The Problem:
There are a lot of assumptions about True Love. Does True Love exist? Is it even possible?
This design research aims to find out which assumptions are right or wrong, demystify True Love, and eventually build a prototype based on user needs.
User = could be you or someone you know
Let’s get into it!
The Process:
We are going to use Gooogle Ventures’ Design Sprint methodology.
You will need the following:
- Paper and pen
- Sticky notes
- Whiteboard and whiteboard markers
- An open mind and heart
- Friends and family members who genuinely care about you as testing participants (at least five of them, you’re going to be the 6th tester)
- People you don’t know (to avoid bias and encourage objectivity) who will go through the design sprint with you. They can also act as moderators and observers on testing day.
Day 1 – Understand
- Reflect on what true love means to you.
- What does success in finding true love looks like? How will it be measured?
- Identify potential candidates that signify true love to you. Perhaps, we’re thinking about objects, pets, or even actions here. Who says true love= people?
At this point, the single most important question to reflect on is: What Does True Love Look Like to Me?
Day 2 – Diverge
Explore possible answers to What Does True Love Look Like to Me?
- Sketch solutions.
- Create mind maps. Make a storyboard. Don’t limit your ideas for now.
Day 3- Decide
- Identify potential pitfalls/conflicts in your proposed solutions. Too introverted? Too loud? Too smart? Too perfect? Too stoic? Too idealistic?
- Eliminate solutions that sound good in paper but not really doable in real life.
- Narrow down your list of candidates/solutions to MVP (minimum viable product). Vote with team members and choose one solution for prototyping.
Day 4 – Prototype
- Build your low-fi prototype. You can use Keynote instead of code. What’s more important for now is you write real content instead of placeholder text. This will help you communicate better with your research participants using your task scenarios.
- Next, create your usability test plan. Pay special attention to your test script.
- Finally, take note that a good usability test plan should outline who takes care of what on testing day.
Day 5 – Validate and Learn
Day 5 is your BIG DAY! You’re finally going out there, test your true love prototype with yourself and your participants, and identify what works/what doesn’t.
- Assure participants that this testing activity is not about them. You are not gauging their specific skills or qualities. These lines are incredibly important:
We are testing the prototype, not you. You can’t do anything wrong here. Do whatever feels right to you while tinkering with the prototype. Don’t be afraid of saying things that will offend us. We want your honest feedback as much as possible because we want to build a True Love product that will help address your needs and pain points.
- Apart from paying attention to your participants’ answers, observe for non-verbal cues. Encourage them to think out loud too. This applies to you as well when it’s your turn to test the prototype.
- After testing, say thanks to your participants. You can also give them tokens of appreciation or incentives.
- Debrief with your team at the end of the day. Depending on the results of your test, you can either continue building your True Love product based on the responses you’ve collected or pursue further testing.
Or you can just forget it altogether. 🙂