| Unit name | In The Wild: Understanding your users |
|---|---|
| Unit code | INOVM0006 |
| Credit points | 10 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Cater |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Centre for Innovation |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Whether it is new software, wearable device for monitoring your health, solar battery for developing countries, refrigerator or service to improve neighbourhood recycling, your users will expect your product or service to meet their needs and be easy to use. This unit will equip students with a toolkit of user research methods, and give them practical experience in conducting them, in order for them to understand their target users better and test their creative ideas “in the wild”. It aims to give students an understanding of important market place advantage and prevent them from wasting time, money and effort in designing the wrong product or solution. We will explore how and where to conduct user research through a variety of different methodologies, look at how others have produced theories to fit behavioural observations, recognise factors that limit the use of user research methods, and how to carry out analysis of data captured from user research.
This unit will require the students to explore a new product or service concept in the wild with real world users to test the market with an idea. Students will define target audiences clearly, carry out a range of appropriate user research methodologies and understand how to refine their ideas based on the results from user research.
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
1) Identify, plan, and conduct a variety of appropriate user research methods– this could include surveys, focus groups, interviews, ethnographic and observational studies.
2) Carry out ethical user research with minimal bias.
3) Capture, analyse the quantitative and qualitative results achieved through user research.
4) Draw appropriate conclusions from the findings to inform ideas, future designs, prototypes etc.
5) Reflect critically on their group work and on the process of user research.
Lectures, workshops and studio based learning.
100% coursework
Primary User Research Portfolio: Through the teaching block students will be required to present at key milestones in their project their strategy for ethical approval, user engagement, conducting a variety of user research methods and report on their analysis. Students will be assessed on their ability to design, carry out and analyse data ethically from appropriate user research so as to gain clear feedback on how to refine and develop ideas further. For each primary user research method undertaken students will be expected to reflect on their process. ILO 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5
