S Product Development in Telecommunications, 1999 User-centered product concept creation

S Product Development in Telecommunications, 1999 From product idea to definition Technical innovation Market innovationUser study innovation More user and marketing research Product concept Validation with more user research Definition of product

S Product Development in Telecommunications, 1999 Methods Ethnographic methods: observing the user in real-life context Focus groups: discussing daily life Participatory design methods Diary –photo –text (structured/free) –voice

S Product Development in Telecommunications, methods Interviews (one on one/ pair interview) Story telling –critical incident –typical things (“the day in the life”) Survey Image collage

S Product Development in Telecommunications, methods The context is very important –be as concrete as possible Form a partnership with the user –let the user teach you how he/she does things Focus: try to get –both general and detailed data –both temporal and situated data

S Product Development in Telecommunications, 1999 What to do with your data? Try to get an impression of the user as a person Try to find opportunities to back up or change user’s behaviour Communicate your understanding of the user to the others in the design team Write down observations and possible product ideas together with the team

S Product Development in Telecommunications, 1999 Card sorting Record each idea or observation on a separate Post It™ note. Stick the notes to the wall and sort cards into groups Create header cards which define the context for the found phenomena Write subheader cards for subgroups Derive the user needs from your observations

S Product Development in Telecommunications, 1999 Generating concepts Brainstorm on the basis of observations and interpreted user needs Let the users inspire you Concentrate on “what” instead of “how” –e.g. you don’t need to design the UI yet Visualise the uses of the concepts by creating scenarios Don’t forget to validate your concepts

S Product Development in Telecommunications, 1999 Exercise: Starting point: How to facilitate users behaviour with a new technological innovation, A4 -sized terminal embedded in the university café table Part 1: observe and/or interview the possible users Part 2 : write down your ideas/observations Card sorting User need identification