Research-Driven Innovation for Ethical Socio-Technical Systems: because tech should be the solution, not the problem in disguise!
Imaginative Exploration: often, true solutions arise from thinking beyond conventional frameworks.
Key Duties
- Innovative Inquiry: Encourage deep connections through imaginative, narrative-driven design.
- Foster personal storytelling: Create interactive prompts that inspire participants to reveal authentic narratives.
- Enhance emotional connection: Utilize visual storytelling to engage users conceptually and emotionally, transcending mere surface interaction.
- Encourage reflection: Cultivate spaces that invite participants to share insights enhancing human-centered design methodologies.
Potential Obstacles
- Fostering meaningful reflection: Building an atmosphere where users feel inclined to share rich, personal insights beyond surface opinions.
- Integrating creativity with practicality: Merging imaginative techniques with actionable insights to address real-life challenges.
Proposed Strategies
- Imaginative visuals: Employ visuals such as whimsical imagery to aid users in grasping intricate issues, thereby igniting deeper dialogues.
- Utilized narrative strategies: Steered participant conversations towards themes of algorithms, privacy, and autonomy for emotional resonance.
- Insider-driven design: Extracted participant experiences to create targeted solutions addressing their immediate needs.
User Testing: turning ‘I don’t get it’ into ‘Aha!’ one test at a time!
User Testing Overview
- User testing evaluates overall concepts and user interactions with a product or experience.
- Often starts with paper prototypes or testing specific scenarios.
- Users engage actively with cards, sketches, or basic prototypes to capture their responses.
Example of User Test
- Conducted an online user test with elderly women from New York to evaluate a wellbeing app.
- The test identified challenges with navigation, button visibility, and task completion.
- Feedback led to improvements in clarity, accessibility, and ease of use for that demographic.
Importance of User Testing
- Involves real users early in the process to ensure the design meets real-world needs.
- Helps make design adjustments based on valuable user feedback to improve usability.
- Forums are used to create ongoing discussions with users, gathering further insights and refining the design.
Usability Tests: figuring out why users click that button instead of the one they’re supposed to!
Usability Testing Overview
- Usability testing is crucial for refining user flows and interfaces, focusing on task completion and interface intuitiveness.
- Tests identify areas of confusion or frustration, allowing for improvements in design.
Testing Approach
- Conduct usability tests remotely or in person, targeting the right demographics and asking structured questions to uncover real-world issues.
- A/B testing and testing wording are valuable for fine-tuning designs.
Example of Usability Testing
- In public sector projects, usability testing revealed difficulties with multi-step processes in the digital wallet app.
- In access rights software at SolarWinds, complex data was streamlined, simplifying security steps and enhancing user experience.
Outcome
- Usability tests help ensure products meet user needs, are accessible, and reduce errors, ultimately improving overall satisfaction.
