Yet another Thing to consider as a Designer

There are several frameworks, metrics, and guidelines that designers look up to for impactful results. We conduct design research to create prototypes and (eventually) products that are as ready as possible for ‘the real world’. We even launch pilots for learning within this real world before finally launching into the real real world. But one thing that I did not really think about is how we can create designs that are geared for long term learning.

Last week, a designer from Frog Design spoke to our class and she said something that really struck me:

Where are you in the process of your design development? And how can you instrument your design for long term learning?

Incredible. It is important for me to know the changing thoughts, feelings, and uses of my current product over time. Marketers and designers conduct longitudinal studies to understand such phenomena. But how often do we really make ‘long term learning’ a goal of our designs when we are prototyping them?

Off the top of my head, I can think of a few things that are commonly done in this area:

1. If it is a website or mobile application, it can be analyzed on Google Analytics. I have worked with this before too. And it is pretty helpful. That being said, it gives only a part of the picture. For example, Google Analytics could tell you about where people are coming to your website from. This is useful information, and in some cases, it can be enough for researchers to make decisions. But we really don’t know about why people come through this source.
2. Often, websites also have simple surveys embedded within them that pop up from time to time. It is optional for users to answer them, and the pop up can generally be closed without any problems. But again, this is a survey. Yet another part of the picture. What people say on a survey is important. But what people say is not necessarily what people do.
3. Perhaps companies interested in long term learning can also regularly recruit focus groups to speak about their product. To me, this seems like a rich source of information. It engages users (or potential users or ex users or whoever is being targeted for the research) on a personal, face to face level.
4. Screen based experiences often have surveys that ask about whether people would recommend the experience to a friend. These often come in at transaction points, after a user has experienced the core service and (hopefully) has an opinion of the service they just experienced.
5. Longitudinal studies are another way to learn about a changing product over time. In the field of marketing research, this is often observational and can span for years. Very rich information, I am sure. It also looks like a high commitment both from the researcher and the research subject.

All of these are examples of research techniques that I have encountered. But several of them are thought about after the product has launched. What can be done to embed long term learning within the design itself? Maybe there is a way for us to gather and incentivize a group of people who agree to give their feedback on a product over the course of a specific period of time, including prototyping? But there could be adverse effects of this as well. For example, if it is the same group over the years, we could be limiting our learnings to just their opinions. The same group of people could also feel a loyalty to the product over time, causing a bias in their reports. But then again, isn’t all research imperfect?

I am really interested to know if there are any designers out there that are already doing this. Are there any tools/ techniques/ methods that you embed within the product ideation so that you could learn about it in the long term?How do you gear your products for long term learning?