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This chapter has focused on qualitative research aimed at gathering user data that will later be used (as described in the next chapter) to construct robust user and domain models that form the key tools in the synthesis of Goal-Directed Design. Designers are likely familiar with, and will encounter, other forms of research, most of which are unsuitable as design tools, but which have their uses at other points in the development process. In this section, we will discuss several of the more prominent research methods and how they fit into the overall development effort.

Focus groups

Marketing organizations are particularly fond of gathering user data via focus groups , in which representative users, usually chosen to match previously identified demographics , are gathered together in a room and asked a structured set of questions and/or provided a structured set of choices. Often the meeting is recorded on audio or video media for later reference. Focus groups are a standard technique in traditional product marketing. They are useful for gauging initial reactions to the form of a product, its visual appearance, or industrial design. Focus groups can also gather reactions to a product that the respondents have been using for some time.

Although focus groups may appear to provide the requisite user contact, the method is in many ways not appropriate as a design tool. Focus groups excel at eliciting information about products that people own or are willing (or unwilling) to purchase, but are weak for gathering data about what people actually do with those products or how they do it. As already mentioned, people have trouble assessing exactly what they do and when: Their behaviors require observation to adequately capture them. Finally, focus groups, because they are a group activity, tend to drive to consensus: The majority or loudest opinion becomes the group opinion. This is anathema to the design process, because designers must understand all the different patterns of behavior a product must address. Focus groups tend to stifle exactly the diversity of opinion that designers need to understand.

Market demographics and market segments

The marketing profession has taken much of the guesswork out of determining what motivates people to buy. One of the most powerful tools for doing so is market segmentation, which groups people by their distinct needs to determine what types of consumers will be most receptive to a particular product or marketing message.

Marketers classify consumers according to a set of demographic and geographic variables such as age, race, education, income and location, the raw data of which is usually gathered by a combination of market surveys and focus groups. More sophisticated consumer data also include psychographics and behavioral variables including attitudes, lifestyle, values, ideology, risk aversion, and decision-making patterns. Classification systems such as SRI's VALS segmentation (SRI, 2002) and Jonathan Robbin's geodemographic PRIZM clusters (Weiss, 2000) can add greater clarity to the data by predicting consumers' purchasing power, motivation, self-orientation, and resources. These market-modeling techniques are not only able to forecast marketplace acceptance of products and services, but they can also be powerful tools for convincing executives to build a product. After all, if you know X people might buy a product or service for Y dollars, it is easy to evaluate the potential return on investment.

However, understanding why somebody wants to buy something is not the same thing as actually defining the product—what it is, how it will work, and how it will be used. Market segmentation is a great tool for defining markets, but an ineffective tool for defining products .

It turns out, however, that data gathered via market research, and that gathered via qualitative user research complement each other quite well. As already discussed, ethnographic interviewers should use market research to help them select interview targets. We will discuss the differences between segmentation models and user models in more detail in Chapter 5.

Usability and user testing

Usability, or user testing, focuses on measurable characteristics of a user's interaction with a product. Assessing the usability of a product focuses on standardized tests that yield quantifiable data. In usability testing, results often reveal trends pointing toward problem areas, as well as successful aspects of the product.

Usability testing requires a design artifact to test against. This places usability testing fairly late in the design cycle, after there is a coherent concept and sufficient detail to generate paper or other prototypes . User testing should also be performed as part of the test cycle on the product itself, with results provided to both the designers and developers.

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Because the findings of user testing are generally measurable and quantitative, usability research is especially useful in comparing specific design variants to choose the most effective solution. Customer feedback gathered from usability testing is most useful when you need to validate or refine the interaction mechanisms or the form and expression of specific design elements.

Usability is especially effective at testing:

Naming : Do section/button labels make sense? Do certain words resonate better than others do?
Organization : Especially true for products that deliver information (as opposed to providing a service). Is information grouped into the right number of categories? Are items located in the places customers might look for them?
First-time use and discoverability : Are common items easy to find for new users? Are instructions clear? Are instructions necessary?
Effectiveness : Can customers efficiently complete specific tasks ? Are they making missteps? Where? How often?

When user testing, be sure that what you are testing is actually measurable and that the results will be useful in correcting design issues. Jakob Nielsen's Usability Engineering (1993) is the classic volume on usability, and provides excellent guidance on the subject.

Take the time to plan your user research. Match the appropriate technique to the appropriate place in your development cycle. Your product will benefit, and you'll avoid wasting time and resources. Putting a product to the test in a lab to see whether it passes or fails may provide a lot of data, but not necessarily a lot of value. Using ethnographic interviews at the beginning of the process allows you, as a designer, to truly understand your users, their needs and their motivations. Once you have a solid design concept based on qualitative user research and the models that research feeds, your usability testing will become an even more efficient tool for judging the effectiveness of design choices you have made. Qualitative research allows you to do the heavy lifting up front in the process.

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Cooper A., Reimann R.

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