Article Idea:
Extreme User Research
suggested by Daniel Lafreniere on 2007/09/23
Here is the intro of a paper I’d like to see published on B&A :
What is the biggest problem I face almost every time a client hires me to do something about a Web project going awry? They don’t know a thing about their users. They don’t have a clue, whatsoever. Unbelievable but true! Good designers will certainly argue that THEY don’t need user data to do proper design. That if THEY like it, EVERYBODY will like… sure! This probably explains why so many Web projects fail in so many levels : usability, esthetics, emotions and profitability. What’s the remedy to this world-wide infection? User research… but not in the typical version, meaning lengthy ethnographic studies that seem to take forever before obtaining some data. I’m talking about a new way of doing it. I call it “Extreme user research”. What’s so extreme about it? Well, it can be done in 30 minutes (per interviewee) and it generates loads of useful data that will have a real impact on design, thus making your website more profitable.
Want to see this idea turned into a story?
6 people said yes. | 0 people said no.
Parth Upadhye
0 Reputation points
Posted 2007/10/04 @ 07:13AM with
Post-sale, most web projects begin with a meeting of the team. That’s an excellent forum to conduct a quick “game” or workshop – 30 minutes max as you’ve indicated – led by the team not client to clarify the user persona.
Jonathan Baker-Bates
17 Reputation points
Posted 2007/11/07 @ 07:22AM with
Parth – are you saying you come up with a persona in 30 minutes? What about research?
Daniel Lafreniere
42 Reputation points
Posted 2007/11/07 @ 12:41PM with
What I’m saying is that in 30 minutes, you can extract loads of information from a user. By applying this approach to a certain number of users and then doing analysis, you can come up with personas. The complete paper addresses all those issues. Just hoping it will get published on B&A.