This week, our continued exploration of of 23 user research methods brings us to category number 6: Get Creative.
In Get Creative, research methods that tap into the creativity of real life users can lead to extremely valuable insights. These methods can help users express concepts or feelings that they might not be able to put into words otherwise.
Draw your experience
Prepare your participants by asking them to record their habits or feelings with regard to a certain topic for about a week. At the end of the week, provide an inviting array of drawing tools, and ask them to visually express their experience and feelings. Listen carefully to the stories they tell as they describe their illustrations.
Card Sort
Prepare your participants as described in Draw Your Experience. Provide a small deck of cards using words and/or images relevant to your concept, and ask your participants to arrange the cards in ways that make sense to them.
Collage
Prepare your participants as described in Draw Your Experience. Invite a small group of participants to build collages from provided materials. A mixture of ambiguous words, images, stickers, and shapes allows the participants to project their own meanings. Ask them to present and explain their collages.
Velcro Modeling
Prepare your participants as described in Draw Your Experience. Assemble a toolkit of components common to the kind of product you hope to design. For example, if you’re designing a new product or appliance to clean your teeth, provide various cartons, caps, shapes and materials that allow the users to configure their own product using those components.
If you’d like to hear more about how to use these methods, give us a call. Or check out our recent posts on Show me, Tell me, Get a Report, Watch and Listen and Test It.