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Research Methods
Site observation
Is the process of observing how a user performs a task in his or her environment without being interrupted by the observer. The observer takes notes or video tapes the event.
Strengths
- Gain knowledge of the users environment (become aware of distractions, artifacts)
- Data can be more concrete than an interview because its based on experience
Weaknesses
- Because the observer plays a passive role; what is going on in the users mind might not be revealed
- Challenging to set up - budget, time, schedule, and logistics
- Possibly have to wait a while for the user to perform a specific task
Time
- Can be very time consuming
Challenges
- Observer might not know when the user is going to perform a certain task. Because of this the task could possibly have to be staged. Example, is an emergency situation that doesn't often happen.
Contextual Inquiry
A contextual inquiry is usually based on a defined set of concerns rather than a list of specific questions that one would ask during a traditional interview. In this method the user and the interviewer are seen more as equals. During a contextual inquiry the observer watches the user as he or she works. It's important that the observer prepare for the tasks that they expect to see. During the end of the inquiry the observer can ask the user a set of follow up interview questions.
Strategies
- Develop a master/apprentice model
- Systematically review specific items in an application
- Walkthrough task
- Develop a list of questions for each goal/task.
- Ask the user to think aloud
Strengths
- Gather concrete behavioral and perception data
- The user and the observer can work as a team
- Allows for brainstorming between the observer and user
- Can instruct the user to think aloud while performing a task, which allows the observer to gain more insight into the user's actions.
- Gives the observer a chance to empathize with the user.
Weaknesses
- Observer can cause disruption in the users environment.
- Can be challenging to schedule because data gathering and observations must take place while the user completes their work.
Time
- Can be time consuming
Challenges
- Defining the audience, recruiting the proper people and defining the tasks to be observed
Traditional Interview
Traditional interviews can be performed either in person or over the phone. Before conducting interviews it's important that the key user groups are identified and a well balanced set of questions are assembled. Some of these should be open ended and the interviewer should also make sure that the questions are not biased.
General interview structure
- Introduction: Signed consent form if necessary and explain the interview process
- Warm-up: Tell the user why the interview is taking place
- General issues: Get general background information about the user
- Deep focus: Specific questions to gather more detailed data
- Retrospective: Recap
- Wrap-up: General comments, questions and concerns.
Strategies
- Create an interviewing guide with specific questions and control statements
- Use common language and or define terms
- Avoid vague qualifiers such as "a lot", "rarely", "many".
- Ask about specific or recent activity for richer issues.
Strengths
- User knows best the task they perform
- Relatively inexpensive to setup and fairly efficient from the interviewee's standpoint
Weaknesses
- Interviewees may provide inaccurate information or fail to mention important aspects
- Sometimes hard for an interviewee to convey how they perform a certain task
- The interviewee may see some of the actions they are performing as obvious and not mention them
Time
- Fairly efficient
Challenges
- Finding the right mix of people to interview and making sure that the questions are not biased.
Competitive Analysis
A heuristic evaluation can be performed on the competitors application (A heuristic evaluation is an informal usability inspection technique in which interface elements are evaluated to see if they conform to generally accepted principles (heuristics)). This is a good method of research for creating possible features and functions, providing a source of information along with developing best practices.
Strategies
- Identify the competition and determine if you can get access to their application
- Provide a summary of the product
- Determine and profile the competitor's audience
- List the competitor's features and functions.
- Compare the products with your product or prospective product
- Use the comparisons to create actionable intelligence
Strengths
- Gain valuable information on competitors
- Determine best practices
- Provide a source of inspiration
- Can give insight into different audience and user segments.
Weaknesses
- Might not have full access to the competitor's application
Time
- Fairly efficient
Challenges
- Might not have access to the competitors application or possibly there are no valid competitors. Setting up a valid lists of heuristics for the analysis.
Persona
Persona's are fictional characters that are created based on previous knowledge of the domain. Background information about the project must be analyzed to determine core user groups. This can include interviews with clients, potential users as well as stakeholders (For this reason personas usually take place after interviews and background project research has been done). From these user groups, fictional characters are developed. These fictional characters are used to determine possible features and functions as well as empathize with the user.
Within the personas it's important to include the following
- Users knowledge of the domain
- Users goals, needs, desires and tasks
- Users personality, values and general interests
- General technical knowledge
- Photo and name to represent the fictional user
- Equipment and artifacts
Strengths
- Help empathize with the user
- Help determine features and functions for each user group
- Help determine the key users and their personalities
Weaknesses
- One instance represents a whole segment of users.
- If the core users are not validly determined then incorrect features and functions could be developed.
Time
- Very Efficient
Challenges
- Using stories about fictional people can lack credibility for some people and can sometimes be a hard sell to the client. It's important that the audience members are accurately determined.
Survey
Surveys can be very good for collecting large amounts of data and although the time to create the questions can be time consuming. However, some of the analysis and the action of giving the survey can usually be automated.
Strategies
- For qualitative analysis responses can be grouped into themes and summaries can be written for the segments
- Use open ended questions to gather qualitative data
- Account for the sampling error by calculating the standard error (Standard deviation and dividing it by the square-root of the sample size)
Strengths
- Gather information on a very large group of people
- Provide qualitative and quantitative results
- Data collection and some analysis can be automated
Weaknesses
- Can't ask follow up questions
Time
- Fairly efficient
Challenges
- Make sure the correct and balanced group of people is surveyed and the questions are not biased.