Meal Planning Windows App User Research Plan
Research Plan Practice 1, HCID 530 U/UR
Scenario
Your team has been tasked with developing a first release of a Windows app whose primary goal is to generate interest in and enthusiasm for the Windows ecosystem; and whose secondary goal is to expand the Windows app offerings into domains that to date have not seen many Windows app offerings. Management has already keyed in on a possible cooking or meal planning app so they are looking for research to determine the range of user needs within this domain (to inform what tasks and activities the app should support) as well as define possible target audiences.
Meal Planning Windows App User Research Plan
by Nina, UX Researcher, xyz@abc.com
Stakeholders: Project Manager, UX Team, Marketing Team, Engineering Team
Last updated: June 9, 2014
Goals
Identify target audience and user needs;
Analyze and define key activities and tasks.
Research Plan Schedule
Research Questions
1. Who often do meal planning, and what are users’ motivations and why? In what situations users are more likely to do meal planning and why?
2. How users do meal planning, and what are their general activities and tasks?
3. What are users’ fulfillments and frustrations during the meal planning process?
4. What existing technologies have been incorporated into users’ meal planning activities, and how?
5. What are the existing products that help users with meal planning, and what are their pros and cons?
Methodology
PHASE 1
Goal: Know about stakeholders’ goals and needs, and their resources on hand, and understand business requirements and constraints, in order to better plan research, measure and analyze research findings, as well as analyze target audiences.
Research Activities: Stakeholders Meeting, Secondary Research, Competitive Products Analysis
Deliverables: Secondary Research Summary, Competitive Landscape Report
Stakeholders Meeting
In this scenario, our team’s long-term goals are very clear. But why and how the management made the decision to key in on meal planning, in order to meet those goals are unclear. It is very likely that they have already done some market researches with valuable research findings. It is also important to know their measureable goals. I will ask the following questions:
Could you please tell me why and how you make the decision to key in on meal planning app, to facilitate your primary and secondary goals?
What are your goals of this product, in spite of primary and secondary goals? Do you have any measurable business goals?
Have you conducted any marketing researches? Do you have any valuable research resources and findings?
Do you have/Are you interested in any target market or user groups?
Are there questions you want to have answered? If so, what are they?
If you get answers, how will you use them?
Secondary Research
It will be very helpful if other teams already have some research resources. Depend on what existing resources we have, it is better to do additional secondary research. Meal planning connects directly with health and lifestyle. Existing research in this domain will help us to analyze and understand users’ motivations and needs behind their behaviors, as well as identify potential target audiences in the first step. Secondary research focuses (should be revised according to what we have):
Health related problems, and products;
Current market of health related products;
Meal planning behaviors, benefits and problems;
Existing meal planning products, and their pros and cons.
Competitive Products Analysis
There are two main goals of competitive products analysis: one is to identify target audiences, and the other is to define what kind of service we should provide. Specially, I want to know about the following questions and I will use frameworks to analyze research findings:
What are the existing meal planning products (website, iOS and Android apps, Windows apps), pros and cons?
How is the state of art of those products?
What are their markets and target audiences?
What are the successes and failures?
What are the similarities and difference of the services they provide?
PHASE 2
Goal: Define target audience, and identify user needs.
Research Activities: Contextual Inquiry, Focus Group, Survey
Deliverables: Target Audience Analysis (scenarios-based personas), User Needs Report (a day in life)
Contextual Inquiry
From secondary research, hopefully, we could scope down the target user group, and know about users’ motivations and needs. Contextual Inquiry is very helpful to uncover users’ activities, behaviors and needs in context. Other field studies are also good, for example, diary study, but meal planning is not occurring everyday, also, it is a bit hard for users to record clearly about their activities.
Participants: 8-10 power users (ideally 2/3 users using mobile technology), who have been doing meal planning at least 2-3 times a month and lasting at least 2-3 months
Post screeners on social platforms, and let user leave their contact info.
Conduct pre-interview about users’ health, lifestyle and meal planning behaviors.
Conduct contextual inquiry when users are doing meal planning in-house. Focus on what they do, how and why they do, any fulfillments and frustrations.
Post-interview about specific questions.
Survey
If there are surveys and findings about meal planning behaviors from secondary research, it is not necessary to conduct additional surveys. If not, a survey will be helpful to know about whether the findings and insights from secondary research and contextual inquiry is common or essential at a quantitative level.
Survey questions: Demographic info, Meal planning behaviors (when, what, how and why), Technology use
PHASE 3
Goal: Define which kind of service this app should support, and specifically, define meal planning activities and tasks.
Research Activities: Focus Group and Card Sorting, Stakeholders Meeting
Deliverables: Task Analysis Report, Final User Research Report
Focus Group
From contextual inquiry and survey, we will learn a lot about users’ behaviors, attitudes and needs, as well as potential target audiences. Focus group is a very efficient method to find out agreements, and to determine whether users feel the proposed solutions will actually help them and which features are of highest value.
Participants: 2-4 groups, 6-8 per group, at least 2/3 participants frequently do meal planning
Focus Group Activities: Meal planning behaviors; Card sorting about meal planning activities and tasks
Card Sorting: Prepare a list of meal planning activities and tasks, and put them on the cards. Let participants choose essential activities and tasks, and then categorize and prioritize them.
Stakeholders Meeting
Present user research findings; Make final decisions.
