Week 2 - User Research and Synthesis
User Research - Types and Methods
This week we look at user research and synthesis of data, a crucial stage of the UX design process, and one which we refer to throughout the process . Conducting user research allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the users problems, goals and motivations, pertaining to a specific topic. It also allows us to validate our assumptions as a UX designer.
If we want to find and solve a societal problem we may conduct generative research. This enables us to look around and find innovative solutions to real world issues. On the other hand we may be tasked with improving the functionality of an existing design that does not fully meet its’ users needs, in which case we would conduct evaluative research. Attitudinal research investigates a users’ stated beliefs and is important if you wish to explore what a users says they do, compared with what they actually do (attitudinal versus behavioural). We might also be able to indirectly understand attitudinal research through quantitative research, which measures the number of something. Finally, we can conduct qualitative research which is often a better way to gather rich data from each individual. This is more time consuming but the rewards, especially combined with other methods, can be invaluable.
There are many different methods of conducting research, such as contextual inquiries, surveys, user interviews and testing. Depending on the type of topic relevant research you want to collect, and what stage of the design process you are at, some may be more beneficial than others.
For the purpose of this weeks challenge activity and module assignment, I want to conduct generative research. I want to gain a deeper understanding of a topic, to see if there is an opportunity to develop an app that could improve an experience or even offer a solution to an every day problem.
Initial Problem Statement
Dog owners need a solution that allows them to find great walks nearby,
Hypothesis
I think it would be beneficial to develop an app that allows dog owners to find rated walks that are dependant on both the needs and requirements for the dog, as well as for the owner.
Research
I carried out a series of interviews with 5 participants to gather information on their habits when walking their dogs. I wanted to determine what factors they considered when choosing where to walk. The interview questions were designed to find generative research – as a dog owner I have some assumptions regarding pain points when walking my dog, but I would like to validate these assumptions through research. It gives me the opportunity to define a real-world problem for which I can find an innovative solution. I will carry this out through user interviews to gather rich, targeted data about the topic, with an unbiased approach.
Before designing my interview questions, I researched common interview mistakes to ensure my questions probed deep enough into the topic and that I was gathering direct explanations from my participants’. According to Nielson Norman Group, “not asking probing questions can limit the depth and specificity of your participants’ responses and can lead to misunderstandings and ambiguity in your research data. (Fessenden, 2021). As the sole interviewer, I also intended to record the sessions to avoid disrupting the flow of the interview through notetaking. What was most important to me was to ensure that I did not prime the participants’ beforehand. As a dog owner myself, I need to remove any bias from the research stage of this project.
Interviews and Findings
I compiled a list of questions to ask my participants, with some probing questions listed below should I need prompts to delve deeper. The questions were:
Can you tell me about the sorts of places you walk your dog the most often?
Is there any reason why you would pick one type of walk over another?
Do you go to places specifically because you know there will be other dogs there, do you like your dog to be able to interact with other dogs?
Do you ever plan with other dog owners to meet up for a dog walk?
How often do you go somewhere you've never been before?
And what would you consider before going somewhere you’ve not been before. What would you want to know or consider beforehand?
What does your regular dog walk consist of? What does it look like? What sort of things do you do?
How often do you vary your destination or route?
What sort of dog walk do you enjoy the most and what factors are the most important to you?
Do you combine dog walks with other activities?
Finally, could you tell me about any difficulties you might encounter that cause you to not enjoy a dog walk so much?
Do you think those sort of pain points, would they dissuade you from going on a new walk because you didn’t know if those things would happen?
As each participant has very different circumstances, and different dogs, I found that the questions were not always relevant to each user, and so whilst I mainly kept to the overall objective, I did sometimes ask probing questions such as ‘How does that make you feel?’, ‘Why do you think that is?’, ‘Can you tell me more about that?’, and in some instances, an answer might make the next question somewhat irrelevant – so in those instances I skipped to the next relevant question.
The interviews revealed some very rich insights though they lasted longer than I anticipated and were very time consuming to transcribe.
My research highlighted that most dog owners vary their dog walks depending on the time of week, or other factors such as weather. Usually during the working week, dogs get smaller walks around the local area, and these usually consist of the same, or similar route. At the weekend, people like to venture further afield, combining the dog walk with a leisure activity for themselves and their family. Though, when deciding on where to go, most deciding factors relate to the dogs needs and safety (this differs from dog to dog). Planning or having some reassurance makes decision making easier, and as time is precious, owners want to be sure they get the best from the walk.
Synthesis – Affinity Mapping
As I finished each interview, I firstly transcribed the session, making sure I included all data and insights that I felt were important. Following the final interview, I carried out some data synthesis through Affinity Mapping. When I previous carried out this synthesis task, I used coloured post it notes that showed a negative or positive response. This time I wanted to use a different colour for each participant.
Fig 1. Initial participant responses
Fig 2. Initial Affinity Map
I did have a lot of data, and so it was very time consuming to group these responses and based on the gathered responses I assigned the following headings.
My dogs needs and safety determine our walk (48 responses)
I have different walks for different reasons (19 responses)
Walking my dog is a leisure activity for me (17 responses)
It’s important to enjoy the walk as much as my dog (16 responses)
I like to plan ahead (16 responses)
I enjoy being adventurous (12 responses)
My time is precious (11 responses)
Accessibility is important (11 responses)
I sometimes struggle to find good places to go (5 responses)
Some of these categories are far too big and so I have taken down the largest and broken this into smaller affinity maps. As dogs needs and safety are seemingly the most important factor, I think it’s important to further granulate this data to see if I can determine any more trends in the participants responses. I also wanted to see if I could combine the responses from ‘walking my dog is a leisure activity for me’ with important to enjoy the walk as much as my dog’ as I felt that these categories had some cross-over and I really want to get to the root of what features make a walk enjoyable for both dog and human.
Fig 3. Second Affinity Map - Needs and Safety
As you can see from this new affinity map, the features that stand out as being the core dog needs and safety requirements are:
Knowing if a place will be busy or quiet (9 responses)
Safety and Security (8 responses)
Being able to choose between lead or off lead walking (5 responses)
Training Opportunities (4 responses)
Facilities / Dog Friendly (3 responses)
Exercise and Interest for the Dog (3 responses)
Fig 4. Third Affinity Map - Leisure
The main features that pertain to being a leisure activity for dog and owner are:
Somewhere scenic (10 responses)
Exercise and Stimulation (8 responses)
Pubs/Cafes (6 responses)
Meet ups with friends/groups (5 responses)
Visiting attractions (4 responses)
I found it incredibly useful to granulate this data further, and it was necessary due to such a huge collection of rich data from my interviews. I still consider some of the lesser groups in the first affinity map to be important, though factors such as ‘time is precious’ leads into ‘planning ahead’. Someone using an app for finding suitable dog walking places is planning, and if time is precious, then this method would resolve that also. I think it is important for me to cross reference some of those responses later.
The most important information I gather from this synthesis is that owners want to find nice places to walk their dog that give them enjoyment too, through being scenic, having the ability to meet up with friends, or pubs and cafes. But most importantly, owners want to know the place is safe for their individual dogs needs, which often relates to how busy a place will be, safety and security, and policies on being on or off the lead.
Revised Problem Statement
Dog owners care about the safety of their pet and want to share the enjoyment of a walk. They need a solution that allows them to find safe and enjoyable destinations, allowing them to filter the needs that are essential for them.
User Persona
Fig 5. User Persona (Photo by Timotheus Fröbel on Unsplash)
Following the synthesis of my generative data, I wanted to create a user persona for this project. A user persona allows us to ‘extract relevant elements towards deriving the design of the main functionalities of the user interface’ (Idoughi, D et al, 2021). By creating a fictional user, it allows me to understand who I am designing for, to empathise with their concerns and define their core needs.
Self-Reflection
I wanted to conclude this week’s activity with some self-reflection. I really enjoyed this activity but struggled somewhat as I felt that it was such a core part of the design process that I wanted to spend enough time to really gather rich data and analyse it. It took slightly longer for me to conduct my interviews, and even longer to synthesise the data. I look back and wonder if maybe my questions were not direct enough, or perhaps there were too many.
I was conscious that the weekly tasks take us through the different stages of the UX design process and so I did not want to move forwards until I had completed this stage, which has once again put me behind by a week. I do think in this instance though, it is worth it because I feel confident that I have carried out this research stage in depth which will be beneficial to the rest of the process.
References
Fessenden, T. (2021). 5 Facitiation Mistakes to Avoid During User Interviews. Nielsen Normal Group. Available at: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/interview-facilitation-mistakes/ [accessed 7/2/2021].
Idoughi, D., Seffah, A. and Kolski, C., 2012. Adding user experience into the interactive service design loop: a persona-based approach. Behaviour & Information Technology, 31(3), pp.287-303.