[Sigia-l] Sample question set for user research

[Ziya Oz]

andrew at humaneia.com:

> Doesn't this move it beyond the realm of pure research into the grubby
> realm of the practitioner though? :)

And God forbid that should happen. :-)

Yes, I didn't get the impression that the original request was academic in
nature. It was storage product related.

In other words, is there a standard/best practice set of questions that can
presumably illuminate *any* research/contextual inquiry into this product
space?

I'm saying that would be missing the entire notion of contextuality in
contextual inquiry/research. Clearly the research approach for digital audio
players are significantly different between, say, Creative and Apple,
allowing the latter to come up with the notion of the iPod shuffle and the
former with a feature-laden product that doesn't sell.

Asking the same questions short-circuits one's ability to really understand
a domain and differentiate, based on users' un- or poorly-articulated
needs/wants. Framing the question is everything in design, as is finding the
right context.

----
Ziya

Usability >  Simplify the Solution
Design >  Simplify the Problem