Essential product design research

@_phil_johnson

Essential ProductDesign Research

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@willsh smithery.co

Our pursuit:

Use data rather than opinion to identify what customers need

Empathise

Co-create

Iterate

Product Design Research:

• Context & empathy via observation of lead customers • Understand what they do, not just what they say • Identify ‘Jobs To Be Done’ and Behavioural Insights

• Quantify important and unsatisfied ‘Jobs To Be Done’ • Discuss and evaluate tangible ideas

• Monitor performance and satisfaction • Use insights to evolve and improve solutions

A. Empathise

ethnography n. [eth-nog-rafi]

“the scientific description of people and cultures with their customs, habits, and mutual differences”

Gain empathy, in context => has roots in sociology & anthropology

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Gaining empathy in context

• Consent to go where lead customers are - unobtrusive and in everyday context • Observe getting ‘Jobs Done’ with informal conversations to clarify - NOT task-based • Discover insights that would be out of scope of a task-based study • Watch, listen, ask, record and collect • Understand the problems customers encounter when doing their Job • Understand how they currently overcome those problems • Holistic and contextual view of symbols, behaviour, emotions, beliefs, actions • Interpretation of descriptions and explantations - NOT quantitative data • Provides a better understanding of WHAT is happening & WHY

Performing empathy research

1. Definition

2. Planning & Set-up

3. Capture insights

4. Analysis

5. Output

1. Definition

• Set the research question or customer hypothesis (‘Hunt statement’) • Identify target customers (typically ‘lead customers’) • Agree location and context required

2. Planning & Set-up

• Define research themes and discussion topics • Design data capture methods and tools • Recruit participants - no fewer than 5 to gain sufficient insight

Observe real customers in their own environment*

Steve Blank, Guide to Customer Development

*do not underestimate how powerful it is to be in context

“Get out of the building”

3. Capture insights

Managing the observation • Involve several team members (split roles: lead / observe / capture) • Start with a broad observation and narrow slowly • Go with the flow - divert from your plan to fit with the participant • Ask participant to show, not just tell • Probe to uncover thought processes

e.g. “what do you think would happen if …… ?” • Use Open questions (not yes/no answers) e.g. “Tell me about ….” • Take care to not ‘lead the witness’

What to capture • Video, photos, audio and write verbatim dialogue • Watch to see if actions match words - behaviour, emotions, assumptions • Look for tools used, symbols (incl. visual language), things that are important • Map out systems and processes followed and explore why

4. Analysis

Approach: • Work and discuss learning as a group • Allow a day of analysis per day of research • First: analysis of each individual participant • Then: analysis of the aggregate study & insight trends

Tools: • Job maps (functional activities + importance Vs satisfaction) • Empathy map (Say, Think, Do, Feel) • Verbatim & Theming to derive most important concepts

Verbatim Theme

This is what I said Frustration

…… Support

…… etc

…… etc

5. Outputs• Map findings against initial hypotheses and discussion topics • Highlight key themes, insights and implications • Identify most important and least satisfied job map components (qual)

say

think

do

feel

Job map (functional activities)

Empathy map (thoughts & emotions)

Job map components

B. Co-create

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Working with customers to shape solutions

• Involve lead customers in defining a future solution BEFORE building it • Avoid group discussions, which result in ‘group think’ • Observe 20+ lead customers discussing and interacting with tangible ideas • Target priority ‘job components’ that are least well satisfied

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• Share tangible ideas, sketches, prototypes, Proofs of Concept • Discuss general comments and feedback - focus on problems & ideas • Plus, structure a task-based approach to quantify findings • The outputs will inform what to build first and why

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Opportunity

High

Low

@strategyn

Low High

Imp

orta

nce

of U

ser

Nee

d

Satisfaction with Current alternatives

The aim is to identify needs that represent an ‘Opportunity’

And therefore features that ‘satisfy’ or ‘delight’ using the Kano model

kanomodel.com

Identify important but poorly satisfied job outcomes: 1. Define outcomes (including ‘maximise’ or ‘reduce’ to frame them) 2. Rate ‘importance’ and ‘satisfaction’ on a 5 point scale for each outcome 3. Probe - how currently solved, or detail around each outcome 4. Add any additional goals missed.

Kano - prioritise outcomes: 1. Select 5 outcomes as ‘table stakes / essential’ 2. Apply 10 votes to these 5 outcomes 3. Use 2 yellow ‘delighter’ stickers - apply to any goal [doesn’t have to be one of the 5 ‘essential’] - what would you tell your friends about?

http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/discovering-table-stakes-delighters/

Quantify ‘outcomes’ with ‘features’ to provide priority developments

C. Iterate

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Monitor performance and satisfaction data

• Once the initial product has been released ….. • Monitor product performance data • Ask ‘Net Promoter Score’ questions to determine satisfaction levels • Use ’Kano’ as a framework for prioritising features to add • Repeat ‘co-create’ exercise, involving customers in iteration decisions

Simple measure of customer satisfaction

Easy to track and benchmark

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Product Design Research

Empathise

Co-create

Iterate

phil johnson phil@thebrandshed.com @_phil_johnson