Research
a) Ask: What do they say about the problem?
Speak to people. You can’t understand anything unless you speak to people. Most importantly, speak to the people who are involved in producing the thing you are involved in designing or the intended customer. What makes it special or unique? What’s missing? Don’t expect solutions or ideas from them but do listen to what excites or annoys them and consider what experience they’re missing entirely that they may have never thought of.
Journey Mapping
Mapping the journey of either real or imagined users can help break down their experience. Keep it very simple and loose. Anything above the line is good, anything below is bad, anything on the line is neutral. Generally you want everything in the green but there are times where a negative experience can help contrast a positive experience or nudge a desired behaviour - just keep it ethical!
There is a concept called the Peak-end Rule that suggests that even if there is bad in the experience, so long as there is a peak of good and the ending is good, then the audience will be happy. This is generally true BUT don’t be complacent and assume it doesn’t matter if an area of the experience is bad. You should be striving for excellence and in solving the bad you may well discover new ideas you hadn’t considered that turn into opportunities.
b) Observe: What are the points of friction?
"People don't think what they feel, they don't say what they think and they don't do what they say.”
- David Ogilvy
It’s essential you don’t trust every feedback you hear and especially don’t make decisions based on data. Data is inherently in the past and at best is indicative of potential future trends but not a certainty. It also only speaks to what has been done, not what could be done. Every answer can be found in human behaviour so watching people use your prototypes or using similar products or services will reveal their unconscious motivations.
An Empathy Map is a useful tool to break down how a user reacts or interacts with something. It speaks very much to the David Ogilvy quote and often you find these elements, when separated, in conflict with each other. Understanding this conflict is often where the solution to the problem you’re solving for lives.
It is also important to not just consider what you can see. What isn’t present is just as revealing as what is.
Thinking through the research
Once you have all of your research gathered, try to sit down and carefully reflect on your findings. Edward De Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats can be very useful for this activity. Each person, or you yourself, wears a specific hat and attempts to look at the research through that lens to reveal hidden insights.
Handy Tip!
Get into the habit of watching how people behave.
Look at associated things they interact and consider how that shapes their view of the world.
Speak to people, all the time, everywhere, and understand what they do and why they do it - what drives them - and keep those conversations in your back pocket for later.