Where humans are concerned, context is everything. (Segway)

Research to: determine whether you’re solving the right problem; discover your best competitive advantages; learn how to convince your customers to care about the same things you do; identify small changes with huge potential influence; see where your blind spots and biases are preventing your best work

The better you know the current state of things and why they’re like that, the better you will be positioned to innovate

Research = systematic inquiry

Design research: approach familiar people and things as though they are unknown to us to see them clearly

Research ≠ asking people what they like (superficial and unmoored from behavior); quash all liking and hating

Focus on gathering useful insights, not sample size and stats

Generative/exploratory research: “what’s up with __?” groups, users; helps discover most commonly voiced unmet needs → hypothesis

Descriptive/explanatory research: “what and how?”; observing characteristics of what you’re studying: what’s the design problem?

Evaluative research: “are we getting close?”; defining possible solutions and trying them; usability testing

Causal research: “why is this happening?”; cause and effect for how people actually use product

Ask simple questions of stakeholders: how does that benefit the business? Why do you do it that way? Cut to the heart of assumptions and open new inquiries

Research for amateurs: discipline and checklists

1. Phrase questions clearly. 2. Set realistic expectations. 3. Be prepared. 4. Allow staff time for analysis. 5. Notes or it didn’t happen.

Identify your highest-priority questions, assumptions that carry the biggest risk

Research process: (declarative statements with each)

1. Define the problem with statement: action-based verbs like discover, evaluate, identify
2. Select the approach: will depend if you’re studying organization, users, competition, product
3. Plan and prepare for research: plan for the unexpected
4. Collect the data, and keep it organized
5. Analyze the data: look for meaningful patterns to turn into recommendations
6. Report the results: brief, well-organized summary

Usability is necessary, but not sufficient

Design doesn’t happen in the deep, cold vacuum of space. Design happens in the warm, sweaty proximity of people with a lot on their minds.

Defining scope of project = boundaries and limits

Business strategy requirements: cohesive, complete, consistent, current, unambiguous, feasible, concise

User research to “identify patterns and develop empathy”

Ethnography: what do people do and why do they do it, and what are the implications for the success of what I am designing?

Assumptions are insults: alienating, risk being wrong

4 Ds of design ethnography:

• Deep dive: learn fewer individuals really well
• Daily life: observation, natural
• Data analysis: gain real understanding through useful models
• Drama: create fictional personas with important goals and scenarios to better understand

Interviewing users: learn about everything that might influence how users might use product

People being interviewed want to be liked, demonstrate their smarts

As interviewer you know nothing

3-act interview structure:

• Intro: small talk, thanking, recording, get demographics
• Body: open questions, silence, “Tell me more”
• Conclusion: wrap up, questions

Convert attention into habit

Different kinds of questions:

• User question: “What matters to our customers?”
• Product question: “How are we better at serving that need than any competition?”
• Marketing question: “How can we show our target customers our product is superior choice?”

Personas: represent users in user-centered designs; reference point for decisions. Include photo, name, demos, role, quotes, goals, habits

Task analysis/workflow breaks down steps of task into step by step

You always need to answer ‘why?’ before asking ‘how?’ And you need good answers for both.

Make friends with reality.