Supercharge your insights with creativity
This is a summary of the talk I gave at User Research London 2022 and at a meet-up for UX Insight (talk video).
Have you ever wondered what the format of a user research interview is like?
Picture this. You’re the user researcher, sitting in a (virtual) room with another person — the participant. You start asking a question, the participant responds with an answer. You ask another question, the participant responds with another answer. This ‘to and fro’ continues for the next 30–60 minutes.
Now, picture a typical police drama. The police walks into an interview room with another person — the suspect. The police starts asking a question, the suspect responds with an answer. Again, this ‘to and fro’ format continues.
I’m not suggesting a user research interview resembles a police drama or an interrogation. Nor am I discrediting the value of a good user research interview.
But, user interviews can be procedural or structured like a police drama!
I want to explore the various methods that spark our creativity to get better user insights.
Spark 1: Contextual/ ethnography research
This is when we’re in our participant natural and intimate environment. this could be a home visit or an office visit. (I wrote about contextual research before.)
Some tips to make your visit work:
- Consider using a photo list
- Have a task list but be prepare to throw it away- go with your curiosity
- Learn like an apprentice- follow the participants, there’s no right or wrong answers
Spark 2: Co-design techniques
These techniques are beyond using Lego or play technique. Rather, for me, these techniques help us understand participant’s mental concepts or thinking towards a topic. E.g., what do participants understand about money? Or health management? (I also wrote about some co-design methods before).
You can use paper prototypes. We know that designers rely on this technique for their designs already. Using this method in research is not about the finesse of designs but to understand the hierarchy of the information and which elements are important to participants.
You can use Venn diagrams to understand what participants see as commonalities and differences on a topic, or between two people.
Spark 3: Reflections
When we watch a film we’re drawn to what the characters are doing. And we go through a range of emotions and thoughts. How do we adapt this range of experience for user research?
The film industry uses storyboards to map out each scene before shooting begins. This include camera angels, lighting and props. Why don’t we do this level of planning before we develop a product?
A fun technique to use in research studies is storyboards. You can draw what the product experience is by highlighting how it solves a user problem. Put it in front of the participants and ask them this one question:
“How is this story relevant to you? Why?”
This question let participants visualise if the story aligns with their daily lives (or not). Participants can tell us any design considerations we may have overlooked.
You can also think about pre-tasks/ homework for them before you meet. Some fun examples include:
- Get participants to take photos or find images that they associate with a topic
- Write a breakup letter with the product/service provider
- Keeping a diary for a week
Hope this inspired you to inject some creativity into your research!
I founded Melon Experience Design to help clients understand their users to design and build better products and services that works for them, so get in touch if you would like to work with us.
