User Research: Making Sense of the Culture of Use

User research is about making sense of cultures of use - as we know, design only comes into its own in use. The ways in which people use things, the conditions of use and the kinds of habits and practices people adopt and develop with products, all provide crucial information for designers. In terms of design for sustainability, we are just as much interested in what makes people disengage with products and stop valuing them, as we are in what people like about the products they use and why. This information has implications for all aspects of design we cover in this guide: the material, formal and symbolic. The three main areas of user research are: 1. empirical research or observation; 2. user engagement in surveys, questionnaires, focus groups and face-to-face interviews; and 3. evaluation of results obtained.

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