Welcome Announcement

Welcome to Understanding User Needs! This course is part of the UX Design and Research Program. This course focuses on a methodology to understand user needs, desires, and preferences in a way that supports the design or re-design of products and services. You will learn the basics of a qualitative research methodology that involves user interviews, observations, and a data analysis technique called an “affinity wall.”

In this course, you will: * Find out what user needs assessments are, what qualitative research is, and how the two are related.

• Learn an end-to-end methodology for qualitative research that is suited for understanding user needs. The methodology includes knowledge of semi-structured interviews, in-situ observation, and affinity walls.

• Be exposed to good practices for conducting semi-structured interviews, in-situ observation, and affinity walls.

• Gain some experience with semi-structured interviews, in-situ observations, and affinity walls.

This course focuses on a set of skills. There will be relatively little knowledge or theory you need to learn, but practice is essential. So each week, in addition to video materials and quizzes, you will have an assignment that requires you to do something substantial away from the computer. The videos, assignments, and peer grading are designed to maximize learning through a sequence: For each skill, you will have a chance to

(1) hear what the skill is about;

(2) see the skill being performed;

(3) take a quiz about the skill;

(4) practice the skill yourself; and

(5) evaluate the result of others who have tried the skill.

If you have any questions or comments throughout the course, I encourage you to view or post in the Discussion. The instructional team and I will do what we can to answer all relevant questions.

Welcome aboard!

Kentaro Toyama

Associate Professor

School of Information

University of Michigan

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