People and the fear of terminology
When beginning a design project and starting to interact with a potential user base, you have to learn who is going to be using the final product. Not just saying that you going to deliver a product but delivering a product for them. From early interactions and understanding of the user you slowly create a picture of what their requirements are going to be to help when gathering information and evaluating choices.
A factor which can mean the difference between collecting good information and an understanding of the user and not, is how your questions are framed. These questions can be used for interviews, surveys or workshop for example. Having a well-designed and thought-out set of questions is nothing new in the design process and has been a method taught in my course work over the last 3 years. What I found was important in creating my questions were the terms I was using.
During a project involving a retirement community and helping to creating a community garden in which the principles of a smart city could be implemented, and number of key insights arose when in conversation with the residents. If you use particular terms relating to technology or interface, they would become quickly disinterested as it led them to believe that they would be needed to develop a knowledge of how to use the technology or interface. Another was the use of terms which implied a particular skill which could be rated or judged. In this instance it was “gardening” were people did not consider themselves to be good at gardening and would assume we would not be interested in their thoughts.
This is the challenge, how are you to gain information and insights of user requirements for a community garden product involving smart city principles without mentioning technology or gardening?
A way I worked around this problem while trying to develop a relationship with potential was with word association. This may seem mundane, but it allowed me to figure out a language and terminology that they were comfortable with using. Asking what words came to mind when they thought of garden, gardener, gardening to start creating a reference list. These was also help in developing ways to discuss the topic, so they would not think about their skill level.
Using that reference list, I could ask what roles do they consider to be important within a community. Still not asking directly “what did you consider important in a community garden” but looking at a larger picture. It may be a leader or group to organise, people to help maintain the site or even visitors to help stimulate the area with new areas to name a few. Once again, not asking them about their thoughts on a garden but these roles can play a part in the context of garden.
By looking at the language used when running interviews, you are not only looking for the information you want but looking at ways that connect better with the potential user base. If they feel challenged with the thought of something they are not familiar with or do not feel that they are experts or have the required expertise around the questions you are asking, you might not be able the get information of the quality that you are seeking.
Designing for people isn’t just about the end deliverable but being sure you design the steps along the way to involve people.
