Problems

Problems

1. Understanding problems

   • Communicate with people
     • Surveys
       • structured, asynchronous, impersonal
     • Secondary research
       • leverages insights that others have gained from communicating with people, and published in research papers, books, and other sources.
     • Observations
       • Connecting with people spaces, practices, collaborations, and their communication with others (Contextual Inquiry)
         • Basic steps
           • Define a focus, Perform an inquiry, Create a partnership
           • Don’t generate questions in advance
           • Focus on questions about the work that is happening in context
           • Record audio, photos, notes, and any other raw data
     • Interviews
       • synchronous, personal, semi-structured
       • Things to avoid
         • Avoid double-negatives
         • Don’t ask loaded questions
         • Don’t ask leading questions
       • Things to do
         • Define a focus and prepare an organized list of the questions
         • Brainstorm and review the set of possible questions
         • Schedule time to interview a few people who we believe will have insight into the issue
         • “Pilot” the interview and establish rapport
   • Defining Problems
     • Understand patterns in the way people describe their problems, cause of the problem, consequences of the problem and changeable aspects of the problem
       • Goals and values
       • Personas
       • scenarios
         • Claim analysis (to trace your scenario details back to data)
       • Create a simple argument that demonstrates the problem.