This week's lecture we looked at different research techniques that will be beneficial to us as we are another week into our project.
During the discovery stage, we are exploring issues within the topic. This should be the first phase in the UX Design Process. We are looking for a problem that needs a solution. Before starting to design or come up with an idea, if we do this, we may realise that after finishing designing your idea. This results in the wastage of your time and energy as your product has no use to anyone because of lack of research. We need to understand what people might need help with, this way we can target the problem and ensure the product has a purpose in users lives. We may already know previous facts and figures about the topic but most likely there are things we don't know about. It can be dangerous just to base your project on assumptions which is why research is so important.
UX Discovery: what it is, why it’s essential and how I go about it
In week 2 we were asked to complete an interview, we each had a role- interviewer, note taker and responder. We were asked to ask the responder about a situation that had happen to them, in this case we asked about returning an item. The interviewer had asked if the responder could walk them through the experience, from this we can see the steps and actions they took. Then we can see what issues they had and how this could get solved. This was a good way to discover problems from real people and how we can solve them.
There are different techniques and activities to gain research from users in the discovery phase. The most effective techniques for user research includes stakeholder interviews and workshops. These methods provide insights directly from the user. They both provide real problems, perspectives and needs that will lead you to a solution.
Interviews can provide unique knowledge and direct insights about the users, it can also help understand the scale of the problem. They can reveal a problem that a survey might not be able to tell. Interviews can allow you to ask more questions like “why” or “how” which allows you to dig deeper and gain more insight.
Workshops also provide room for great discovery, workshops use a useful tactic. Workshops includes group activities, discussions, brainstorming etc. Workshops may highlight different views from different perspectives, due to the collaborative environment users can open up and express opinions as workshops can be less formal. Workshops can also provide thinking patterns and idea generations. You can also collect Secondary Research which is research that has already been collected. This saves time and provides a good starting position.
Understanding humans and how they think is extremely important because UX is people. We, as designers, must understand the psychological principles that help create the best user experiences. Attention is something that must be taken into consideration when we create systems that are being looked at, it is important to have the most useful information as the most eye-catching. Even though we think we notice everything we don't, and tend to focus on what stands out. Memory also comes into play, some users memory is limited. The limits of human memory affect people’s ability to process information and shape the way information is stored for long periods. People process information and interact differently, people make sense of things by their own experiences.
Psychology for UX: Study Guide
To understand how humans think we need to research and have empathy. This is important as we need to know what problems users have and ensure that the product or service will solve this problem. Many users who don't take into consideration who their audience will be, have high chances of their product or service failing. Some people assume they know what their users will think, feel and interact without any research. Similarly Cognitive Bias is a ****systematic error of thinking or rationality in judgment that influence our perception of the world and our decision-making ability. This occurs when people process and interpret information in their surrounding which influence decisions and judgements. For my own benefit, I want to list some reasons on how to know you have cognitive bias so I can look back and ensure that these don't apply to me.