User+Research

=User Research= Following a user centered approach, design is a "social activity with social consequences" (Benyon,Turner Turner, 2005). The people we are designing for are observed and talked to in develop greater insights into their goals, problems and ways of doing things. By following this approach, we can base our designs on supporting their actual activities and contexts of use. This method of coming to a greater understanding of our clients, will ultimately provide the kind of information necessary to produce design requirements. These requirements will be the basis of our conceptual design in this Structuring Phase.

Research Methods
For our public space projects, we have already done some user research by using photography as method of observation (ethnography, in situ). It may be necessary and useful to do some more of this as our project scope is becoming more focused. While observation is a one method that will provide data, in many design research ventures a second method is introduced. This is known as "triangulation" in research and is used to strengthen the design rationale. This will include an interviewing and observing the people in our chosen public space communities as a second method.

Method 1: Interview
After we identify the community of the public space, our approach needs to zero in on the extracting the useful information from the people in that context. For this phase each group will design a research plan to gather insights into the behaviours and needs of the people who are involved with the community. Evaluation and analysis of this data will inform design requirements. It will include the following components:

The interview plan will include:
 * 1) Statements of user study goals. What do you want to find out and why it is important.
 * 2) What are the "big" questions you want answered that provide actionable insights?
 * 3) Provide a copy of actual questions asked and methods applied.
 * 4) Are there any ethical issues that you may encounter? How will you address these.

The procdedure:
 * 1) Conduct your interview with community members (3-5 people)

The results:
 * 1) A brief summary of your findings.
 * 2) Analysis and interpret the collected data to identify patterns or themes that emerge

Note: When conducting interviews have participants read and agree to the following [|consent form]. Keep the completed forms on file as part of your research, but do not post or publish the completed forms, as this will break anonymity of our participants.

Method 2: Observation
Since we have already completed some photographic documentationn in our understanding phase, an annotated database in our Flickr group will provide the the bulk of this data. A good start may include re-visiting these photos and annotating with more commentary (inside Flickr) to further expand or discuss the photo information. New tags can make it more findable and help the team develop a design rationale. Fresh insights from new group members are a way of connecting new ideas to the existing photos.

In scoping down our projects and re-adjusting our sights, it may be necessary to collect more insights through observational techniques. This may include new video, audio, sketches and note taking of our PACT elements. Please add to the existing database as your team decides on its focus and available visual material.

Make all the photo material used in your Structuring phase available and organized in your team's documentation wiki.