As part of the first week of my UXO720 UX Design module, we were presented with our first challenge:
Brief
For the first challenge activity, we’ll be trying our first round of the design thinking process – Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test – to redesign a desk space.
This is a collaborative activity, which helps you get to know one of your classmates and start experiencing how you (as designer) and your users can work together to solve a problem.
Step 1: Empathise
Contact the classmate you have been paired with. The earlier the better – we recommend this to take place no later than Wednesday.
Write down some (5-10) questions you think will give you an understanding about how your partner uses their desk space. Use the “ Dos and Don’ts of Interviewing” cheat sheet [~15 minutes].
Interview your partner (over video call or the phone – whatever works for you) about their current behaviours with their desk space. Ask them to describe items they currently have on it, send a photo, etc. Ask them what’s working and what’s not. Take notes. Record if you have permission [~15 minutes].
Switch roles and repeat Step 3 [~15 minutes].
Step 2: Define
Evaluate the current design and contents of your partner’s current desk. Define a problem (or set of problems). Write a sentence that describes what you think the main problem is [~10 minutes].
Have a follow-up interview if you feel you need to.
Step 3: Ideate & Prototype
Redesign the space based on your peer interview. Write or sketch your ideas [~30 minutes].
The Challenge came as something of a surprise at first. As I wasn't expecting to design a piece of furniture on a UX design course. Many, many years ago I completed my undergraduate degree in Furniture and Product design at Nottingham Trent University so I am well versed in sketching concepts of this kind
(although I am somewhat rusty), taking the user's requirements onboards. I also appreciated that the challenge was a way of gaining a practical understanding of the Interaction Design Foundations/d.school Design thinking process of Empathize -> Define -> Ideate -> Prototype -> Test, so I was happy to get started as soon as possible.
Things didn't go to plan from the beginning as my initial partner was unavailable and the second partner, Claire Burn, and I struggled to align our diaries. We weren't able to carry out the interview aspect of the brief until Friday evening, which is not how I like to approach these tasks. The interviews were conducted over Microsoft Teams (figure 1) and were recorded to ensure no details were missed or misheard the first time around.
Empathise
As recommended I attempted to create 5-10 questions that I would be able to use to get a sense of how Claire used her desk and what pain point she was having with it. I was determined to be as disciplined with the time on this as possible and didn't spend more than 15 minutes thinking of my questions, which probably lead to my general dissatisfaction with the questions as I was drawing a blank. I did attempt to use the cheat sheet to word and frame the questions to ensure the question allowed for open-ended exploration of topics and themes, but it wasn't flowing for me. Many of them under closer inspection were repeated themes.
Questions
Where is your desk? At home or in an office?
How often do you use your desk?
What kind of activities do you do at your desk?
Tell me some pain points regarding your desk.
Tell me what you like about your desk.
What about your desk makes it your personal space?
Tell me a time you were frustrated at your desk.
Tell me something unique about your desk.
What equipment do you use at your desk?
What would you change about your desk?
Can you send a photograph of your desk?
The interview was very interesting from the perspective of both the interviewer and the interviewee. It was remarkable how emotive it was to discuss a simple piece of furniture such as a desk and I will definitely carry this knowledge forward in my future practice. As I discussed my desk with Claire and the reasons for its deficiencies I could not help but relate to the wider context of my surroundings and personal circumstances; in effect, it became a microcosm of problems in my life and there were some serious reflections on why it was the way it was. This was a profound learning outcome as I could appreciate that no matter how mundane an aretfact may appear initially, there could be deep emotional ties to it from the user, and the interview process needed to be treated objectively but also compassionately. I felt surprisingly vulnerable and I could appreciate Claire probably did as well. For her part, Claire was very confident with her questions and was not afraid to probe deeper into topics highlighted with further questions if she felt insights were valuable. In comparison I felt my questions lacked depth.
Define
Through the interview process with Claire, I was able to identify key themes that persistently cropped up during discussions:
The same old scenery. Claire was staring at bare walls which were undecorated for a variety of reasons. As she worked in the office 8+ hours a day for her job, she was reluctant to study there for the course, even though it was the most appropriate room in the house. The scenery was dull and uninspiring.
Disorganised and messy. Although Claire highlighted her desk size was fit for purpose, she recognised that it was disorganised and a mess at times. Strategies to mitigate this had all ended with whatever storage she had opted for becoming as disorganised as the desk itself.
Motivation, Claire needs a way to stay motivated to keep her desk tidy,
Claire is left-handed, so any solution will require this to be taken into consideration.
Claire has tried to add character to the desk with accents of colour using post-it notes and highlighters but the desk remains white and genetic.
Ideate & Prototype
Claire was reluctant to send photos of her office and I understand why, it's a window into our own personal space and highlights areas we thought may remain private. As I mentioned above, I felt increasingly vulnerable during our interview and I would not be surprised if Claire felt the same. Neither of us intended to make the other uncomfortable but the conversations were very revealing. As such, I didn't push claire to send a photo after a second time of asking. But she did supply a sketch of the room which I requested halfway through the design phase (figure 2).
This at least gave me a general idea of where the desk sat in the room.
I began sketching out ideas and as a starting point I attempted to address the storage issue by adding draws under the desk, but not too wide to cause issues with leg space, this was an element I maintained throughout the ideation process. (figure 3) I also wanted to address the point of staring at the same wall every day by adding a screen that could be used to show changing scenery and imagery. I also played about with the idea of a curved desk situated in a corner to allow Claire to have space for both her writing and sketching which she identified she did for work. Each element Claire had identified in the interview was carried over from one iteration to the next until the final concept which was a little off the wall in comparison as it used a flexible touch screen reserved for smartphones as a display/ interface (figure 4).
I must admit I attempted to keep within the suggested time of 30 minutes but found it difficult to discipline my approach. In hindsight, I should have used either Flowtime or the Pomodoro technique which I had said I would in my personal case study for GDO720. THIS WILL BE ADDRESSED IN SUBSEQUENT SESSIONS, as this is a continuous issue I run into. It wasn't over the time by much, but 40 minutes is not 30.
I'm not sure if I have fulfilled Claire's requirements and would love to discuss my designs with her further as a starting point for additional ideation after feedback.
Figures
Figure 1: CLARKE, Daniel. 2023 . Interview with Claire Burn
Figure 2: BURN, Claire. 2023 . Sketch of Desk
Figure 3: CLARKE, Daniel. 2023. Initial sketches of concepts
Figure 4: CLARKE, Daniel. 2023. Additional sketches of concepts show wrap-around screen idea
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