Product Research
There are two types of needs: expressed and latent. Expressed needs are those directly stated, such as “I need to know when a show I want to watch is leaving a streaming service” or “I want to be able to quickly calculate the tip for a resturant tab”. Latent needs are those that users have, but are not aware of themselves. How often do you do something in a less than convenient way simply because it gets your goal done? A fun example is the Swiffer. It was created when the designer saw a friend mop up a spilled drink with his sock-covered foot, and proceed to toss the sock out. The mop, which required water and reusing was not as efficient as tossing out a cheap sock. Thus, a latent need for the Swiffer was discovered.
In this assignment you and your group will compile some research for the development of your application. You will to to find inspriation and better understand the target audience for whom you will be designing your customer’s product.
Domain Research
You will need to do background research on the domain of your application.
This includes:
- What applications/approaches currently exist in the domain?
- What is “good” about the current approaches?
- Could leverage product reviews
- What about the current approaches could use improvement?
- Could leverage product reviews
- What is “good” about the current approaches?
Collect written notes, screenshots, gifs, etc. as inspiration for what works and/or doesn’t work in the domain.
Needfinding
Additionally, you will need to research the people who are the primary audience for your application. While time does not permit a full and in-depth needfinding exercise, we will leverage a few of the basic concepts:
- Learn about what potential users do in relation to your topic
- Interview at least three people (at least two people need to not be in the developer or customer group)
- prepare questions about how they partake in a process or activity related to your application
- ask them to walk you through how they normally deal with activities related to your customer’s product
- ask follow-up and clarification questions
- Consider How might We questions
- TAKE NOTES
- If your product is meant to replace an existing process, or if people can show you how they normally do something, ask your interviewee to walk you through their process
- Interview at least three people (at least two people need to not be in the developer or customer group)
- Try and look deeper to understand the goals of your users
- Why is there a need in the first place?
- Is there a root cause that can be solved instead of an individual symptom? DOUBLE DIAMOND!
Avoid trying to come up with specific solutions at this stage as it limits potential ideas. Remember the example, if a person needs to stock a tall shelf with boxes, the person does not need a ladder. They could use a chair, ladder, forklift, stilts, etc. Simply know that they need a way to reach a high shelf.
How Do I Know If I’m Doing This Right?
- You have the implicit insight
- You have uncovered a surprise or found what is missing
- You can explain why people do unusual things
- You can explain a contradiction
- In interviews, you know what the subject will say next
- You can tell a good story
- You want to tell your friends, significant other, and people around you what you learned
What to submit
Create a short power point presentation for your customers to present the ideas you have regardintg their product. The PPT should have at least 5 slides (not counting a title slide). When displaying interview feedback, label participants as “Participant 1, 2, or 3”. You will upload this to Moodle before class on 02/12/25 and present your findings to your customers on 02/12/25.
After the presentation, review your user stories with the customer and see if there should be any revisions to the user stories. If a user story needs to be removed or completly replaced simply close the issue and open a new one if necessary. Revisions to the user stories on GitHub are to be completed by 11:59 pm on 02/14/25.