"User" Research Interview

UX research focuses on understanding user behaviors, needs, and motivations through observation and feedback... UX Research can help bridge the gap between what a business thinks the user needs and what the user actually needs
– What is UX Research? Google UX Design Certificate

Instructions

As you begin ideating on P2: Public Utility, consider how others may respond to your idea, and which of their "needs" it would address. A common tactic in interaction design to gather this info is foundational research which is used to answer the question "what should be built?". There are many forms this type of research can take, from surveys, to interviews, to usability studies. And there are in-depth methodoligies behind all of these methods, but for our purposes, we'll be conducting a simple research interview with the goal of creating a "problem statement" to describe your area of focus and the goal of your design.

In design, you’re solving for user needs and business goals. In research, you’re solving for a lack of information. A research problem statement describes your topic and your goal.
– Just Enough Research, Erika Hall

Find two friends, family members, and/or classmates (or other aquaintances/strangers) and conduct simple research interviews to assess how they may address the issue you're interested in via an application. Start with the following questions*, but feel free to add any more you may like to:

  1. What’s your relationship like with [topic ... e.g. money, fitness, etc]
  2. How do you currently go about [problem / task]?
  3. How much time do you typically spend on [problem / task]?
  4. Tell me about the last time you tried to [problem / task]?
  5. What do you like about how you currently [problem / task]?
  6. What is the biggest pain point related to [problem / task]?
  7. Why do you keep doing [problem / task] ... why is it important to you?
  8. What type of work arounds have you created to help you with this?
  9. What’s the hardest part about [problem / task]?
  10. What are you currently doing to make this [problem / task] easier?
  11. What other products or tools have you tried out?
  12. What do you like or dislike about these other products or tools?

*Adapted from Starter Questions For User Research by Sarah Doody

Collect your responses into a Google doc, and share them with Chris over email.

References