Conducting Design Research Jon Kolko Director & Founder, Austin Center for Design

To empathize with people who are not like you are. Research Transcription Utterances Patterns & Anomalies Interpretation Insights Ideas Stories Designs Ethnography Synthesis Prototyping The goals: To understand what people do, why they do it, and how they feel about it. To empathize with people who are not like you are.

Getting Prepared You can never be overly prepared. Broad Focus Focus Statement Participants Context Script/Plan You can never be overly prepared. Organize your equipment: Video/audio recording Tapes/memory cards Batteries (and backup batteries) Pens/paper Digital camera Script Questions Have a list of questions you desire to have answered Try to anticipate the flow of the inquiry Be open to following the direction the work takes you Consent Form

Informed Consent Protects both you and the participant Explains any compensation that will occur Explains the scope of the study Explains how the results of the study will be used Explains exactly how the individuals name, image, company, and words will be used Print two copies per participant; you keep one, they keep the other.

Roles and Responsibilities Moderator Establishes rapport, makes the participant comfortable and keeps the conversation on track. KEYS TO MODERATION/ Be the primary point of communication. Be conversational, but not chatty. Ask 1 question at a time. Be patient; count to 5. Ask open-ended questions. Ask “why,” even if you know the answer. Summarize, interpret and reference. Note: It’s hard for people to understand that you actually want to watch them do the thing, rather than just have them talk you through it.

Roles and Responsibilities Audio/Videographer, Photographer Visually documents everything. Responsible for all audio being recorded and of quality. Makes sure everything is backed up, charged, etc. KEYS TO CAPTURING AUDIO, VIDEO, PHOTO/ Know your equipment. Get your settings in check beforehand. Shoot from the hip! Take a portrait. Over-shoot. Back-up every day.

Roles and Responsibilities Note Taker Captures everything that’s happening in the environment and the conversation. Is accountable for all data. KEYS TO NOTE TAKING/ Capture everything (within focus). Support the moderator. Capture direct quotes. Differentiate your thoughts from the data. Document a full piece of data. Work flow & tasks that you observe Work opportunities and problems Tools used Design ideas, and validation User’s words Your observations A-E-I-O-U Activities Environments Interactions Objects Users

Basic Flow of a Contextual Inquiry Introduction Introduce yourself Explain informed consent form, receive signature Get permission to record, and then start recording Articulate your focus Establish your master/apprenticeship relationship Observe work and interpret Remember your roles Follow your focus; draw the user towards your foci questions Interpret and get validation Co-design with the user Ask to try things Don’t judge Wrap-up Summarize your understandings Thank the user Leave the door open for future meetings

Engaging With People When you approach someone, have a plan for what you will do and say. Consider the difference in these approaches: “Hi. I’m researching the types of food people like to eat. Can you spare some time to discuss food with me?” “Hi, my name is Jon. I’m researching the types of food people like to eat. Can you spare some time to discuss food with me?” “Hi, my name is Jon, and I’m a student. I’m researching the types of food people like to eat. Can you spare some time to discuss food with me?” “Hi, my name is Jon, and I’m a student. I’m researching obesity. Can you spare some time to discuss your weight with me?” “Hey, can I talk to you about something?” “Can I ask you about your weight?”

Moderation Techniques Participants can easily answer things they know about. What they do How they do things Their opinions about their current activities Their complaints about their current activities How much they like or dislike something they know about, as compared to another thing they know about

Moderation Techniques Successful techniques for interviewing include: Repetition/Rephrase (So what you mean is..) Ask for an example (Can you show me an example?) Determine steps in a sequence (What do you do next?) Question a term or concept (When you say ‘doohikie’, what do you mean?) Summarize what was said and draw out a conclusion or a concept (So what you are saying is… is that right?) Question pronoun references (Who is “She” or “Bob”?) Ask for anecdotes & stories; check for deviant cases (Can you remember a situation where that didn’t work?)

Photography Techniques Successful techniques for the photographer include: Shoot from the hip; keep your camera out of their face. Take lots and lots and lots of pictures. Overshoot. Take pictures of people, things, and places. If something looks sensitive, ask first. Realize that your picture-taking will cause anxiety for some people. Tread lightly.

Note-Taking Techniques Successful techniques for the note-taker include: Establish a code for yourself (circling, underlining, star, etc) to differentiate from normal stream of thoughts to important insights or observations Write direct quotes when possible Sketch pictures to help you remember things

After the Contextual Inquiry Directly after the inquiry, in your team (when possible), meet and regroup; discuss the inquiry, and document key takeaways: How did you feel about the inquiry? Good? Surprised? Confused? What were the top three things you learned that you weren’t expecting? What were the top three problems you saw, or opportunities for design to positively impact change? Print your photos and start your war-room process. Make sure you have a good picture of the participant; label it with their first name and the date of the research. Send a thank-you note to the participant (if possible), and confirm that you may contact them again in the future.

To formulate a verbatim copy of the research Transcription Utterances Patterns & Anomalies Interpretation Insights Ideas Stories Designs Ethnography Synthesis Prototyping The goals: To formulate a verbatim copy of the research To create a research artifact that can be manipulated through synthesis

After the Contextual Inquiry As soon as possible, transcribe your inquiry. A full transcription is best. Don’t let the transcriptions build up – they take a loooong time! List all participants Include line numbers and, if possible, time stamp from video Write exactly what was said and done

Jon Kolko Director, Austin Center for Design jkolko@ac4d.com Download our free book, Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving, at http://www.wickedproblems.com 17