Party as a place for UX research

From time to time I hear from clients that UX research is a great pleasure. I would like to refute this opinion. In preparation for the participation in the Sberbank Online design competition organized by UsabilityLab, a study was conducted divided into two stages, 24 people each. What do you think how much they cost?

The answer may surprise someone, since they can be said to cost nothing. Why? As you may have guessed from the name, the study was conducted at parties, so there were no costs for premises, selection of participants, gifts to respondents, etc.

Real costs and process

Real costs

• 25 litas (~ 300 r.) To print layouts on photo paper (in principle, these costs could have been avoided if printed on plain paper)
• 5 hours of my time (it would have been spent in any case, because I promised to attend the parties)

Process

The study was conducted with friends at two birthday parties. From the outside, it might seem strange to conduct UX research at a birthday party, but, in fact, everyone really liked it, because everything was presented as a kind of game. Before each study, it was explained to everyone what and how it would happen (that is, the “rules of the game”), and later - each spoke briefly (~ 5–7 min) with each individual.
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I have no recipe for how to generate interest. I asked for attention, explained that I needed help and told me what to do. Whether my charisma, or the interest of friends and acquaintances in my work (I have been working with usability and interaction experience for more than 3 years, but most vaguely imagined what I ultimately do; I often heard about my work “ah, space”), or desire to help, whether good mood, or all together. I do not know, however, when I finished my speech and asked: “Who will help?”, He saw a forest of hands. Honestly, I planned to talk with 5-6 people at the first party (it was agreed with 3 beforehand), i.e. asking for attention, I had to find 3 more people. At the second party it was getting easier. “The rules of the game” most knew, so it was enough: “I have a couple more layouts. Repeat? "
Nobody knew that during the second stage I will show my layouts.

The first stage is carried out before designing the interface. The respondents were alternately shown a partially-detailed wireframe and several design options for skins offered by R-Style and not passing the customer, and were asked to express their opinion along the way asking guiding questions. During the second stage, respondents were asked to comment on a ready-made layout design. Later, according to the comments of the respondents, corrections were made and the final version of the interface was presented for consideration by the jury. Practically the same people participated in both parties. This was done on purpose, because both of these were conducted in the same study. There was a break of 2 weeks between parties.

What advantages have been revealed?

• Small cash and time costs . As noted earlier, I spent about 300 p. and about 5 hours. Plus, it was a great time - I managed to have fun and collect the data I needed.
• More relaxed atmosphere . Some factors (for example, unfamiliar surroundings, mentality formality, etc.) sometimes affect the user and his answers. However, the study during the party is an attraction, so even the most modest and shy are involved in the process. Frankly, I planned to talk with 5-6 people (in accordance with the guidelines), but I wanted to take part absolutely everything.
• "Untied the language . " People during the party are in a relaxed state (because of a good mood, and, of course, because of a small amount of alcohol), so they are without fear, bravely criticize, answer questions and share experiences.
• The homogeneity of the audience . Most people at the birthday are similar to each other (common interests, same age, social status, etc.), so if this group of people fits the criteria of the average user of the system, then in one place you can immediately find the right amount study participants.

Possible disadvantages

• It is difficult to make quantitative estimates. In principle, UX studies usually do not need any quantitative estimates, so this disadvantage is not so noticeable.
• You can not detain people for long . A standard test takes about 30-60 minutes. However, at the party for a long time you can not detain people, they came to have fun, and not to participate in experiments. Because of this, you need to focus only on the main thing.
• Limited ability to retest . Guidelines advise not to conduct research with the same users, so if you want to conduct another study, you will have to look for a new party with new people ...
• Choosing the right time . In order for the “game” to succeed, people should be relaxed and happy with what is happening, so I would not advise doing research at the very beginning of the party (people want to chat, congratulate the hero of the occasion, try refreshments, etc.), but would not advise and wait for the end (people are already tired, they want to go home, sifted through drinks, etc.)

Ending

As you can see, using a little imagination, you can quickly and without much cash outlay do UX research. I came up with this approach completely by accident. I needed to do research, so I invited several friends to meet with me, but they replied that they didn’t have time, but they would be happy to see and evaluate the layouts if I brought them to the party. So the idea was born. My advice to you is to not be afraid to experiment.

PS I haven’t written in Russian for a hundred years, so there can be a lot of mistakes. Sorry if anything is wrong.