Building a Project Vision by Understanding Users

leelefever — Wed, 10 Mar 2004 12:15:51 -0500

Boxes and Arrows: Building a Vision of Design Success

Since I started to learn a little more about Contextual Inquiry/Ethonography, it seems like it is coming up every where.

Though this article does not mention the terms above, it describes the techniques as a viable way to build and promote a vision for a project.

I find it useful to use Peter Sengeâ€™s Five Whyâ€™s. This is a very simple technique in which you ask why, and when you get a response, you ask why again. It helps you move from specific issues to uncovering larger underlying problems.
For example, letâ€™s say you are the head of user research:
Me: Why do you think we should do a redesign?
You: Because people canâ€™t find anything.
Me: Why canâ€™t they find anything?
You: The navigation isnâ€™t intuitive.
Me: Why isnâ€™t it intuitive?
You: We didnâ€™t do any user research when we designed it, just usability after.
Me: Why is that?
You: Well, our budget was cutâ€¦
Me: Oh? (which is what I say when Iâ€™m tired of â€œwhyâ€â€¦)
You: Well, the company doesnâ€™t seem to value getting user feedback.

From this short conversation, Iâ€™ve learned several things. The user researcher thinks findability is a key problem, and he thinks research would help, and he feels we donâ€™t invest in it. I can return to any of the places where I asked way, and take a different branch to find out more.

As I write about this subject, I wonder if readers are asking themselves: What does this have to do with weblogs and online communities?

My answer is that business-based weblogs and online communities must fulfill a real need to be truly successful.

As I learn about contextual inquiry, I'm discovering a way to understand that need- a way to get to the real issue and problems that need to be solved. Otherwise design decisions may be driven by speculation and assumptions which may waste valuable time and money in the long run.

Personas and Intranet/Web Design

leelefever — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 12:07:15 -0500

Step Two Paper: An introduction to personas and how to create them

As I mentioned previously, I've been learning a lot about something called "Contextual Inquiry" which is similar to "Ethnographic Research". This article touches on the basics.

The premise is that you work directly with and observe users before making any judgements/assumptions about their needs. Using contectual inquiry, a team builds a reality-based model of how a group is really working together.

Part of this process is the development of personas. As the paper states:

Personas are archetypal users of an intranet or website that represent the needs of larger groups of users, in terms of their goals and personal characteristics. They act as 'stand-ins' for real users and help guide decisions about functionality and design.

I'm becomoing a believer in contextual inquiry -- I think it may be a key to assessing real needs through discovering the reality of how a group behaves and works together.

userresearch

Building a Project Vision by Understanding Users

Personas and Intranet/Web Design