Part I: Research
When building a house or remodeling a kitchen, itâs not uncommon to spend a fair amount of time planning before you let contractors go willy-nilly. Typically, you research neighborhoods or cabinet manufactures, and look for inspiration in various interior design or architecture magazines. Then during the build-out, things will more or less go according to plan and everybodyâs happy. Can you imagine what the process would be like if you didnât plan anything upfront and winged it? It would be a disasterâyou wouldnât even consider itâŚNot surprisingly, designing software without a plan usually ends the same wayâa disaster.
I talk to many folks that have great ideas for apps, yet so many of those apps remain exactly thatâideas. Nothing gets built and ideas fade away. Or whatâs worse, they jump in headfirst, slapping things together and the result, amongst other things, is a poorly designed product. On the contrary, Iâve seen applications come together in a mere few weeks that look and work great. As with any process, doing the due diligence and planning upfront has its benefits.
The first two chapters of the book will help you kick off your next project right. If youâre new to the field and arenât sure how to get started, or if youâre looking for inspiration to help kick-start your design, these chapters will be helpful. Throughout Part I you will learn about the following topics:
⢠Performing fundamental user research
⢠Gleaning user insights that will fuel your next application
⢠Finding inspiration and leveraging it in your app design
⢠Presenting user research to stakeholders
Chapter 1: Planning
âIt works, but nobody uses itâ
SO YOU JUST finished your latest digital creation, and you managed to squeeze in every last toolbar, pop-up menu, banner, button, tooltip, and scrolling marquee. Itâs awesome . . . right? Iâm sure it is. But sadly, more features rarely mean better software.
Well-designed software doesnât start with a functional requirements list, pretty pictures, or a slick algorithm. It starts with people. People use software as a means to an end. Whether itâs a website, MP3 player, or utility, users have distinct needs and motivations for using the digital product. Itâs your job to cater to them.
How many times have you found yourself using, say, a GPS unit or kiosk and thinking, âThat doesnât make any senseâ or âWhy did they design it that way?â Chances are, the people who built the software werenât thinking about you. Tragic, I know.
Seriously though, all too often we approach building software solely in terms of functional requirements. We approach every problem by looking for the best technology solution, rather than focusing on whatâs best for the user. After all, that is how software development is typically taught in school and how most projects are structured.
Iâll let you in on a little secret. Creating successful software is not that complicated. In fact, all you must do is understand what users need, and then give it to them in the clearest, least cluttered way possible. Simple, huh? Well, not exactly. But, by using the techniques in this chapter, youâll be well on your way to creating software people love to use.
An Introduction to User Research
Many industries conduct extensive user research to create that perfect product. For example, the advertising, gaming, and auto industries invest tremendously in user research. Frankly, however, the tech community is a bit behind in adopting user research as an integral part of software design. Okay, maybe thatâs a bit overstated, because user research seems to be prevalent among web designers and Human Computer Interaction students. However, why do websites and school projects get all the attention? Why not kiosks, digital signage, ATMS, GPS units, or cable box menus for that matter? Ugh . . . just thinking about navigating my DVR makes me tired all over.
The whole point of doing user research, and this is important, is to generate insights and empathy. Most good product solutions revolve around a just few good insights. Nonetheless, the field of user research isnât new, and the techniques in this chapter barely scratch the surface of whatâs out there. However, using just a few key techniques can have a profound impact on the usability of your application. Letâs have a look.
KEY POINT
The whole point of doing user research, and this is important, is to generate insights and empathy.
User Research Is Not Usability
The terms user research and usability go hand in hand but arenât necessarily interchangeable. User research, through various techniques, can lead to insights that can improve usability. But at its core, user research is about understanding the needs and goals of users. I like to think of user research as the precursor to usability.
Design Lingo: Ethnography
Another form of user research worth mentioning is ethnography. Wait, ethnoâwhat? Ethnographic research methods are aimed at generating understandings from a particular group of people or culture. Wikipedia defines it as follows: âA qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of the cultural group.â
Ethnographic research methods are outside the scope of this book, but they can help demonstrate when ethnography might be useful. I like to think of ethnography as a pre-product activity. In other words, before you identify an audience or particular problem to solve, you can conduct ethnographic research to determine social and behavioral trends that might lead to the invention of a new product.
Table 1-1 shows use cases for ethnography, user research, and usability testing..
Table 1-1: Cases for Ethnography, User Research, and Usability Resting
| Technique | When Should I Use It? | What Is It Good For? |
| Ethnography | Before you know the whos and whats | Uncovering trends and potential product ideas |
| User research | Once you have an audience and problem to solve | Understanding the goals and needs of the user |
| Usability testing | After youâve built something and are ready to refine | Identifying interaction and interface flaws |
Start with User Insights
Before you can build the next killer website, widget, or app, you need to understand what the userâs goals are. As technologists, we have some issues with prying ourselves away from the minutiaâour meticulous attention to detail and compulsive habits tend to inhibit us from looking beyond our own role on a project. These arenât bad characteristics because they help make for great engineering minds. However, taking a step back and really getting into the userâs shoes will help you understand the real problem.
To illustrate this point, Iâll use Dropbox.com. Dropbox is a utility application that makes syncing files extremely simple. Dropbox operates from a particular perspective: Technologists often work with many computers and potentially many operating systems. Syncing files among computers can be a cumbersome task, and before Dropbox, the only products that claimed to help solve this problem were complicated and rife with inconsistencies.
Dropbox understands these pain-points, but whatâs more, it understands the motivations and behaviors of users seeking a better solution. Its product works exactly how you expect it to and where you need it most. Dropbox didnât create a flashy user interface (UI); in fact, itâs virtually a UI-less product. For Dropbox, it was about understanding the target audienceâs needs and delivering a solution as elegantly as possible.
The secret sauce, if you will, of great software stems from your ability to uncover your audienceâs motivations, which in turn, leads to key behaviors that result in connections between your software and the user. For example, take a look at top sites and apps such as Mint, Evernote, and Amazon. All these sites are extremely efficient at helping users complete a handful of core tasks.
KEY POINT
Great software stems from your ability to uncover your audienceâs motivations, which in turn, leads to key behaviors that result in connections between your software and the user.
Despite its size, Amazon remains really good at one thingâmaking it super easy to...
