Our approach to user research has been specifically based on the key stake holder North Tyneside youth council. These a young people aged between 13 – 18 therefore it is particularly important that our method is suitable for the age group.
- What methods do you employ? (i.e. see lecture 2), Who do you involve and what insights do you hope to gain? What did you plan for your user interviews?
The initial method was contextual enquiry as it includes user conversation. With emphasis on the talking aloud method and artefact use. We feel this would be best as sometimes younger people can express their thoughts and ideas verbally or through visuals aid such as drawings. With large groups such as a youth council it will also encourage a collaborative detailing practice. Where all members are included rather than a survey or questionnaire style. Along with this method we also decided to conduct one of our meetings with the youth council using a design research method. It was intended to run the session in a workshop format. We created poster prompts to allow the members to write down ideas and thoughts in a creative way including different coloured pens in order of importance. Through these posters we has planned for a particular points or question to be on each so it wasn’t to over whelming. The points were of significance to help us better understand what the stake holders wanted achieved. With putting two methods into place we could create a strong attention to values and experience, but also making tangible with the use of posters and interactive activities.
Although we have had one meeting with the youth council members we do hope to have a more productive second meeting. Unfortunately, we did face some challenges with the adults present. They did take over the session and asked many of their own questions. Making it difficult to run the work shop style session with the youth member. Although it was beneficial because it clearly outlined we have a lot further to go with understanding clearly what they want achieved through the digital method. As it was different to what we had expected, they don’t want an app or anything online due to cost. So we are revisiting this as they want something much more simpler.
For our future research we hope to follow a workshop style for the youth with an additional element of wither surveys or questionnaires for the adults involved. This would allow for both groups to have a platform of opinion and ideas without one dominating. During week 4 we have also decided to outline some goals based on feedback from our previous blogs and what we learnt from our client meetings.
- Key issues or issue the North Tyneside Council want achieved from a digital method
- Is there a particular emphasis on the environment in the area if so do they wish for this method to help solved these issues?
- Who should this digital method be aimed at? Youth council member or general public?
Hello team, thanks for the entry. It is useful to see how you are getting on with your user research. I can see you’ve done good progress in arranging a workshop to gather priorities from the representatives of the young people council in regard to their engagement with the officers; or ‘adults’ as you call them. I note interesting tensions in your blog entry that you will hopefully unpick further.
In regard to understanding your methods, I would encourage you to review the two articles for week two and reference those in-text in the discussion of your approach to user research. I would also be interested in a bit more detail on the workshop itself (e.g. what materials prepared and went in with, what activity you did, how long it took, broadly how many young people attended / and how many workshop facilitators there were , what outcomes you obtained … any images / photos from the activities?).
I think the note that the staff that was present asked questions of their own and that this was perhaps challenging to moderate for you is interesting. You note that you may wish to do a survey or separate channel for them to feedback. I think that’s indicating you have found two very different audiences attending; you could also reflect what you might do differently in the planning of this workshop next time (in expectation that there are two very groups of participants attending). Also reflect critically in how far you succeeded to remain problem-focused (so retain focus on the subject matter, rather than which digital solutions might be possible).
Given that we are going towards the end of the background research / initial enquiry; is there perhaps an alternate way for you to document project priorities for your stakeholders when it comes to environmental matters. For example, was there anything discussed in the workshop you attended in week two? Could you ask for the documentation from the workshop that summarises the outcomes? (usually there is some form of documentation) to determine priorities for your design.
I look forward to your next post.
Hi team,
A good blog which outlines your approach to user research and gives an update of where you are at with the project. It’s great that you are referring to the lecture material and the approach to research you’re taking but try to cite your sources using academic papers and material to back up some of your claims.
You have raised some interesting challenges through the description of your workshop. It would have been good to know more information about the activities you did and who was present. Speaking about the ‘adults’ doesn’t show the audience you were interacting with.
You also note that the outcome of the workshop was ‘different than you expected’. I would encourage you to put aside your any assumptions and try to really listen to those you have engaged with so far. By focusing on solutions or ideas that the team might have already thought about, it can lead to imposing solutions that are not what your stakeholders would like. Rather than thinking about it as a simple transaction of information exchange between you and the stakeholders, try to think more collaboratively – speaking to each other, listening to the concerns of the others and coming up with ideas or solutions together.
Moving forward, I think starting to pull together what the stakeholders said and prioritising those will be important. Go back to the documentation you made during the workshop – whether this is recordings or notes – and try to pick out the important aspects. Once you have done this, only then try to think about the possibilities for technology.