I am trying to implement a solid UX strategy for a new web application. Most of the research methods I’ve read about so far involve existing users of an existing product. Alas, I have neither.
Can UX / UCD research methodologies be applied to a new concept or a new project? Or, are they only used to improve existing products?
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1All methods are made for this. You just have to figure out which method will give you most valuable information– Kristiyan LukanovDec 4, 2016 at 21:58
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you can use any research method you want. your limitation seems to be not finding existing users because the product doesn't exist. But you would have a type of user in mind, right?– colmcqDec 5, 2016 at 10:42
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You must have some idea about who this is being targeted at. Most solutions should solve some problem or provide some value for some person.– SteveDDec 5, 2016 at 13:33
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Thanks, Yes see now that I must proactively source these people who approximate our target audience to carry out interviews, surveys etc. The realisation dawns that its a much bigger task than I had thought. I know the rest can follow on from this once I have a sound basis to develop my personas etc. Time to roll up my sleeves :-)– GlennWDec 6, 2016 at 0:00
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2 Answers
Definitely.
User Centered Design is about building a product around users so you definitely need to a do a lot of user research before that.
Talk to potential users, check out existing users of the competition, create your personas and then the scenarios of use based on these personas, until you can reach your complete user journey and can begin wireframing.
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1The paper User-Centered Design by Abras, Maloney-Krichmar and Preece might also help Dec 5, 2016 at 11:40
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thanks, I will try to talk to users of the competition and any other users who approximate our target demographic. So for this UX stuff I have to be a people person too - this could be a challenge :-)– GlennWDec 6, 2016 at 0:04
That which you seek: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
answered Dec 5, 2016 at 11:37
