Introduction

The design thinking framework is applied to information projects through a process called User Experience Design. This process centers the focus of the project on the person experiencing the problem. In civic challenges, we tend to think of the public as that audience, though it may be a more specific portion of that all-encompassing group. User experience research helps us to understand the people experiencing the problem and orient our civic tech solutions around their needs.

Because understanding residents’ needs is foundational for civic tech projects, this module introduces multiple research methods, including surveys, interviews, and participatory design. This module supports your effort to select the appropriate methods, prepare and execute those methods, and apply the resulting insights to develop a better understanding of the civic challenge.
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In this module, you will learn how to:

  • Describe how principles of User Experience Research can be applied to civic problems
  • Identify specific research methods and match them to civic information problems
  • Understand how to apply audience insights from UX research to deepen your understanding of a civic challenge

Lessons

Because user research is a critical component of User Experience Design, this module dives into greater details of specific UX research methods across these ten lessons.
The case studies provide examples of the role of research methods in student projects.

Lesson on an Introduction to User Experience (UX) Design

This lesson provides an overview of User Experience Design and factors that distinguish it from other design strategies.

Lesson on How to match civic questions to UX methods

Learn how to select the UX research methods that will yield insights appropriate and valuable to your civic challenge.

Lesson on Surveys- When to use a survey

Learn what kind of information surveys capture best, how to write survey questions that help you understand user experience, and when to avoid surveys as a data collection method.

Lesson on When to use interviews in user research

Learn what kind of information you can collect from interviews, how to get the most out of interview questions, and when to avoid interviews as a data collection method.

Lesson on Setting up interviews

Learn how to decide who you will talk to, what decisions you should make about the interview setting, and what questions you should ask.

Lesson on UX interviews

Learn interview techniques that are specific to UX research, including card-sorting and cognitive walk-through, and think-aloud protocols.

Lesson on Participatory Design

Learn what participatory design is and how it can help you understand people’s needs by engaging them in the creation of new information solutions.

Lesson on Participatory Design Activities - Part 1

Learn specific activities that engage the community in designing solutions

Lesson on Participatory Design Activities - Part 2

Learn specific activities that engage the community in designing solutions

Lesson on converting insights into designs

Learn to use techniques and templates that can help you convert your UX research data into meaningful insights that will guide design.

CASE STUDY: Helping residents explore parks in Ann Arbor, Michigan

A student team interviews residents to understand their needs around finding parks in their city and shares the resulting insights and recommendations for city staff.

CASE STUDY: Building community volunteerism in Dearborn, Michigan

CASE STUDY: Building community volunteerism in Dearborn, Michigan
A student team interviews high school students to understand what they value and need in volunteer opportunities. They apply those insights to design a volunteer matching tool for the city.

Activity

Draft a UX research plan for a civic information problem in your community. Include the following when considering your plan

  • Complete desk research to learn about the problem space before starting user research methods. Document what you learned in a brief problem statement.
  • Based on that research, define what you need to learn about the people connected to this problem.
  • Identify research methods that will help you better understand people’s experience and needs and develop protocols for those methods.
  • Document the insights you gained from research as design requirements that define a starting point for designing possible solutions.
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