Research Methods
In this group project, we utilized various research methods to gain a better understanding of people's grocery shopping habits in order to prototype an application that improves their grocery shopping experience.
Spring 2016
Skills: UX Research, Prototyping
Partners: Bettina Chou, Nina Flores
Shopping Arrays Prototype
Our mid-fi prototype is centered around a more efficient way to create and save grocery shopping lists.
The following are the different research methods we used and process work that informed our decisions for the app
Deep Hanging Out
We spent a few hours as a "deep hang out" at Lotus Food, an asian grocery market to people watch and observe shopper behaviors. This trip, summarized below, helped us realize what kind of experience Lotus Food provides for its customers and what some of the customer values are.
Cultural Probe
A cultural probe serves as an indispensable tool to understand more about a broad topic and user group when there is no straightforward answer in mind. It is a package of artifacts given to a research participant to engage with and report upon. We created a probe to connect with our users in a more personal and natural way because the tangible interactions between the probe and user are less confrontational than other methods like an interview. After brainstorming, our team included the following in our probe:
- Personal Introduction (Before): Participants fill out introductory information such as: Size of household? Type of home? Shopping acquaintances? The introduction page includes flaps for readers to lift and fill with information about their shopping routines.
- Map with Stickers (Before): Printed map of Pittsburgh with local neighborhoods. Includes stickers that indicate distance and transportation from home to store. Participants choose stickers and place appropriately on the map.
- Writing/Shopping List & Survey (Before): Prompt readers to write their shopping list and ask whether this is a normal routine.
Writing/Food Log (After): Gathers information about usage and depletion of grocery goods. Participants catalogue meals and ingredients used. - Snapchat Updates (During Shopping): Provide prompts to users to elicit real-time updates on environmental and social interactions during a shopping experience.
- Text messaging (After Shopping): Request a reflection on overall experience with fulfilling our probe and more actively thinking throughout the shopping process. Our team will periodically text message participants throughout the week, to ensure participation with the probe.
Affinity Diagramming
We used affinity diagramming to understand our findings from the probe.
From the diagramming, we drew the following similarities:
- Students tend to take advantage of ride sharing services or public transportations while adults are more likely to have access to their own automobiles.
- Access to efficient transportation influences how far one usually travels.
- Shopping time never exceeds 2 hours. The average is about an hour.
- Everyone uses a shopping list in some shape or form.
- Most people tend to have a routine that relies on available time and transportation.
- Likewise, many groceries are routinely bought.
- There exists preferred purchases depending on the store.
