TOPICS  

User Research

Uncovering a viable problem space

Introduction

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Types of research

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Research methods

01. Card sorting

Card sorting by Nikki Anderson. Source

A simple tool to help understand how people think about groups, concepts, and categories.

Participants organize a set of pre-determined cards into categories, talking aloud as they do so. You can either establish the categories beforehand ("closed sorting"), or let the participants determine the categories during the activity ("open sorting").

Tip: It's helpful for the designer to moderate the activity, encouraging the participant to think aloud (ask questions, like "did any card not fit into any category? Was it hard to sort any of the cards?"). The discussion is often where you'll pull the best insights from.

Tip: This can be a cheatcode for determining information architecture – mapping your product's content to people's expectations is good practice.


02. Cultural probes

Cultural probe by Catherine Legros. Source

A set of open-ended activities to inspire conversations and insights.

Cultural probes are a technique best used for inspiration when designing for unfamiliar groups. They often take the form of kits containing objects and tasks that participants engage with and complete over time, returning the kits at some point to be analyzed by designers. It is a very loose technique meant to be inspirational at the early stages of the design process.

They're tools for gathering data about people's values and lives–so probes should help people express themselves. Have participants draw, play, photograph, or write (or all of these–a probe can contain many small activities). Analysis of a probe's results are highly subjective–talk it through with the others on your team. Wade through the materials that the participants have handed back, looking for anything unexpected.


Analysis & Interpretation

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