Kategorie: User Experience

We talked to Marie Bossecker, Senior Experience Strategist at think moto, about Data-driven Design. She has many years of experience in combining data, strategy and design in such a way that they form the basis for development processes for digital products and services. We asked Marie what data-driven design actually is, how data-based design and creativity are connected, and how innovation gains quality through user data.

Data-driven design is radically user-centric and derives from design thinking. The first step, even before the strategy and design process begins, is an extensive collection of real user data that reflects the current behavior of the user group. Together with further data collection during the process, they form the basis for the development of new approaches in strategy and design.

„Data-driven design means making design decisions based on prior research and data analysis.“

The term data encompasses both the results from qualitative research, such as interviews, and quantitative research, such as surveys or tracking data.

What is the Data-driven Design process?

As with many design approaches, there is no clear process template. The steps presented here are a framework that can be used as is or modified slightly. As a structural basis, the 5 steps of Design Thinking serve: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Design and Test.

1. Data collection & analysis

Data can be collected using various methods, e.g., qualitative user interviews or quantitative data collection. Tools that anonymously query or record user behavior, such as in-page surveys, heat and click maps, or eye tracking, can be used for this purpose.

Data analysis is the task of the strategists. They interpret the data and filter out the problematic interfaces. Many modern tools for data analysis can help to identify conspicuous features and hierarchies that promote or negatively influence the performance of a website.

2. Definition

The task now is to react to the findings and assumptions made. This phase is accompanied by extensive research and, if necessary, user tests to re-examine the assumptions. There are many inclinations in the market that can affect user behavior. For example, the pandemic. User behavior has changed extremely as a result. These external influences and trends are highlighted and analyzed in the definition phase.

„Does a better conversion rate mean we’ve had success, or are there perhaps other movements in the market or in the target group that are influencing this result?“

3. Strategy

In this stage of research, a strategy/concept is developed based on the previous steps, which addresses the identified problems and includes possible solutions. As a rule, several approaches are developed here, which must prove themselves in the course of the further process or are just discarded.

4. Design & Implement

Based on the strategy, conceptual and design measures result, which are implemented by the designers. These are then implemented in the existing website. But the job is not done after that.

5. Test

After implementation, a test phase is carried out again to check how successful a measure was. The data obtained can then be used in turn to draw lessons and develop a revised strategy. This cycle is also known as „customer journey optimization“.

What role do strategists play in the data-driven design process, and how do they differentiate themselves from data analysts?

In quantitative methods, data analysts are primarily responsible for enabling data collection, i.e., creating an interface between the platform and the analysis tool, storing the data, and making it available to strategists in accessible dashboards. Interfaces, such as Google Analytics, hotjar or VWO, make the collection and transmission of data possible in the first place. In order to better evaluate the generated data, it is translated into dashboards and presented in an understandable way using data visualization. The strategists gain access to the data and can now evaluate it. Their task is to analyze and interpret the collected data, define measures, accompanied by extensive research, and then develop a strategy.

In qualitative methods of data collection, for example interviews or focus groups, strategists can be involved from the beginning. They develop the study, define aims and set the framework. After data collection, they then also evaluate the data.

What is the added value from combining strategy and data analysis in the design process?

With the flood of digital offerings, those who know their users best and create the best experience for them will prevail. The short attention span of users has made it all the more important to present relevant content in the most accessible way possible. The better the experience is tailored to the user and their needs, the longer their stay and the higher the likelihood of a „conversion,“ such as a purchase or download.

It is almost impossible for designers today to include all the needs of potential user groups in design decisions. Some use the website very frequently, others only drop by occasionally. There are digitally affine personalities and those who need more assistance. That’s why it’s important for designers to draw on previous, data-based research. These show the current, real-world behavior of active user groups.

„You can’t know as a designer what your users really do or need without prior, data-based research. That’s where the clear difference lies between having some opinion and having some knowledge.“

Where does our Branded Interactions design process link to the Data-driven Design approach?

Data analysis can be well integrated in all phases of the branded interactions design process. It depends on the project and the industry of the customer how intensively the analysis of user data can be applied. Data collection is particularly helpful on websites with high traffic, where many users come together, such as in a large e-commerce store. Chatbots and their interfaces also provide a good basis for increasing performance through data in the long term. Qualitative data collection, on the other hand, can also support pure branding projects and MVBs and help to better understand the user group from the beginning through interviews and other research methods.

„Especially in the first two phases, Discovery and Define, data-driven strategy can be linked to the Branded Interactions design process. In Phase 5, Distribute, likewise, as the goal then is to evolve what has been implemented.“

Doesn’t creative freedom get lost if you always refer to data?

Real user data should not be a restriction on design freedom, but should serve as a support in the development of new design approaches. The data shows designers which approaches are already working well and which are not working at all. This allows them to focus on the essential pain points and create solutions where they are really needed. There are no limits to creativity itself.

Continuous analysis of user behavior helps us to optimize what we already have and adapt it to users in the best possible way. In order to develop new, innovative approaches, you have to keep questioning your previous knowledge to see what might work even better. Innovative design approaches can also be improved again and again through user testing and research.

What challenges do trends and technologies from the fields of tracking and data analysis bring for the combination of data and design?

In addition to external factors, such as pandemics, climate change or sustainability, current trends play a decisive role in how we behave online. For example, video content currently works much better than static content, as platforms like TikTok or Instagram guide. The need to be treated as an individual also has an impact on what we demand from our online experiences.

 „When it’s my birthday, I expect a fat voucher from the brand I’ve already left hundreds of euros with.“

The line between personalizing content and manipulating buyers can be very thin. Every click and every text written reveals more about what we like and even how we feel right now. In parallel to the real personality, we also have a virtual one, which analytics tools build from our behavior, our data, and then feed us the content that best suits us.

„I believe that in the future, the line between manipulation and personalization will become narrower. The question is, after all, where do we draw the line? What is exploitation, what is convenience? As designers, we have a supporting responsibility to position ourselves.“

Want to learn more about the design process at think moto? You can read all about it in the book Branded Interactions by our founders. Also check out our project portfolio on thinkmoto.com to learn more about our work.

A deeper insight into users’ lives for a better understanding

When we developed ideas for future-oriented services for one of our clients last summer, an important part of the work began a few weeks earlier.
For a user-centric vision, we wanted to get an insight into the real world of our users, their behaviour, motivations and expectations, in order to develop a real understanding on an emotional level. For this reason, we decided to use cultural probes in combination with in-depth interviews as the research methods of our choice.

What are cultural probes?

Cultural probes — often also called diary study — are a research method that helps to understand the everyday challenges, goals and needs of users at the beginning of a design process. Participants document and reflect on certain aspects of their lives over a longer period of time. Since this method allows them to capture their real behavior themselves, you gain largely unbiased insights from their perspective, which makes cultural probes particularly valuable for an early inspiration phase.

How did we use cultural probes?

As already mentioned, our goal in using cultural probes was to get an insight into the lives of the participants and in particular into their relationships with brands and people. Based on our client’s key questions, we wanted to understand what drives people to regularly use certain brands and products and what creates an emotional relationship with them. In this context, we were not only interested in the brand context, but also in the relationship with their favourite neighbour or their bookseller of trust in order to be able to make analogies.

On this basis, we developed a set of activities for the twelve participants to work on for one week. The activities in our case did not relate to topics such as the documentation of public transport use or food purchases, which are often recorded by means of cultural probes. Instead, our interest was to sensitize the participants to their relationships, routines and expectations by asking more and more in-depth questions, so that they could increasingly immerse themselves in our field of interest over the course of the week. This meant that the activities were partly, but not always related to the day’s experiences.

In order to increase the fun factor and thus the motivation of the participants through variety, we added additional materials to the activity cards such as lottery tickets and emoji stickers, which were part of the individual tasks.

We deliberately designed the kit to be analogue rather than digital to ensure that the participants would really be able to concentrate on their tasks without being distracted or interrupted by digital notifications and the like.

This decision was rewarded by the participants, who were happy to take their pencils and paper for a change after a long working day at the computer, and who also noticed the loving design.

“The study inspired me to keep a diary again!”

About a week before the start of the study, we assigned the Swiss startup TestingTime to recruit the twelve participants. We carefully considered which criteria our participants should meet and tried to achieve a balance between factors such as age, place of residence and other living conditions. Within a few days, suitable participants appeared in TestingTime’s online lineup and we were able to contact them directly.

Before shipping, we test the kit in several rounds with colleagues and friends to ensure that the tasks are properly understood by all and bring the desired results. This gave us valuable hints, which we were able to implement before the start of the study, and also meant that the participants had no further questions after a short introduction and that we got back the activity cards filled out in line with our ideas at the end of the seven days.

The next step was to cluster the information, evaluate it and identify patterns in order to validate and deepen them in the subsequent interviews.
Especially in combination with the personal conversations, in which we talked more concretely about the product of our customer, the true value of this combination of methods became apparent — as you can read in the following.

How did the cultural probes help us in the end?

Cultural probes provide an insight into the participants’ world of life.
The cultural probes created an understanding of the behaviour and needs of the participants in their everyday lives. Through self-documentation, the insights were more personal and concrete than observations, more honest than interview responses, and documented a longer period of time.

Cultural probes put the participants in the right mood.
The cultural probes kit prompted the participants to deal with their behavior and needs for several days before the interview. In this way, they were mentally prepared for our conversation and the corresponding topics were more ‘present’.

Cultural probes create a personal atmosphere.
The cultural probes kit gave us the opportunity to introduce ourselves and involve the participants in our work. This promoted an open and trusting atmosphere during the interview and increased the motivation of the participants to contribute to a valuable result.

Cultural probes provide a starting point for conversations.
The results of the cultural probes were the basis for discussions again and again and helped us to quickly get to the relevant points in the interview. Specific statements could be better pinned down and validated against the background of the general needs and expectations of the participants.

Our conclusion

In our project, the combination of cultural probes and in-depth interviews has led to very good results and we plan to use them in the same or a similar way in the future.

It enabled a deeper relationship with the participants and created even better insights. It also allowed us to integrate the results optimally into our further work — the development of new services — as we now have the users with their environments and challenges much more present and lively in front of our eyes.

Want to learn more?

If you’d like to become an expert in UX Design, Design Thinking, UI Design, or another related design topic, then consider to take an online UX course from the Interaction Design Foundation. For example, Design Thinking, Become a UX Designer from Scratch, Conducting Usability Testing or User Research — Methods and Best Practices. Good luck on your learning journey!