User Research Projects
Card-sorting: Dyson
Design Problem: Create a new information architecture for the Dyson website, based on a card-sort performed by classmates.Teammates: Cheng Fan, Robert Kariuki
We received a set of cards representing the items on dyson.com and observed one user sorting the cards into semantic categories, then produced a new sitemap based on the results of the sort. Report of observations (pdf).
The final site map reflect's the sorter's chosen groupings and labels, as well as the addition of items she believed were missing.
Cultural Probe: Barbie Goes to China
Design Problem: Create a cultural probe that could be used to gather exploratory responses from Shanghai girls to be used in creating an interactive display for a Shanghai Barbie store.Teammates: Drew McKinney, Emily Allen, Lula Albar
Probe contents
- Gift box
- Paper dolls
- Clothing
- Materials for customizing dolls and clothing
- Camera
- Postcards
- Stickers
- Instructions
We wanted the cultural probe to be inviting and reassuring for the recipients, so the probe comes in a gift box, decorated with a red ribbon, a color associated with good fortune. Inside the box is a set of paper dolls for the girl to decorate the way she likes. We provided some pre-made clothing, and some materials for creating new clothing. We hope the markers and colorful paper in variety of textures will stimulate creativity and provide an enjoyable experience.
We ask the girl to create the doll she wants to have, and then imagine her doll in scenarios: Where does she live? Where does she work? Who are her friends? How does she like to spend her free time? The girl can use the enclosed disposoable camera to take photos of the doll in surroundings that reflect her answers to the questions.
The package also contains several postcards of scenes that may or may not be familiar to the girl. There are two different views of Shanghai, a rural Chinese scene, and a popular music group. We ask the girl to react to the postcards by adding stickers representing different emotions to the postcards. Once the girl has completed the packet materials, we ask that she send the camera and postcards back to us.
