UX Research
Part 1 — Project Overview, UX Research, & Analysis
The following is a case study of a group project I worked on, specifically detailing my role of UX Researcher and Usability Test Facilitator.
Content:
Project Overview
The brief for this project started off open. As a group, James, Ben and I decided that we wanted to create a character generator website that would help authors and other creatives ideate characters/personas for their projects.
The “Client” & Background Information
The client for this brief is called BiblioFile. BiblioFile aims to become the best online character generator and story builder available online. We found that similar websites currently are either too niche, overly intricate, or have an outdated user interface, leading to a pretty mediocre user experience.
UX Research
User Groups
The user groups for this project consist of:
Methods
The following methods were utilised in order to gain a wider understanding of our users and their current experience ideating and creating characters for their works.
Interviews: To collect qualitative data to learn more about our user groups experiences currently when undertaking their creative pursuit, and what they would like from our product.
Surveys: To collect quantitative data to learn more about our user groups habits and preferences when undertaking a creative project and when using ideation tools.
Interviews
I conducted five interviews with members belonging to the user groups.
P1: Creative Writer
P2: RPG Player
P3: Creative Writer, Teacher & Artist
P4: Artist
P5: Artist & RPG Player
At this stage we wanted to interview this large range of creatives as our concept was still developing. We wanted to find out what people were missing and wanting in their areas of special interest.
Interview Questions:
1. As a creative, you are probably constantly having to come up with new ideas for your projects. How do you go about the ideation process to make creating fresh ideas and concepts as easy as possible?
2. Can you recall a time when you were unable to come up with an idea for a project, and can you describe how it made you feel?
3. In the end, were you able to settle on an idea for the project that you were happy with? How did you do it?
4. Have you ever tried to implement an ideation technique but found it didn’t work for you? If so, what was the technique and why do you think it didn’t work for you?
5. Have you ever used a random online generator to spark ideas or find inspiration? If yes, please describe your experience with it.
6. Do you ever create characters or personas for any of your projects? If yes, what projects are the characters/personas for?
7. In your projects, when you are starting to formulate a character/persona, do you often already have an idea in your head of what they will be like, or are you creating them from scratch with no constraints?
8. Which elements of the character/persona do you have the most trouble coming up with on your own?
9. What do you think makes a good character/persona to the point where you want to write about that character, or include them in your creative work?
10. If you were to use an online character generator to help ideate a character/persona, would you prefer the generator to be very detailed to increase your chances of finding inspiration, or would you feel limited by this and prefer a more basic character/persona that you can build off of and make your own?
11. Can you see yourself using an online generator similar to what I have described as a tool for ideating a character/persona, and why?
Surveys
There were eight responses to the survey. The following photos show the most notable findings from the survey answers.
UX Research Analysis
Affinity Mapping
The main findings from the five interviewees and the survey results were written down onto sticky notes and then sorted into categories, allowing us to identity patterns of behaviour across the whole target audience.
Here are some snapshots of the process:
Quick Findings Report
The findings and the evidence that supports this and the implications and solutions.
Findings:
- The most effective techniques users found that helped them shake a creative block involve the user creating a work based on a prompt chosen for them.
Relevant Quote:
- “One thing this particular teacher told us was “just write”… and I think if you combine that technique with a particular exercise like giving a prompt, it’s really easy to just get on with it and write and not get bogged down on “is this making sense”.” - Most users find generic characters very boring and prefer a quirky/weird character to inspire their work.
Relevant Quote:
- “…just a little oddity here and there I think that can be very fun because then I’m like “okay I could base something around this”.” - Some users will come up with ideas but, for one reason or another, don’t use them and will save them to potentially use at later date.
Relevant Quote:
- (Talking about an old idea) “...by the time you go back to it, it’s kind of like you’re looking at it with fresh eyes and you kind of see it with new potential.” - All users have left a project to the last minute because they couldn’t conceive an idea they were happy with.
Relevant Quote:
- “I’ll often leave it until the day of just because I don’t prioritize it even though I probably should. Working with a deadline helps…” - Most users will have a vague idea for a character before they start to develop a character profile.
Relevant Quote:
- “…usually, if I’m creating a character, I will have at least a basis or like one of the major personality traits or something I will have in mind.”
User Goals
- Spark ideas for characters or plotlines
- Overcome writers/creative block
- Reduce the time it takes to come up with ideas, therefore becoming more productive
- Conceptualise and visualise unique and interesting characters/environments
- Avoid clichés or common tropes
- Reducing decision fatigue
- Organised note taking for each character
Personas
After analysing the findings from the interview and survey data, the following personas were formed based on the struggles told by our target audience in relation to their creative pursuit.
Scenarios
The following scenarios depict the problems our user groups are
currently facing.
You have reached the end of the part one!
Click here to read part two! Part two will detail the process that took place during the user testing phase of the web development, show the final prototype and website, and discuss possibilities for the future.
