Problems

Problems

1. Understanding a problem

   • A problem is never solved: It is solved on incremental basis
   • A problem is subjective to groups
     • To find a solution to a problem, one needs to select a particular group.
   • Communication is key
     • Discussing with a particular group helps to narrow down a problem
       • Partnering with the community to address problems
     • Ways to communicate
       • Surveys
         • Limitations
           • Unintentionally overly structured
           • Biased on who responds
           • Shallow insight
         • Communication method: structured, asynchronous, impersonal
         • Advantages: large scale insight
       • Interviews
         • Communication method: synchronous, personal, semi-structured
         • Advantages: deeper insights
         • Limitations
           • More time-consuming
           • Smaller range of people
       • Observations
         • Communication method: observing spaces, practices, collaborations, and communication with others
         • Advantages: revealing richness and complexity of people's world
         • Limitations
           • Greater time commitment than interviews
       • Secondary research
         • Communication method: leveraging insights published by others
         • Advantages: Access to existing insights
         • Limitations
           • Limited to the insights that have been published by others
           • Not tailored to the specific research question
         • Sources
           • Research papers
           • Books
           • Other literature sources

2. Define a problem

   • Making sense of data
     • Interpretation and synthesis
     • Identifying patterns in the way people describe their problem
     • Understanding the causes of the problem
     • Identifying the consequences of the problem
     • Identifying changeable aspects of the problem
   • Creating knowledge
     • Deriving goals and values from data
       • Identifying people's goals and desires
       • Representing goals explicitly
   • Distilling knowledge on who to design for
     • Personas
       • Demographics (education, income, technical background, job description, etc.)
       • Goals, needs, desires, current tools and frustrations
       • Likes and dislikes, and hobbies and interests
     • Scenarios
       • Specific goals, who, what, when, where, why, how, and how often
       • Not specifying interaction details, leaving it to be filled in later
       • Created before design to capture problem context
   • Capturing models of problems in design contexts
     • Essential for working with stakeholders
     • Acts as a boundary object
     • Helps designers understand who is being helped and why