DIY User Research :: My BarCamp Presentation
This weekend I went to BarCamp and it was great. Always good to catch up with fellow campers and hear what’s on their minds.
What was on my mind this weekend was DIY User Research – you can see my slides above. This took me a little out of my comfort zone as I resolved not to say ‘it depends’ but to make some overall recommendations as to how almost anyone can afford the time and budget to do a little research, and the best ways to spend that time or budget.
This has been based on the experiences I’ve had recently doing User Research for start up companies who have very small amounts of time and money, but who desperately need the kind of research that I’ve recommended. The techniques I’ve suggested here have worked very well so far, although I hasten to add that I’ve undertaken the research work myself.
This is not to say that you can’t *really* do it yourself… if you use the right techniques you will get a LOT of value from DIY research… but an experienced researcher is, of course, worth their weight in gold 
13 Comments
Clockwork Objects » Blog Archive » Conducting DIY User Reseach on November 26th, 2007
[...] Leisa Reichelt has posted up an interesting presentation on DIY guerrilla User Research which is well worth a look. I have embedded her slideshow below: [...]
links for 2007-11-26 at Alan Vonlanthen’s blog on November 27th, 2007
[...] DIY User Research :: My BarCamp Presentation Lisa Reichelt’s DIY User Research condensed methodology: why, when and how. Brilliant! (tags: ucd uc methodology user-research) [...]
Stefano Dominici on November 28th, 2007
[...]La Reichelt sottolinea che le ricerche, anche limitate, portano sempre benefici al progetto e descrive le tecniche che permettono di ottenere ottimi risultati, in particolare se utilizzate da esperti.[...]
links for 2007-11-28 on November 28th, 2007
[...] disambiguity – » DIY User Research Leisa’s very useful barcamplondon3 talk on DIY User Research (tags: methodology howto research ucd ux) [...]
links for 2007-11-30 (Leapfroglog) on November 30th, 2007
[...] disambiguity – » DIY User Research :: My BarCamp Presentation Leisa tries to convince BarCamp techies that user research *is* the cool thing to do (no matter what 37signals say). Nice brief presentation on guerilla user research. (tags: userresearch agile DIY guerrilla) [...]
Chris Messina on December 2nd, 2007
Looks like your presentation has been made private according to SlideShare? Was that on purpose?
leisa.reichelt on December 2nd, 2007
hrm… that’s odd. I set it as public and it’s telling me that it’s public… can you not see it Chris? (If not, let me know and I’ll chase it up with Rashmi, I know this public/private thing is fairly new)
Chris Messina on December 3rd, 2007
This is what I’m seeing:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/factoryjoe/2082555935/
Must be a bug… I’m having other problems as well… not just on your slideshow… so at least it’s not just you!
Syven on December 6th, 2007
It is amazing how many people don’t understand the fundamental importance of beginning with PROPOSITION. I totally believe in what gets invested in the front end of any process provides scope and results at the backend. I loved this presentation, not because it affirms the way I already think but this kind of thinking isn’t the prevalent one.
“Getting It” is the first issue, but “Doing It” and “Learning from Doing It” is the one where proof is in the pudding that one understands that this is the only way to “Getting It” and how this leads to massive improvement.
M.
The Smoking Foot » Blog Archive » The future of your social software is already here on December 6th, 2007
[...] If it is here, then it follows that people are already dealing with it somewhere, somehow. They might not even be using software to deal with it, but they’re struggling nevertheless. The trick is to find out where and how this happens. (don’t be afraid of Do It Yourself research) [...]
Adam Crowe - links for 2007-12-18 on December 18th, 2007
[...] disambiguity – DIY User Research “This has been based on the experiences I’ve had recently doing User Research for start up companies who have very small amounts of time and money, but who desperately need the kind of research that I’ve recommended.” Fun (tags: experiencedesign experience design research diy agile prototyping) [...]
Safe as Milk » Blog Archive » Presenting GUADEC keynotes on February 28th, 2008
[...] Leisa Reichelt is a renowned user interface designer whose name is pronounced as “Lisa”, and who comes highly recommended. Some of her past presentations are available online, including this presentation which she gave at the IA Summit 2007, or this one from BarCamp London, or this one from te Future of Web Apps talking about “ambient intimacy, the idea that what we really get from social networks is the impression that we’re close to friends & family whenever we want to be, regardless of distance & time constraints. [...]
Tony on November 26th, 2007
Good stuff! You don’t have an audio clip of your presentation do you? It’d be cool if you did a series of case studies now and then for what sites your think hit the nail on the head ala 37 signals:
http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/699-screens-around-town-typographycom-catalog-choice-etc
keep it up