Using OptimalWorkshop: https://app.optimalworkshop.com/a/0qlw1374/dashboard
https://www.viget.com/articles/agile-research/
Creating a UX Research Plan
https://blog.optimalworkshop.com/how-to-create-a-ux-research-plan/STEP ONE: Make a list of stakeholders. COMPLETE
The list should include anyone who should be consulted prior to and during the research process. Having this list makes it easy to deliver insights back at the end of the research project.
Working with stakeholders is especially important for anyone carrying out user research as you need to know both what they already know about a particular problem and what they need to find out. Understandably, strong communication throughout the research process is key
Here is a basic outline of the critical stakeholders in this process:
Senior Staff
Does the development work align with institutional goals and priorities? Does the design fit our goal audiences?
Michelle DiMeo
David Cole
The Board
Collections Managers
How are their collections presented? Is the integrity of their collections maintained digitally? How well can users access their materials?
Molly Sampson
Jim Voelkel
Patrick Shea
Ashley Augustyniak
Dave Caruso
Staff Users
Are they able to easily use the Digital Collection to complete a specific task?
Distillations Staff
Social Media Staff
Blog Authors
Newsletter/Website Staff
Technical Team
As the primary staff developers, would the information gathered from users improve your understanding of the app’s use?
Sarah Newhouse
Jonathan Rochkind
Eddie Rubiez
Figure out what changes we’re trying to make/problems we’re addressing/questions we’re seeking to answer. Ask questions of stakeholders that see how these might affect them.
What would you like to know about user habits in the digital collections?
What do you hope a user is able to do in the digital collections as it pertains to your collection?
How do the Digital Collections ideally align with the strategic plan of the Institute?
What changes to the interface could you see being more or less helpful?
You’re looking for pain points that affect the people you talk to than things that affect the entire domain in which those people live or work.
“Do you think you’d use this if [we designed it differently?]” is a poor question because it will likely elicit a yes/no (closed) response. It also asks users to ponder a potential behavior, which often isn’t strictly up to them.
STEP TWO: Identify known data. IN PROGRESS
What do we already know?
Any quantitative metrics of the Digital Collections use can be found on Google Analytics: https://analytics.google.com/analytics/web/?authuser=1#/report-home/a326869w144740760p168958592
General Trends:
Oral Histories are very popular
Rare books are some of our most accessed materials
Most of our users find our pages through Google searches
Mostly accessed from the United States, but used internationally
Users spend less than 2 minutes per page
STEP THREE: Write research questions/objectives.
The why of the research. Actionable and specific. E.g.,
“How do people currently use the wishlist feature on our website?”
“How do our current customers go about tracking their orders?”
“How do people make a decision on which power company to use?”
“What actions do our customers take when they’re thinking about buying a new TV?”
These are NOT the questions asked during the sessions - broad enough to allow you to formulate a list of tasks or questions to help understand.
STEP FOUR: Develop a research approach.
Research questions are essentially your research objectives. The ‘why’ of your research project. These should be informed by the existing data you’ve uncovered as well as discussions with your stakeholders.
When formulating your research questions, keep in mind that these are not the same questions you should be asking your users. Basically, they should be broad enough that you can use them to then generate tasks or questions for your users, the outputs of which should hopefully shed a little more light on the problem you’re working on.
Survey
Observation + User Interviews
Determine research methods and protocol - use research questions to help determine this. The protocol is basically writing the script. Writing your protocol should start with actually thinking about what these questions will be and getting feedback on them, as well as:
The tasks you want your participants to do (usability testing)
How much time you’ve set aside for the session
A script or description that you can use for every session
Your process for recording the interviews, including how you’ll look after participant data.
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/
Determine budget.
Do we want to pay for this OW? Do we want to offer participants rewards?
Make a schedule.
Mixing qualitative and quantitative studies may mean that you’ll have different sub-projects.
Understanding participant recruitment. Screening questions? How many are needed? (qualitative differs from quantitative)