Erica Eden at IIT Design Research Conference 2010 from IIT Institute of Design on Vimeo.

Made me laugh!

A place where we carry out design research, social research and consumer ethnography.

From thinkpublic

Prototyping made simple from thinkpublic on Vimeo.

Thinking about testing a mobile device? Have a look at this post ‘Making an aluminum mobile device camera sled’ which explains how to built a small device to attach a camera to to record user interactions with mobile devices.

Commuter Game Design by Oli Shaw.

Over the last few months I have been working on projects where there’s a significant element of community, visitor and stakeholder engagement involved in the work. I thought it may be useful to share some thoughts on the research tools I have been using:

Online survey – using Survey Monkey
We have found that this is particularly useful tool to use with missed audiences who do not currently engage with the product / service.

Mini group discussions
Cost effective way to engage with different audiences. Although important to ensure one participant does not ‘dominant the group’.

Drop in sessions / workshops – ‘co-creation’
Working with users to ‘co-create’ solutions to enhance the experience. Allows users to be involved in the design of the experience and to take a degree of ownership.

Post it Note Boards
Notice boards at key sites set up and visitors are invited to leave comments on the notice boards. Cost effective and collects data which isn’t influenced by a ‘third party’

Interviews
Both closed and open ended questions. Can help to collect in-depth information about individual visitors (best carried out in context).

Photo diaries
Hand diaries and disposable camera to regular users to record their visits / use of a product / service. Allows participants to capture what is important to them. The visual data collected can be used in follow up interviews with participants.

Mapping the journey and visitor experience
Walk around environments with users to observe how they interact with the environment. Allows rich ‘contextual’ data to be collected.

Observational research
Observe how visitors people use the product / service in their world.

Expert review
Provides an outside and independent review of the experience (although it can be costly).

Feedback loops
It’s important to set up a feedback mechanism so that consultees can be kept up to date with developments. Allows users and stakeholders to be kept fully involved with the project.

Video Vox Pops
Short interviews with a range of users, staff and stakeholders. Quickly captures information in a visual format which can be easily shared.

Cultural Probes from DNX.

Cultural Probes from dnx on Vimeo.