Design Heuristics - Computers as Theatre - page 174

The fi rst step is to develop a screener—a document that details the
kind of people you want to reach out to. For a good example, see Portigal
(2013), p. 38. Portigal's book Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling
Insights is a great guide to interviewing, especially if you are not experi-
enced with it.
Basically, you want to fi nd out what people in your proposed audience
are like; what do they do for fun, work, or relaxation? What colors and vi-
sual styles appeal to them? Who are their heroes? What are their strongest
values? What's their favorite music? What brands are in their refrigerator?
This latter question can best be answered through home visits. If you can
manage to visit people in their homes, you will fi nd out much more about
them by just looking around, and you're likelier to gain insights by fi nding
things you didn't even know you were looking for.
If you don't have the luxury of home visits, interviews are the next
best thing, in my experience. And not just one-on-one. I've had the best
success with dyad interviews. That means inviting one interview subject
(who meets the criteria on your screener) and asking them to bring their
best friend. The dyad interview keeps people honest. When a person gives
a false or incomplete answer to a question, their friend will likely call them
on it. Your subjects may strike up conversations on their own during the
interview that will reveal more about them.
Although consumer companies love them, I have found the focus group
to be the weakest form of interviewing, especially with young people. Re-
gardless of age, most people in a focus group consciously or unconsciously
discover the most eloquent or aspirational person in the group and align
themselves in some way with that person. What you get may be more like
a portrait of a social dynamic than good answers to your questions. If you
want to delve more deeply into various forms of design research, I recom-
mend my book Design Research: Methods and Perspectives (2004).
Finally, it must be said that many artists and designers are wary of
design research, primarily because they are concerned that they will lose
their power to their fi ndings. This is not the case. Design research informs
the design, but does not dictate it. When you have your fi ndings in front
of you, translate them into design heuristics for yourself. As you do that,
add your own values and voice back into the equation. You'll be a smarter
designer for it.