Workshop Presentation from UX Speakeasy's Sketchcamp San Diego on October 6th, 2012. This presentation centers on using sketching techniques as another form of data collection for user research. The presentation covers the reasons for using sketching, some background behind origins in Psychology, and three activities which can be used during research.

1. Drawing Out Your
Users
Using Sketch Techniques
for User Research
UX Speakeasy’s
Sketchcamp San Diego
October 6th, 2012

2. User Research…
¿Qué es eso

3. Ugly Graph Time…

4. users…pffft!
User (you-zur) noun
The word computer professionals
use when they mean “idiot”.

5. Why I do research
“
If only the people making
technology actually
understood those of us
who use it!
-- Jennifer, 31
Research Participant
Qualcomm Advanced Technologies Group

6. Why Use
Sketches?

7. Humans Like to Draw Stuff

8. Sketching has been a mainstay of human communication from the get
go.

9. Cave Paintings – Petroglyphs – include the first recorded bad user
experience…bad bird…no eat human.

10. Humans learn to communicate through drawing before they can write

11. Sketching is a form of unconscious and conscious expression;
a form of social commentary

12. But Really
…
Why?

13. OK then…
“
Drawings yield data uniquely free
from many influences that distort
verbal communications. The
communication transmitted by them
is not recognized by the subject and
thus escapes the vigilance of the
mind.
-- G. Marian Klinget
The Drawing Completion Test: A Projective
Technique for the Investigation of Personality

14. Practically Speaking
• Sketching during research is a rapid and
straightforward way to gain deep insight into
participants.
• Sketching can reveal feelings, influences and
interests – things that they may not come up
in interview/conversational research.
• Sketching provides another form of data
collection that falls somewhere between
asking users and watching users

15. Steal This Info:
• Sketching provides emotional access
• Sketching is less guarded than conversation
• Sketching can narrow the participants focus to
only important parts of their story
• Sketching allows for a freedom of expression
that may not come with conversation

16. Origins
Of Sketch Research

17. Back to Psychology:
• Sketch/drawing analysis is closely related to
handwriting analysis. Many of the same principles are
used.
• Drawings are used in conjunction with handwriting
analysis to develop a personality profile, or uncover
information not necessarily available in handwriting
alone.
• Drawings when used for psychological evaluation can
expose a person’s emotional state.
• When used in conjunction with handwriting analysis
they can either confirm a personality profile, or reveal
traits not evident in the handwriting.

18. Psych 101: Introduction to Psychology
Analysis of a person's drawings is a common practice used
in child psychology. Tests like the House-Person-Tree test or
the Draw a Person test help the psychologist gain an
understanding of the child's mental and emotional state.

19. Psych 244a: Art Therapy & Research
Art Therapy comes from research done in the 30s
Much like Handwriting Analysis:
• Thickness of lines; Curves vs. straight lines; types of
strokes
• Darkness and light
• Aesthetic Quality
• The way the page is filled
• level of detail; accuracy
• Proportions

20. but…
“
Psychology in UX is a bunch of Horseshit.
(Or something like that – I’m paraphrasing)
-- Christopher Konrad
Conversation on Psychology/UX
September UX Speakeasy Meetup

21. Mein analysis of
Davinci leads me to
believe he spent hees
virst years as a
Fahderless Child
Keep in Mind
Uncle Siggy famously endeavored to analyze perhaps the greatest sketch
artist of all times, Leonardo da Vinci.

22. Mein analysis of
Davinci leads me to
believe he spent hees
virst years as a
Fahderless Child
Keep in Mind
…he got it completely wrong. Lenny was a momma’s boy.

23. So…
If Uncle Siggy can get it wrong you
should:
Focus on the key topics of the research
rather than delving too much into
interpretation.
…but it doesn’t hurt to learn more about the methods!

24. Before
You
Start

25. Some stuff you
should know:
• Create a lighthearted environment
• Participants have various levels of comfort
with drawing
• Sketching does not always bring insight
• Sketching needs to be used in conjunction
with other methods
• Provide focus for the sketches
• Provide examples before starting

26. Sketch Research
Methods

27. Sketching Bad &Good
•
•
Ask the user to draw out a bad experience for a single product/website/etc.
Expand on this by having them draw a solution.

28. Now…
Try It
•
•
•
•
•
•
Exercise!
Set a time limit.
Draw a vertical line splitting the page.
On the left draw a picture of one of your favorite experiences watching television.
On the right draw one of the worst experiences watching television.
Ask questions to explore emotion of events.
Explore the problem and solution in conversation.

29. Sketching A Day in the Life
•
•
•
•
Rapid way of gleaning some of the information you might get from journaling/diaries.
Creates a quick view into a “Day in the Life”.
Day in the life can be used with guerilla research like Man on the Street for rapid research.
Helps to provide insight for persona creation.

30. Now…
Try It
Exercise!
• Set a time limit.
• Draw a line across the bottom and create a timeline for your average day: get up, go to
work/school, lunch, sneak out of the office to watch movies, gym, go out, hang with family, go to bed.
• Above the timeline draw icons for all of the tools you use to communicate with throughout the day:
facebook, email, twitter, texting, calls, skype, etc.
• Above that draw pictures of all of the connected devices you use to communicate.
• Draw a picture of your favorite way (and how) to communicate during the day.
• Ask questions for persona development.

31. Sketching Future Vision
•
•
•
•
Asking users about the future can be tricky – just ask Henry Ford.
This type of sketching allows for open-ended creativity.
Don’t overwhelm participants with technobabble when describing the task.
Be sure and set the task to the near future to make it more approachable.

32. Now…
Try It
Exercise!
• Set a time limit.
• Imagine 5 years in the future (insert your idea here) that everything in your house is connected.
• (Develop the story) You are able to connect with not only your electronics, tvs, AC, oven, scale, but the
house it self.
• Sketch two pictures of how you see yourself interacting with (x) a connected smart house.
• ProTip: When you ask for two pictures and set a time limit, you are guaranteeing that you will at least get
on. If you only ask for one, they’ll spend the entire time thinking about it
• Ask questions to understand the drawing

33. Takeaway giblets:
• Sketching research is about the process not
the actual image.
• Sketching research requires you be a part of
the process.
• Sketching research should always be used
with other research.
• Start by analyzing primary focus rather than
digging in.

34. Bennett King
Principal UX Researcher
Qualcomm R&D
bennettmking@gmail.com
@skunkwUrX
Bennett King

35. references
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Christian Rohrer, When to Use Which User Research Methods, Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox
Erich Neumann, Art & the Creative Unconscious, Princeton University Press
Shaun McNiff, Art-Based Research, Jessica Kingsly Publishers
James Beebe, Rapid Assessment Process, Gonzaga University
David R Millen, Rapid Ethnography: Time Deepening Strategies for HCI Field Research, AT&T
Labs Research
Alexandre Fluery, Drawing & Acting as User Experience Research Tools, Aalborg University
Everglades: Family Communication User Research Project, Qualcomm Advanced Technologies
Group (in conjunction with Sachs Insights)
Atascadero: Ethnographic Research Project, Qualcomm Advanced Technologies Group (in
conjunction with Human Centric)
Shasta: Media User Research Project, Qualcomm Advanced Technologies Group (in
conjunction with Spear Research)