User studies

To develop just the right product for your users, you must understand what they need and desire. By studying your users, you are able to analyse:

• How the users perform their tasks now
• What they need
• What they want
• What they think
• What the use context requires from the product

Direct contact with real users provides rich information.

The basic method for studying users is observation and interviews in real settings (also called contextual inquiry or field studies). Focus group discussions or prototype walkthroughs may be included. The resulting qualitative data is analysed through, for example, classification with affinity diagramming to see the themes and to present conclusions.

The final deliverable is a detailed and illustrated report on the findings and conclusions. Video clip samples or other genuine material from the field may be included.