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Research toolbox:
Exploring innovation
opportunities, emotion
and desirability
Miriam Walker 9 September 2016
@miriamswalker

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Intros
9:30
Purpose of exploratory research
9:50
Transforming through research
10:10
Choosing research methods
10:20
Break
10:45
Personal journey maps
10:55
Magic thing
11:30
Microsoft Product Reaction Cards
12:00
Wrap up
12:10
Agenda

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Introduction
Your name"
Your role"
"
What you’d like to
learn today

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Understand the role of
exploratory research
Introduction
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Understand the
potential of research to
transform
Learn to apply three
research methods:
• Personal journey maps
• Magic Thing
• Microsoft Product
Reaction Cards
Get better at choosing
research methods for
exploration
What you’ll learn!

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Purpose of exploratory
research

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Purpose of exploratory research
British Design
Council: Double
Diamond!

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Purpose of exploratory research
Digital Arts Network
(Auckland)
Discover Design Implement Measure
Measured
Outcome
Business
Objective

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Exploration helps us find
opportunities by:
• Understanding users
• Environments
• Business goals and technology
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Purpose of exploratory research
Types of research

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Transforming through research"
What don’t you !
know, that you !
don’t know?!

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Evaluation helps us
select and iterate to:
• Choose the best ideas
• Refine and improve design
• Find problems
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Purpose of exploratory research
Types of research

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Measurement helps us:
• Understand what changed because of our
design
• Identify areas for further improvement
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Purpose of exploratory research
Types of research

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Purpose of exploratory research
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What research methods "
have you used?
Two minutes to write down as many
research methods as you’ve used
(one per Post It)

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Purpose of exploratory research
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What don’t you know that "
you don’t know?
Which of your research methods are
best at finding the things that
you don’t know to ask?
Stick your research method
Post-Its on the wall

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Transforming through
research

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Transforming through research
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Coach and train new
researchers
Demonstrate your
methods to a colleague
Show the value by sharing
outcomes and insights
Get product managers and
business owners to observe
Provide input for business
strategy and purpose
Explore opportunities,
not just pain points
Create a user centred culture and organisation

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Transforming through research
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Hearts and !
minds!
In small groups, 10 minutes to
share your experiences:
1. How have you shared your
research?
2. Who did you involve?
3. What were your goals by
involving them?
4. What was the impact?

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Choosing exploratory
research methods

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Dian Fossey
An Anthropologist
who researched
Gorillas
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30313306
Choosing exploratory research methods

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The pinnacle of qualitative
research?
• What questions was Dian "
trying to answer?
• What methods did she use?
• What were the strengths
and weaknesses of her
methods?
Choosing exploratory research methods

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Choosing exploratory research methods
Scientists seek a "
universal truth
By Rich Gold- approx 2001?

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Choosing exploratory research methods
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Scientific research often
starts with a belief (the
hypothesis)
E.g. chocolate helps people to sleep
The holy grail of science "
research is proof

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Choosing exploratory research methods
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An experiment is designed
to gather data to test the
hypothesis (the
methodology).
E.g. For 30 nights, students eat 100g dark
choc at 9pm and rate their sleep /10 at
8am.
The holy grail of science "
research is proof

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Choosing exploratory research methods
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We try to avoid bias from
participants and
researchers.
E.g. Give 100g identical fake choc on half
the nights. Each student has both fake and
real chocolate (on different nights).
The holy grail of science "
research is proof

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Choosing exploratory research methods
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We run statistics to test
whether we have
supported or disproved the
hypothesis.
E.g. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test indicates
that sleeping after chocolate was
significantly better than with fake
chocolate Z = 21 p=0.027.
The holy grail of science "
research is proof

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Choosing exploratory research methods
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But we can’t conclusively
prove the hypothesis over
an alternative explanation.
E.g. Chocolate only increases students’
sleep OR our result applies only to
Whittakers
The holy grail of science "
research is proof

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Choosing exploratory research methods
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Scientific research often starts with a belief (the
hypothesis)
An experiment is designed to gather data to test the
hypothesis (the methodology).
We try to avoid bias from participants and
researchers.
We run statistics to test whether we have supported
or disproved the hypothesis.
But we can’t conclusively prove the hypothesis over
an alternative explanation.
E.g. chocolate helps people to sleep
E.g. For 30 nights, students eat 100g dark choc at
9pm and rate their sleep /10 at 8am.
E.g. Give 100g identical fake choc on half the
nights. Each student has both fake and real
chocolate (on different nights).
E.g. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test indicates that
sleeping after chocolate was significantly better
than with fake chocolate Z = 21 p=0.027.
E.g. chocolate only increases students’ sleep OR
our result applies only to Whittakers

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Setting research goals
:
• What do we want to know?
• What are the opportunities?
• Who are our target users?
• What behaviours, attitudes, environments and
products do we want to understand?
• What do we already know or have?
• Who are our competitors?
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Choosing exploratory research methods
Exploratory research
questions

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Choosing exploratory research methods
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Practicalities
What research methods do you choose most often?
Why do you choose those methods?
What are the constraints that apply most often in your work?
10 minute group discussion.
Please appoint a spokesperson to share your key points.

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Research goals
• What do we want to know?
• What are the opportunities?
• Who are our target users?
• What behaviours, attitudes, environments and
products do we want to understand?
• What do we already know or have?
• Who are our competitors?
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Choosing exploratory research methods
Exploratory research "
planning questions

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Digital Arts Network often find
ourselves running usability
testing and interviews.
These are generally 1:1 sessions
Why?
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Choosing exploratory research methods
Why are 1:1 methods "
and usability testing "
so popular?

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• Explore details of something
in the past
• Avoid assumptions about what
happens/ed
• Understand emotions about current
experiences
• Increase empathy and understanding
from researchers
• Find new opportunities for
design / pain points
• Generate ideas
• Encourage positive and
negative feedback
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Choosing exploratory research methods
Why expand our "
techniques?

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10 minute break

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Personal Journey Maps

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Personal Journey Maps
Deciding to visit New Zealand

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Identify areas for improvement, based on
pain points with a current experience.
Explore experiences that take place over
time (e.g. medical conditions from
symptoms, through diagnosis and
treatment)
Explore strong emotions
Understand where the user interacts with
multiple touch-points.
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Personal Journey Maps
Why map the journey "
of an individual?

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Start with real stories and experiences
Avoid creating journey maps that are
aggregations of idealised user behaviour
and experiences
Exploring both positive and negative
experiences.
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Personal Journey Maps
How we map the
journey

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1. Provide the prompt “Tell me about your
experience of …"
2. Ask your participant to describe the
steps
3. Write one step per Post-It and add to
the timeline
4. Probe gently with “how did that feel” for
painpoints and move the Post-Its up
and down
5. Probe for more details on key touch-
points and steps – add more Post-Its
into the timeline
6. Use additional prompts “What
happened next?” ”What did you do?”
“What did you use?” “What did you
see?” “Who did you talk to ?” “Who
was with you?” “What did you say?”
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The Process

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• A user recounts a real experience from
their lives
• The user talks the researcher through
each step
• Add actions and interactions
(touchpoints) at every step
• Add emotions and pain points - probe
and prompt gently
• Identify pain points and areas for
improvement
• Discuss any obvious ideas for
improvement (but don’t expect to solve
everything in the session)
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Personal Journey Maps
Mapping the journey "
together

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Prompts:
Where did you start?
What happened?
What happened next?
Where did you start?
What happened?
What happened next?
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Personal Journey Maps
Map of visiting the airport
In groups of five people, the person
who visited the airport most recently
is your research participant.
Story: Tell me about the last time you
visited the airport.

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Personal Journey Maps to:
• Explore details of something
in the past
• Understand emotions
• Increase empathy and understanding
from researchers
• Find new opportunities and problems
• Avoid assumptions about
what happens/ed
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Personal Journey Maps
Why would we use
Personal Journey
Maps?

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Magic Thing

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“Imagine you had a magic thing that
could [solve your problems / make your
life better / manage your health / achieve
your goals / make travel more enjoyable /
help you save money] …”
Make a prototype! Sketch, act, construct.
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Personal Journey Maps
Use, imagine or create "
a magic thing

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• What happens?
• What does your magic thing do?
• Why does that help you?
• What happens next?
• How does your magic thing change
your life?
• How often would you do this? When?
• Where would you do it?
• How important is this to you?
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Personal Journey Maps
Probes for each usage
scenario

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• Problems, pain points and opportunities
• Ideas for solutions (though this is more
about understanding the opportunity for
innovation than solving a problem)
• You will be able to probe on why, when
and how the problem happens
• Where and when a product or service
might be used
• Ideas for using a new technology (e.g.
this technique was used to explore
mobile connected devices – in the 1990s)
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Personal Journey Maps
What will you learn

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But magic thing is not so useful for
understanding:
• How usage will evolve over time
• The effect of advertising or other
marketing on expectations of how
something will be used
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Personal Journey Maps
What will you learn

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Ideas for clients (or create
your own)
a) Client A helps families hire nannies
b) Client B creates products for endurance
triathletes
c) Client C specialises in adventure travel
for people in wheelchairs
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Choosing exploratory research methods
Activity: Plan a Magic
Thing activity
In pairs, you have 10 minutes to
• Pick a client
• Decide what you want to learn
• Decide who to recruit
• Write your Magic Thing instructions

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To deepen the scenario and add realism,
ask participants to:
• Make a model of their magic thing
(playdough, popsicle sticks,
pipecleaners) or sketch a picture and
explain it
• Give it a name
• Tell you “What is the first thing you see
when you open it up?”
• Prompt with “What else does it do?”
• Ask “How has it made your life better?”
• Perhaps act or roleplay with the the
interviewer
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Personal Journey Maps
Extending Magic
Thing

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Outside an interview:
• Use magic thing in a group, for role-
playing with others. To explore social and
group usage.
• Ask participants to carry their magic thing
for several days and keep a note of how
they use it - to explore mobility, time and
real life needs. Some researchers have
observed magic thing usage over several
days.
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Personal Journey Maps
Extending Magic
Thing

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Magic Thing to understand:
• Pain points
• Expectations
• Explore opportunities for design
• (Sometimes) generate ideas
• Explore opportunities
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Personal Journey Maps
Why would we use "
Magic Thing?

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Microsoft Product
Reaction Cards

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We want to know if a product or service
is desirable. But:
• There is no single characteristic or
behaviour that makes products desirable
(E.g. are we aiming for clean and easy-to-
use OR engaging and inspiring)
• Qualitative feedback is hard to
summarise and compare across
participants and products
• Negative feedback can be hard to elicit
from participants – people want to please
• Comparing the product team’s goal with
users’ experiences can feel like conflict
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Microsoft Product Reaction Cards
Why is desirability
hard to measure?

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Microsoft Product Reaction Cards
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The complete set of 118 Product Reaction Cards
Accessible Creative Fast Meaningful Slow
Advanced Customizable Flexible Motivating Sophisticated
Annoying Cutting edge Fragile Not Secure Stable
Appealing Dated Fresh Not Valuable Sterile
Approachable Desirable Friendly Novel Stimulating
Attractive Difficult Frustrating Old Straight Forward
Boring Disconnected Fun Optimistic Stressful
Business-like Disruptive Gets in the way Ordinary Time-consuming
Busy Distracting Hard to Use Organized Time-Saving
Calm Dull Helpful Overbearing Too Technical
Clean Easy to use High quality Overwhelming Trustworthy
Clear Effective Impersonal Patronizing Unapproachable
Collaborative Efficient Impressive Personal Unattractive
Comfortable Effortless Incomprehensible Poor quality Uncontrollable
Compatible Empowering Inconsistent Powerful Unconventional
Compelling Energetic Ineffective Predictable Understandable
Complex Engaging Innovative Professional Undesirable
Comprehensive Entertaining Inspiring Relevant Unpredictable
Confident Enthusiastic Integrated Reliable Unrefined
Confusing Essential Intimidating Responsive Usable
Connected Exceptional Intuitive Rigid Useful
Consistent Exciting Inviting Satisfying Valuable
Controllable Expected Irrelevant Secure
Convenient Familiar Low Maintenance Simplistic

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Ask:
• How does using this product made you
feel?
• How does this service made you feel?
• How would you like to feel when using
this product?
• How would we like users of this product
to feel about the product?
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Microsoft Product Reaction Cards
Prompts
Invite participants to
pick 5 words

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The only word that’s ever misfired
is Simplistic
Google search dictionary: “treating
complex issues and problems as if they
were much simpler than they really are.”
The meaning is negative
But ”simplistic” is often misinterpreted as
a fancy word for “simple”. So people
think it’s positive.
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Microsoft Product Reaction Cards
A caution –
“Simplistic” "
is confusing

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Microsoft Product Reaction Cards
Beware the word
cloud
Word clouds are misleading and not helpful
for summarising qualitative data
Phrases get split and lose meaning or
context e.g. “Not helpful” or “Easy to use”
“don’t like”
Some words have different meanings in
different contexts

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1. Form product teams
2. Each team has a secret product. Shhhh!
3. Open your teams’ secret product
envelope.
4. Each person picks the five words that
would make you love this product
5. Combine your words - vote using
coloured dots
6. – which words got the most votes for
your product?
7. Fill in your product poster (five minutes)
Report back: “My ideal [product] is (word
1, word 2, word 3, word 4)
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Microsoft Product Reaction Cards
Activity: Describe
desirability for your
secret product

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Microsoft Product Reaction Cards
Two minutes to guess
the products
"
Put post-it notes with
your guess next to the
poster

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Microsoft Product Reaction Cards
Product Reaction "
Card usage
Use Microsoft Product Reaction
Cards to:
• Understand the feeling you are trying to
create
• Test or demonstrate a prototype or
product with users
• Compare products (e.g. against
competitor’s products)
• Talk to current customers

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Wrap up

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Wrap up
Responding to "
briefs
In groups, review your brief:
• What questions do you want to answer?
• What risks do you see in this project?
• What research methods could you apply?

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Wrap up
Why did we learn
these techniques?
Personal Journey Maps to:
• Explore the past
• Understand emotions
• Increase empathy
• Find new opportunities
• Avoid assumptions

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Wrap up
Why did we learn
these techniques?
Magic Thing to understand:
• Pain points
• Explore opportunities for design
• (Sometimes) generate ideas

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ClosWrap upe
Why did we learn
these techniques?
Microsoft Product Reaction Cards:
• Elicit the desired and actual experience
qualitatively
• Get positive and negative feedback
• Allow comparison between participants
and products
• Make it easy to summarise qualitative
data

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Wrap up
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What worked well?
What could be improved?
Session feedback