Interview Methods Interview where the action isInterview where the action is Avoid a fixed set of questionsAvoid a fixed set of questions Use goal related questionsUse goal related questions
– OpportunityOpportunity– GoalsGoals– PrioritiesPriorities– InformationInformation
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Basic Interview Basic Interview QuestionsQuestions System oriented questionsSystem oriented questions
– FunctionFunction– FrequencyFrequency– PreferencePreference– FailureFailure– ExpertiseExpertise
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Basic Interview Basic Interview QuestionsQuestions Workflow oriented questionsWorkflow oriented questions
– ProcessProcess– Occurrence and recurrenceOccurrence and recurrence– ExceptionException
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Basic Interview Basic Interview QuestionsQuestions Attitude oriented questionsAttitude oriented questions
– AspirationAspiration– AvoidanceAvoidance– MotivationMotivation
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Basic Interview MethodsBasic Interview Methods Goals first, tasks secondGoals first, tasks second Don’t let the user designDon’t let the user design Don’t discuss technologyDon’t discuss technology Encourage storytellingEncourage storytelling Ask for demonstrationsAsk for demonstrations Avoid leading questionsAvoid leading questions
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Post InterviewPost Interview Meet with other team membersMeet with other team members Compare notesCompare notes Identify and discuss trendsIdentify and discuss trends Review old notesReview old notes Create a binder and file interview Create a binder and file interview
notesnotes
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Other ResearchOther Research Focus groupsFocus groups
– Standard technique in product Standard technique in product marketingmarketing
– Good at eliciting product informationGood at eliciting product information– Weak at describing how products Weak at describing how products
are usedare used– Tend towards consensus in groupsTend towards consensus in groups
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Other ResearchOther Research DemographicsDemographics
– AgeAge– EducationEducation– IncomeIncome– LocationLocation
Market segmentationMarket segmentation
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Usability and User Usability and User TestingTesting Focus on measurable Focus on measurable
characteristicscharacteristics Requires a design artifactRequires a design artifact Effective at testingEffective at testing
– NamingNaming– OrganizationOrganization– First time useFirst time use– EffectivenessEffectiveness
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Questions & DiscussionQuestions & Discussion