Psychological test to evaluate the IT product, or how Habrahabr is inferior to Facebook
Did you try to evaluate your IT product from a psychological point of view? Such an assessment can be based on general psychology and include ergonomic testing, can be based on cognitive psychology and use the theory of knowledge and decision making, can be based on activity theory and analyze user scenarios, can be based on psychology of learning and behaviorism and analyze the product from the point of view of gamification ...
But a separate very important branch of psychology is the personality psychology, which includes theories of personal needs and psychological defenses. Due to the complexity and the large number of sometimes conflicting concepts, this area is rarely used as a source of ideas and constraints when developing IT products. However, the psychology of personality provides a lot of opportunities for understanding and predicting user behavior.
I propose a variant of the methodology for evaluating an IT product, created on the basis of a compilation of various theories of personal needs.
The test assesses how the product can meet the 10 most common needs of the individual.
This test can be used not only to evaluate the product, but also as a checklist when searching for ideas in the development of IT products.
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Description of the test.
For each need offered 5 questions about the product. A positive answer to the question +1 point, a negative answer 0 points. Scoring is conducted for each need separately and in total for all 10 needs. Accordingly, in the end, the product can get a maximum of 50 points (this assessment will most likely be in products that provide the best opportunities to meet the user's 10 personal needs).
Needs for the convenience of analysis are combined into 3 blocks: sociality, emotions and activity.
Social block
1. The need for affiliation and the fear of rejection
1) Is it possible to combine product users into groups (real or virtual)?
2) Does the product protect against feeling lonely or rejected by other people?
3) Does the product allow you to recognize new people, make or resume contacts with other people?
4) Does the product allow you to get support and approval from other people, to feel in the center of attention?
5) Does the product protect users from disapproval or aggression of other people?
2. The need for power
1) Does the product create conditions for the manifestation of power over other objects (people, animals, plants, objects, virtual characters, etc.)?
2) Does the product create opportunities to influence other people's behavior, emotions, destiny or development?
3) Does the product protect itself from feeling helpless and depending on the will of other people or the program?
4) Does the product provide an opportunity to show your intellectual, financial or other superiority to other users?
5) Does the product create opportunities for building a social hierarchy of its users?
3. The need for care and care for the weaker (the desire to be useful)
1) Does the product create conditions for taking care of others (people, animals, plants, objects, virtual characters, etc.)?
2) Does the product create the conditions for charity?
3) Does the product make you feel responsible for someone’s development and well-being?
4) Does the product create opportunities for volunteering and helping others?
5) Does the product allow seeing the results of helping others (in the form of their gratitude, expressing emotions or information about their development)?
Emotion block
4. Needs for reinforcement and fast feedback
1) Does the product provide incentives and rewards for various actions of users (from the program or other users)?
2) Does the product protect against uncertainty and uncertainty after the actions taken?
3) Is the user provided with immediate feedback on the result of each of his actions? (the result of the action is immediately visible).
4) Does the product provide a visualization of the results of user actions with an indication of the result of each action (for example, statistics)?
5) Are there rewards in the product with a variable ratio or a variable interval (for example, an unexpected win)?
5. The need for emotions and thrills
1) Does the product help you to feel bright emotions (positive or negative)?
2) Does the product help to relive emotions or sensations that are difficult for users to access in real life?
3) Does the product allow you to experience thrills, like sensations when practicing extreme activities or performing dangerous, immoral, or illegal activities?
4) Is the product capable of generating new intense emotions that are difficult to adapt and get used to?
5) Is the product capable of generating a combination of emotions of joy and excitement (surprise) among users?
6. The need for knowledge, curiosity
1) Does the product help to learn something new about the world and other people, to gain new knowledge?
2) Does the product help me to learn something new about myself (my personality, character, state of health, etc.)?
3) Is the product capable of surprise by presenting something fundamentally new, previously unknown?
4) Does the product create conditions for mental activity (solving problems, rebuses, passing tests, answering questions, etc.)?
5) Does the product provide opportunities for personal research, game search, intentionally hidden information?
Activity block
7. The need for activity, activity and production
1) Does the product help to “take hands” with something, to do some simple activity that does not require serious efforts and special training?
2) Does the product help to avoid “torments of conscience”, creating the illusion of employment and performing useful activities?
3) Does the product allow you to save the results of your activity, access them in the future and show them to other people?
4) Does the product allow saving the results of its activity in a material form (on a physical medium), access to them and transfer to other people?
5) Does the product provide its users with additional ways of motivating the use of the product (explanations “For what?” And “For what purpose”)?
8. The need to complete the begun
1) Does the product help to feel completeness (subjectively expressed as “the deed is done”) after performing an action?
2) Does the product use “feeling of incompleteness” to encourage its further use or use of its new versions (levels)?
3) Is the completion started when using the product is achievable for the user (subjectively perceived as achievable)?
4) Are action statistics provided to users with the remaining steps to the goal (through the use of plans, checklists, achievement charts, rewards, etc.)?
5) Is there a reward from the program or other users for completing any step in using the product?
9. The need for hoarding and saving
1) Is it possible to collect something and accumulate it when using the product (to make a collection)?
2) Have special tools been created to inform the user about the completeness of his collection?
3) Have special conditions been created that encourage collecting and hoarding (virtual closets, fame shelves, lists, etc.)?
4) Does the product provide additional products or services that make up the collection (full version) with the product?
5) Does the product protect the user from losing the collection or the accumulated results of its actions?
10. The need for achievements and the fear of failure
1) Does the product create the conditions for development and personal achievements of the user?
2) Are the methods of visualization and confirmation of personal achievements of the user?
3) Is there a “prevention of failures” (possibility of training, tips, training at easy levels, etc.)?
4) Is reinforcement and support provided to the user in case of failure?
5) Does the product protect users from failures and falling in status?
Test processing: points are calculated and a “psychological profile” of the product is drawn, showing gaps in satisfying needs. The imposition of matrices of products allows you to compare them and make hypotheses about the reasons for the success of each.
Examples of profiles for different IT products:
1. Facebook (blue, 31 points) and Minesweeper (game Miner) (green, 17 points), where Miner shows a significant lag in social needs.
2. Facebook (blue, 33 points) and Habrahabr (red, 38 points), where you can see Habrahabr’s lag in meeting the need for affiliation (rather, fear of being rejected) and fear of failure, but superiority in 5 other needs.
3. Habrahabr (red, 38 points) and Minesweeper (green, 17 points), where Miner’s lag in the satisfaction of almost all needs is clearly visible, except for fear of failure.
Nb:
1. Evaluation of a product according to the formulations is subjective, at the discretion of the appraiser (it is desirable that the appraiser has an additional understanding of the theory of needs), therefore the final assessment can only be used approximately, so to speak, to start a conversation. The reliability of the assessment is increased when using expert assessments.
2. Is it worth it for the evaluator to know the product being evaluated well? “It depends on what kind of user perception you want to get.”
(For example, the Habrahabr assessments presented here reflect a novice’s user experience and may differ from experienced users. But this difference in ratings can be a subject for user experience learning and adaptation.)
2. This is the simplest version of the test, there are no multiplying factors for different types of needs for different product groups (for example, how much more important is the user to satisfy the need for power compared to the need for completeness), so it can be used for an initial approximate assessment of various IT -products.
Your efficient comments and additions will be very useful to make the test more adequate and understandable.
If you want to learn more about personal needs and how they determine people's behavior, you can look at classic books on this topic.
Here are some:
1. H. Heckhausen. Motivation and activity
2. D. McClelland. Human motivation
3. E. P. Il'in. Motivation and motives
Tamara Kulinkovich
But a separate very important branch of psychology is the personality psychology, which includes theories of personal needs and psychological defenses. Due to the complexity and the large number of sometimes conflicting concepts, this area is rarely used as a source of ideas and constraints when developing IT products. However, the psychology of personality provides a lot of opportunities for understanding and predicting user behavior.
I propose a variant of the methodology for evaluating an IT product, created on the basis of a compilation of various theories of personal needs.
The test assesses how the product can meet the 10 most common needs of the individual.
This test can be used not only to evaluate the product, but also as a checklist when searching for ideas in the development of IT products.
')
Description of the test.
For each need offered 5 questions about the product. A positive answer to the question +1 point, a negative answer 0 points. Scoring is conducted for each need separately and in total for all 10 needs. Accordingly, in the end, the product can get a maximum of 50 points (this assessment will most likely be in products that provide the best opportunities to meet the user's 10 personal needs).
Needs for the convenience of analysis are combined into 3 blocks: sociality, emotions and activity.
1. The need for affiliation and the fear of rejection
1) Is it possible to combine product users into groups (real or virtual)?
2) Does the product protect against feeling lonely or rejected by other people?
3) Does the product allow you to recognize new people, make or resume contacts with other people?
4) Does the product allow you to get support and approval from other people, to feel in the center of attention?
5) Does the product protect users from disapproval or aggression of other people?
2. The need for power
1) Does the product create conditions for the manifestation of power over other objects (people, animals, plants, objects, virtual characters, etc.)?
2) Does the product create opportunities to influence other people's behavior, emotions, destiny or development?
3) Does the product protect itself from feeling helpless and depending on the will of other people or the program?
4) Does the product provide an opportunity to show your intellectual, financial or other superiority to other users?
5) Does the product create opportunities for building a social hierarchy of its users?
3. The need for care and care for the weaker (the desire to be useful)
1) Does the product create conditions for taking care of others (people, animals, plants, objects, virtual characters, etc.)?
2) Does the product create the conditions for charity?
3) Does the product make you feel responsible for someone’s development and well-being?
4) Does the product create opportunities for volunteering and helping others?
5) Does the product allow seeing the results of helping others (in the form of their gratitude, expressing emotions or information about their development)?
Emotion block
4. Needs for reinforcement and fast feedback
1) Does the product provide incentives and rewards for various actions of users (from the program or other users)?
2) Does the product protect against uncertainty and uncertainty after the actions taken?
3) Is the user provided with immediate feedback on the result of each of his actions? (the result of the action is immediately visible).
4) Does the product provide a visualization of the results of user actions with an indication of the result of each action (for example, statistics)?
5) Are there rewards in the product with a variable ratio or a variable interval (for example, an unexpected win)?
5. The need for emotions and thrills
1) Does the product help you to feel bright emotions (positive or negative)?
2) Does the product help to relive emotions or sensations that are difficult for users to access in real life?
3) Does the product allow you to experience thrills, like sensations when practicing extreme activities or performing dangerous, immoral, or illegal activities?
4) Is the product capable of generating new intense emotions that are difficult to adapt and get used to?
5) Is the product capable of generating a combination of emotions of joy and excitement (surprise) among users?
6. The need for knowledge, curiosity
1) Does the product help to learn something new about the world and other people, to gain new knowledge?
2) Does the product help me to learn something new about myself (my personality, character, state of health, etc.)?
3) Is the product capable of surprise by presenting something fundamentally new, previously unknown?
4) Does the product create conditions for mental activity (solving problems, rebuses, passing tests, answering questions, etc.)?
5) Does the product provide opportunities for personal research, game search, intentionally hidden information?
Activity block
7. The need for activity, activity and production
1) Does the product help to “take hands” with something, to do some simple activity that does not require serious efforts and special training?
2) Does the product help to avoid “torments of conscience”, creating the illusion of employment and performing useful activities?
3) Does the product allow you to save the results of your activity, access them in the future and show them to other people?
4) Does the product allow saving the results of its activity in a material form (on a physical medium), access to them and transfer to other people?
5) Does the product provide its users with additional ways of motivating the use of the product (explanations “For what?” And “For what purpose”)?
8. The need to complete the begun
1) Does the product help to feel completeness (subjectively expressed as “the deed is done”) after performing an action?
2) Does the product use “feeling of incompleteness” to encourage its further use or use of its new versions (levels)?
3) Is the completion started when using the product is achievable for the user (subjectively perceived as achievable)?
4) Are action statistics provided to users with the remaining steps to the goal (through the use of plans, checklists, achievement charts, rewards, etc.)?
5) Is there a reward from the program or other users for completing any step in using the product?
9. The need for hoarding and saving
1) Is it possible to collect something and accumulate it when using the product (to make a collection)?
2) Have special tools been created to inform the user about the completeness of his collection?
3) Have special conditions been created that encourage collecting and hoarding (virtual closets, fame shelves, lists, etc.)?
4) Does the product provide additional products or services that make up the collection (full version) with the product?
5) Does the product protect the user from losing the collection or the accumulated results of its actions?
10. The need for achievements and the fear of failure
1) Does the product create the conditions for development and personal achievements of the user?
2) Are the methods of visualization and confirmation of personal achievements of the user?
3) Is there a “prevention of failures” (possibility of training, tips, training at easy levels, etc.)?
4) Is reinforcement and support provided to the user in case of failure?
5) Does the product protect users from failures and falling in status?
Test processing: points are calculated and a “psychological profile” of the product is drawn, showing gaps in satisfying needs. The imposition of matrices of products allows you to compare them and make hypotheses about the reasons for the success of each.
Examples of profiles for different IT products:
1. Facebook (blue, 31 points) and Minesweeper (game Miner) (green, 17 points), where Miner shows a significant lag in social needs.
2. Facebook (blue, 33 points) and Habrahabr (red, 38 points), where you can see Habrahabr’s lag in meeting the need for affiliation (rather, fear of being rejected) and fear of failure, but superiority in 5 other needs.
3. Habrahabr (red, 38 points) and Minesweeper (green, 17 points), where Miner’s lag in the satisfaction of almost all needs is clearly visible, except for fear of failure.
Nb:
1. Evaluation of a product according to the formulations is subjective, at the discretion of the appraiser (it is desirable that the appraiser has an additional understanding of the theory of needs), therefore the final assessment can only be used approximately, so to speak, to start a conversation. The reliability of the assessment is increased when using expert assessments.
2. Is it worth it for the evaluator to know the product being evaluated well? “It depends on what kind of user perception you want to get.”
(For example, the Habrahabr assessments presented here reflect a novice’s user experience and may differ from experienced users. But this difference in ratings can be a subject for user experience learning and adaptation.)
2. This is the simplest version of the test, there are no multiplying factors for different types of needs for different product groups (for example, how much more important is the user to satisfy the need for power compared to the need for completeness), so it can be used for an initial approximate assessment of various IT -products.
Your efficient comments and additions will be very useful to make the test more adequate and understandable.
If you want to learn more about personal needs and how they determine people's behavior, you can look at classic books on this topic.
Here are some:
1. H. Heckhausen. Motivation and activity
2. D. McClelland. Human motivation
3. E. P. Il'in. Motivation and motives
Tamara Kulinkovich
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/165797/
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