miLife Research Plan Dan Saffer Jennifer Anderson Phi-Hong Ha Chun-Yi Chen Graduate Design Studio II

Our Team Dan Saffer With technical expertise and experience as an interaction designer, Dan will oversee and/or conduct any coding and web-related activities. Dan will also manage the blog to provide our client with weekly updates on the project. Jennifer Anderson With a strong background in client relations, Jennifer will act as liaison to the client. She will also be focusing on the communication design aspect of the project. Phi-Hong Ha Information design is Phi-Hong’s forte, and she will lead any activities that cover this aspect, as well as product flows and usability. She will also be gathering the team’s work and creating compelling presentations for each phase of the project. Chun-Yi Chen Having received a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Chun-Yi will be responsible for creating the majority of our models and drawings. She will provide especially valuable expertise in the product’s physical form.

Concept Map

Research Plan Who are the users for this product? What are their unmet needs? What kind of product can we create that will best suit these needs? Questions Driving Our Research

Research Plan User Research Define a user group(s) through a variety of traditional and adaptive research methods. Overview Product Research Examine product and technology landscape through contextual research methods.

User Research In-depth Interviews Questionnaires Fly-on-the-Wall Observations Personal Artifact Inventories Character Profiles Overview

User Research Conducted in person or over telephone, if necessary Questions will be broad, covering topics such as: –Technologies participant currently uses –Kinds of product and services they wish existed –Activities they engage in –When and where they want to be connected Participants: –Ages 18-60, primarily targeting active yr olds –Male and Female –From diverse areas within United States –Rural, suburban, and urban regions Approximately 5 participants In-Depth Interviews

User Research Conducted using an online program called Survey Monkey Specific, multiple-choice versions of questions adapted from the in-depth interviews (e.g. how many hours per day a participant uses a computer) requests, targeting roughly 100 diverse participants Survey Monkey compiles and analyzes the data Approximately responses estimated Questionnaires

User Research We will select three diverse public places, such as a mall, a coffee shop, and an ice skating rink One team member will sit for approximately two hours observing people as they interact with each other, their environments, and any technology they have at their disposal That team member will take notes on what transpires, and we will discuss these results as a group, looking for clues that may assist us in designing the product Fly-on-the-Wall Observations

User Research Two team members will locate themselves in a public place, stopping random and varied people and asking them to show us what they carry in their purses and pockets We will take inventory of and photograph these artifacts, using results to identify patterns We will choose one or two places where we expect to find the most variety, such as a Giant Eagle, or the Waterfront Approximately 7 diverse people Personal Artifact Inventories

User Research This activity will occur toward the end of this phase, as it will be based upon findings from the other research methods we conduct As we see patterns in the kinds of people who would benefit most from the miLife project, we will create imaginary individuals drawn from actual people we’ve met in the field We will use these characters to help drive the remaining phases of the project Approximately 5 profiles Character Profiles

Product Research Competitive/Parallel Product Profiles Archival Research Unfocus Groups Company Research Overview

Product Research We will conduct a field trip to Best Buy, as well as an online “window shopping trip” to gizmodo.com We will investigate related products such as PDA’s, digital cameras, and cell phones, to determine current competitive, complementary and parallel products on the market This inventory of products will be documented and will help to inform our archival research Competitive/Parallel Product Profiles

Product Research Using the internet and the library, we will research the history of related products, upcoming technologies, and demographics of technology users The research will be summarized in a findings document that will inform the design process Archival Research

Product Research In conjunction with the other teams, we will hold workshops based upon a pre-determined theme The theme will be directly related to the project, but will be somewhat broad We will invite interdisciplinary experts to speak to that theme in a series of short workshops, in order to come up with more innovative and inspiring designs We will collect data by taking notes about key points that emerge during the workshops, and how they may relate to the product Unfocus Groups

Product Research We will primarily conduct this research online We will be looking at Microsoft’s goals and trends, as well as their existing and upcoming technologies and products From this research, we will gain valuable knowledge about the resources available for the development of this product, as well as the direction Microsoft would benefit from most Company Research