What They Didn't Know They Needed

Research traditionally uncovers known complaints and desires in terms of what people will tell you. However it is via contextual or ethnographic observation that you can witness “real world” behaviors, influences, scenarios,
technologies, and actors all of which help you get the sense for what will truly delight someone or alleviate frustration.

Noticing where people spend their time doing things they “have to” and don’t “want to” will lead to inspiration of what would make their life
more convenient and less frustrating. An observation of what people want to do, enjoy doing, or look forward to doing, will lead to inspiration around what will make them shout from the rooftops in glee.

In this presentation we will discuss how research inspires design and how reality inspires creativity.

If you simply ask users about what would make life better, you will rarely get meaningful answers. They are just not good at envisioning revolutionary solutions. It is really easy trap to fall into during a traditional usability test to ask “what would the ideal experience be for you?” Unfortunately, if you base your design on those responses, you won’t get a breakthrough.

Instead of relying on divine intervention for new ideas, we will focus on
activities such as Laddering, Game play, Storytelling and Triading that can help expose opportunities for radical innovation and designing products that people can’t live without.

Transcript

1. What They Didn’t Know They Needed Megan Grocki - @megangrocki Amy Cueva - @amycueva
2. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Who are we? Amy Cueva Founder & Chief Experience Officer amy@madpow.com Megan Grocki Senior Experience Designer mgrocki@madpow.com We’ll share some stuff… but we are just scratching the surface!
3. @megangrocki @AmyCueva What (tf) are we going to talk about? ê  Different approaches to research + design ê  Getting the right information from research ê  Generating design ideas ê  Design execution considerations
4. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Who are you?
5. @megangrocki @AmyCueva User-Centered Design We love users.
6. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Genius Design
7. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Research Methods ê  Laddering ê  Triading ê  Storytelling ê  Game Play ê  Desirability Testing
8. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Laddering ê  Simple & Systematic ê  Clinical Psychology/Marketing ê  Get beyond surface to their core values and uncover meaning ê  Experiences designed based on meaning have more traction than those based on attributes ê  The art of asking “Why? Why?”
9. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Research technique to uncover core values Laddering
10. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Triading Discover dimensions that are relevant to audience
11. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Storytelling ê  Asking directly about needs and goals can limits our insight ê  Give human characteristics to an interface ê  Their perspective on how they interact with it ê  Lets participants explore approaches with their own filters
12. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Storytelling Storytelling Gain insights into human perspectives
13. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Game Play ê  Break free from rigidity of traditional interview styles ê  Ease stress on participants, making them less reserved ê  Allows researchers to observe people in competition ê  Capture emotional reactions ê  Insight into communication styles
14. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Game Play Break free of the rigidity of traditional interviews
15. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Desirability Testing ê  Which visual design evokes a better emotional response? ê  Halo Affect ê  Why not just ask them which design they like better? ê  Assess emotional impact and how it aligns with brand ê  Qualitative & Quantitative
16. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Desirability Testing Assess the emotional impact of a design
17. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Other research approaches ê  Laddering ê  Triading ê  Storyteling ê  Game Play ê  Desirability Testing ê  Contextual Inquiry ê  Ethnography ê  Bodystorming ê  Early usability testing ê  Comics, sketching
18. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Findings Prioritization, Visualization, & Team Building 2 3 4 1 5 6 7 Importance Hi gh Lo w
19. @megangrocki @AmyCueva So you’ve gotten to the core of what makes people tick, their emotional triggers, and their cognitive expectations. The team gets it. Now what??
20. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Generate some fracking amazing ideas.
21. @megangrocki @AmyCueva But wait… First you need to figure some things out. ê  What are your experience objectives? ê  What is your organization’s risk tolerance threshold? ê  Who will be involved in generating ideas, communicating them, and executing on them? ê  Who are your allies? Form a multi-disciplinary team and start communicating from the start.
22. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Brainstorming. Let’s get this party started right. ê  Lotus Blossom Technique ê  Brain Writing ê  Brain Drawing ê  User-Centric Narrative & Storytelling ê  Slot Machine of Goodness ê  Brainstorming Solo Chauncey Wilson is the master.
23. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Lotus Blossom Technique Topic A D F G H E C B A B C E H G F D Topic
24. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Brain Writing Procedure 1 1.  Present a group with a request for ideas 2.  Ask people to write down ideas 3.  Take those ideas and pass them to another person who reads the ideas and adds several more 4.  Iterate several times (generally taking no more than 5-15 minutes) Procedure 2 1.  Hand pages out to each person 2.  Ask the person to write 3 ideas on a page and put it in a pile and take one from the pile (or a clean sheet), read the items and add a few more 3.  Repeat several times and collect all the pages 4.  Twist: This method could be tried via email
25. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Brain Drawing ê Round robin brainstorming for rapidly generating concepts & ideas ê Requires people to write and draw quickly and show their results to others on the team ê Twist: This could be tried in “asynchronous” fashion in a group area Brain Drawing for the concept “Filter Object”
26. @megangrocki @AmyCueva User-Centered Narrative & Storytelling
27. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Slot Machine of Goodness ê  Select Topic ê  Lists in Columns ê  Select one from each column ê  Ideas in the overlap Topics Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Channels, Attributes, or Methods
28. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Solo Brainstorming ê Take your work offsite. Go for a sensory overload or underload ê Go crazy on a whiteboard. SKETCH. Just. Go. Crazy. ê Take a shower. The water increases circulation to your brain. ê Caffeinate and eat chocolate. ê Go for a drive, rock out. This can facilitate your “brain marination”. ê Take a break, or switch tasks. ê Go to sleep. But before you do briefly contemplate the problem. ê Talk to someone who has no idea about the problem space.
29. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Execution Considerations ê  Communicate: What is the best way to communicate these ideas? Make the business case. Speak their language. ê  Divide and conquer: Distribute concepting responsibilities ê  Validate: A design is just a hypothesis until you see it being used. ê  Prioritize: How will you prioritize the ideas? ê  Roadmap: Determine your plan for execution.
30. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Give the business what they didn’t know they needed. ê  Gradually integrate user touch points into every project. ê  De-mystify it. Don’t freak them out with big words or big budgets to start (unless they get it of course). ê  Involve the business in the process. Have them brainstorm. Have them design. Have them witness research and testing. ê  Work with them, how can they make sure this idea will not lose the business money or get them fired? ê  Introduce corporate design challenges.
31. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Questions? ???
32. @megangrocki @AmyCueva Contact Us Amy Cueva Founder & Chief Experience Officer amy@madpow.com Megan Grocki Senior Experience Designer mgrocki@madpow.com