Need Finding
From IEOR 170 Spring 2007
Lecture slides by Jono Lecture slides by Patti & Vivek
Required Readings
- Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need Dev Patnaik & Robert Becker. Design Management Journal.
- Persona Creation and Usage Toolkit George Olsen. (critique not needed on this one)
Discussions
Please post your critiques/commments on the required readings below. To do that, first login by using your user name and password, then click the "edit" tab on the top part of this page (between the "discussion" page and the "history" page), New to wikis? Read the Wiki editing guide. . Hint - Please put a whole line == ~~~~ == at the beginning of your submitted critique, so the wiki system will index, sign and date your submission automatically.
[edit] Brian Loo 15:53, 7 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need” This article was interesting and easy to understand compared to last weeks readings. The introduction of the PDA really caught my attention as they are such a popular device today. I thought it was interesting how Apple who has all these innovative and great products now, failed with there PDA. What really surprises me though is that Apple never tried following up with their product by examining the users like Palm did. This seems like common sense that if your product fails, you would follow up with the why it failed so you can improve it or don’t make the same mistake again. Overall, the article discusses the idea of designing a product that is geared towards people’s needs and constantly improving the products to serve those needs. It talked about techniques on how to research and observer users to locate their needs and analyze the data for the designing process. An interesting point was the idea of not looking for solutions but for needs instead as it allows for infinite solutions. This reminded me of the ides of brainstorming as generalizing your central idea to not limit any concepts. In the end, I enjoyed this read as it was interesting to see the whole idea and process of finding needs to fix, but also the clear and familiar examples.
[edit] Katherine Tong 14:31, 12 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Needs"
What I found the most interesting about this article were two main points:
1. "Refrain from inquiring about the activities being observed until after those activities have been completed" (41).
In one of the previous readings, "Principles of Contextual Inquiry," the author emphasized asking questions during observation rather than after. In this reading, however, a point has clearly been made not to. I agree more with this article mainly because one can go over what and why they did something. This would be more benificial to research because there would be no risk of interrupting the user's thought process.
2. "Research questions should change and the needer group should be redefined" (42).
Although this seems obvious, to redefine and adjust to new information, I feel like this is the first article that actually directly address this issue. Whereas other articles briefly mention it.
[edit] Asmita Karandikar 12:55, 10 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Need”
This article introduced and discussed the principles of critical need-finding, which is a way to study people in order to figure out their needs that have not been met. I really enjoyed reading this article because it was interesting and easy to follow. I thought that the example concerning the PDAs was interesting because it proved that although people appreciate advances in technology, it is more important for products to focus on what customers really need, since these customers are willing to sacrifice some of these advanced features that aren’t necessary to them. There are a couple ideas discussed in this article that remind me of principles that we had previously discussed in class: looking for needs instead of solutions (which reminded me of the brainstorming idea where we don’t initially narrow our possibilities), and visiting the customer’s environment (which reminded me of contextual inquiry.) I appreciate the four-step need-finding process that this article describes because I think it would be difficult for a beginner to come up with an effective process on their own, especially since need-finding can potentially be very ambiguous if people are not aware of their needs. So overall, I feel that this was a very helpful and interesting article, and I enjoyed reading it.
[edit] Michael Toulouse 15:14, 10 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Need”
This article detailed "needfinding", or how to find hidden customer needs, those which they aren't even aware of until they use the the product, at which point it becomes indispensable. This is a potentially very powerful (and profitable) tool. However, when reading the article, it seemed very similar to earlier readings about contextual inquiry and the such, with tips on how to interview employees, and how everything should be recorded, etc. Still, some good information was given on how to frame and prepare the research questions, and the importance of objectives, a contrast to earlier design examples where everyone seemd to go in different directions. This makes sense, as the topic here is finding needs, not solving them. I think it was best summed up in the conclusion: "Companies can find that their customers express a desire for an improvement only after a competitor has created it."
[edit] Esha Datta 15:19, 10 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The How and Why of Uncovering People's Need"
This article discussed the importance of needfinding in design. Many products out in the market are driven by technology. After an innovation in technology has been made, people try to mold a product out of it based off of the existing solution. I agree with this article's point that the most successful products are those driven by needs rather than solutions. I also believe that needfinding helps companies gain a competitive edge since it helps designers uncovers needs that users themselves are unaware of. When dealing with the unexplored territory of new products, there is no precedent to follow so it helps to figure out the user's need first as a starting point. The examples of the PDA and motor scooter illustrated this point very well.
[edit] Andrew prasetyo 16:02, 10 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The How and Why of Uncovering People's Need"
This article is a mix of product design, marketing, and consumer behavior. The main issue of the article is the importance of observing consumer’s needs and how to observe these needs. I agree with the author it is important to search the customer’s needs before offering any solution to the problem. Also, it is better to offer a solution that will not limit the number of possibilities to satisfy those needs. Many products are successful in penetrating the market because it can satisfy what customers want. iPod, for instance, is not the first MP3 player and not the most powerful, but it sales was skyrocketing during the first launch. The key is its user-friendly feature, and it has won the customer’s satisfaction in the MP3 industry. Near the end of the article, the author also mentions the importance of observing user without intrusion. Indeed, customers may change their behavior when they know that they are being observed, so I think “spying” on the customer is the better approach in order to find customers’ needs.
[edit] Urvashi 16:09, 10 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The How and Why of Uncovering People's Need"
This article uses a very good example right in the introduction to explain why need finding is a very necessary thing for companies in today’s world of gadgets. I found myself understanding the issue faced by needfinding very easily through the use of examples like the PalmPilot. Once again, I notice how its really important for these designers to be able to shift their focus of attention away from providing people with what they think they need, as opposed to creating products they really need. Customers just have not been able to articulate this to the product designers. Of course, a lot of times customers themselves don’t know what they need and the designers have to perceptive enough to be able to figure out what problem needs to be solved. Understanding of the human psychology is definitely required for this but the skill that is crucial is to be able to identify the problem the customer is trying to solve while buying a product. This will allow designers to tackle the matter at the root, and produce something truly innovative rather than trying to fix products already on the shelves. A neat framework of four steps is also provided to approach the business of need finding which I found very useful as it provides the basic guidance required in lay man’s terms. I definitely plan to try out this framework the next time I’m faced with a similar situation.
[edit] Onyi Lam 01:01, 11 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding is an interesting area in the design process that is left relatively ignored. This article begins with the example of PDA in which both Palm and Apple failed to understand the need of users and assumed that they wanted a device that can replace their desktop computers. Designers have probably realized that it is important to understand their targeted users' need and this article provides us with the guidelins that we can use when we conduct our research. Among the guidelines I find it most useful to "immerse oneself in the needer group" because the researcher can observe the users' behavior without assuming the role of the researchers and that is probably the most effective way to collect data. But what maybe more interesting is "need-creating". If designers can create a product that will simulate the desire of the users to this product, it will be a even bigger opportunity.
[edit] Rey Doctora 13:32, 11 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need”
This article emphasized the importance of needfinding when developing a new product. I liked how the article highlighted examples of several companies, such as Apple and Palm Computing, and how they approached product design from different perspectives; Apple, for example, focused on developing high-tech products without much concern for their customers’ real needs while Palm Computing actually considered what customers needed and developed a product from that information. I noticed how this article shares similar feelings towards customer information-gathering with a previous article. Like a previous reading, this article supports talking with customers directly, immersing yourself in your customer’s environment, asking clarifying questions, and also interpreting the data. I also liked how the article stresses accomplishing these steps in several iterations and makes it clear that one pass at the data alone is not enough to design a good product.
[edit] Patrick Liu 14:22, 11 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need"
This article starts off with an example of how two companies, Apple and Palm computing, designed similar PDA’s but one company was more successful than the other. Apple made a complex PDA that did not do so well on the market, and so did Palm computing. But Palm computing decided to research on why their product sales were so poor. In the end they realized that consumers only used the PDA for calendar and scheduler. With this information they decided to create the Palm pilot and soon it became the best selling PDA. This introduces the topic of “needfinding,” created by the head of Standford University’s product design program, Robert McKim. Needs are greater than solutions because although some solutions may satisfy the needs at that particular time, as the solution becomes obsolete, the needs does not and needs a newer solution. Needs are difficult to find and although sometimes people are lucky in finding needs, most are not so lucky, and depends heavily on research. Because needs are greater than solutions it is obvious that researchers should search for needs before than search for a solution. The author describes the process of “needfinding” in a few groups: “frame & prepare, watch & record, ask & record, and finally interpret & frame.” In conclusion, “needfinding” is a tool not only used for designing, but also for marketing.
[edit] ChuiShan Wong 16:23, 11 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need”
After reading this article, I totally agree with the Dev Patnaik & Robert Becker that the design on a product is completely depends on customer’s need so that it is necessary to observe and make improvements accordingly. I also agree with the idea that it is better to focus on customer’s need rather than continuous technology development. It is because some of those fancy features are not necessary to most customers and therefore customers will choose the products that improve upon customer’s opinion. The success of iPod prove that customers to tend to choose user-friendly products instead of fancy products.
[edit] James ChunJye Tong 16:43, 11 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need
I think this is a very interesting article and it reminds me of a focus group I attended a year ago. The focus group I participated was a small start up company that designed a program for subscribed users to check information about movies, weather, and sports on their cell phones. Both my friend and I didn’t think there will be market for such program and most of the people won’t want to pay to use such service. I don’t think anyone has used or ever heard of their product “Movie Candy.” I think the product was not successful because the designers failed to identify the users’ needs. The product was to specific to certain users’ need but for majority of the population the features in the program are not the most important thing when they use their cell phone. This article shows how important research is when developing a new product.
[edit] Timothy Manglicmot 17:15, 11 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Needs”
This article discussed how designers should focus on a user’s needs. Although this point has been discussed widely in class to this point, we have never discussed in detail exactly how to go about designing based on finding the needs of users. I thought one of the central principles discussed in the article (look for needs not solutions) was a very good argument seeing as how the solution for users’ needs today will often be a different solution tomorrow. As an example I can remember my first video-gaming system, the Nintendo. Although it satisfied my gaming needs, its graphics left a lot to the imagination. Today, I own a Playstation 3 which now, satisfies my gaming needs and leaves little to the imagination. Another interesting part of the article was the needfinding process itself. It provides a good iterative method for designing based on needs that places the user in a comfortable environment. This method allows designers to get the most out of their research. Overall this was a pretty interesting article.
[edit] Umber Masood 18:09, 11 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Needs”
This article was interesting. It gave a different perspective on designing things: that researchers and designers should not necessarily look for a solution to a problem but find the user’s need. I liked the examples of the Palm Pilot and the Bajaj scooter because they illustrated the importance of finding customers’ needs. Needfinding is like thinking “outside of the box” and looking at the big picture. It also involves looking at the same thing from different angles. The article says to look at other forms of information, such as facial expressions, in addition to verbal information and I think this is important because facial expressions can give more meaning to what a person says. I think the article was a nice complement to a previous reading, “Principles of Contextual Inquiry” by Beyer and Holtzblatt, which was about the ways in which interviewers can gain understanding of how users do their work. Patnaik’s and Becker’s article also talked about the importance of iteration, which is another concept that has been talked about in previous readings, and I agree that iteration is important to the design process.
[edit] Hong How Quek 18:48, 11 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Needs
The article introduces the process of needfinding as a way to help designers get closer to end users, and discusses about the 4-stage process involved: frame and prepare, watch and record, ask and record, as well as interpret and reframe. One of the most important lesson I learnt from the article was how companies should focus on satisfying needs rather than devising solutions, since people’s needs endure longer than solutions. This is truly a paradigm shift for me as an engineer who has always been preoccupied with finding the best solution to every problem presented by the clients. In future, I’ll take a step back and ask, “What do my clients really need?” and “Do they really know what they need?”, before even starting on the problem presented to me, since real needs are difficult to detect even by the client himself. The article impressed me on how it really is more sensible to innovate better ways to serve needs, independent of the solutions.
[edit] Megan Whittey 19:35, 11 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Needs”
I definately enjoyed reading this article compared to last week. It was to the point and easy to understand. It basically talked about how important 'needfinding' is in the designing and marketing of a product. The four steps to this process are frame and prepare, watch and record, ask and record, and interpret and reframe. I liked how the article mentioned when asking questions about the need, don't be too specific so you can leave room for innovation. For example, the store clerk needing to retrieve boxes from the top shelf. The article talked about not asking to see where a ladder is but to ask how can he retrieve boxes, so it leaves the question open for innovation and to 'think outside the box.' This made me think back to the other article we read about brainstorming that said to not be too specific in your brainstorming questions, so you're not limited. This article also talked about observing the customer in his/her environment which relates to the article we read last week or so about researching customers. I also found it interesting that the article talked about observing and noting facial expressions used by the customers and even their personal effects they had at their office or environment. I also liked how they suggested under the watch and record section to become part of the group, so you're not just finding the customer's need, now you're looking for your need. Under the ask and record section they suggested or mentioned that the customer can review the video tape of them after to help explain the activity they had completed. I can see this being positive and negative. The customer may not react the way you wanted them to or may be suprised or uncomfortable by watching themselves on tape.
[edit] Shilpi Verma 21:34, 11 February 2007 (PST)
“Need-finding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Need”
This article discussed the process of need-finding. Need-finding is a way to figure out what people’s unmet needs are by studying them. The article starts off by giving examples of how Apple and Palm both tried to come out with some sort of PDA. The reason for the failure of Apple’s MessagePad and Palm’s Zoomer was because they did not identify the correct customer need. By using the art of need-finding, Palm was able to come out with the PalmPilot. Palm realized that users did not want a portable PC; instead they wanted an electronic replacement for their personal organizers. The authors describe the process of need-finding in four categories: “frame and prepare, watch and record, ask and record, interpret and frame.” I found this article interesting because it clearly depicted how need-finding helps a person understand a customer, which is crucial for product developers in terms of marketing and design. Overall, this whole process helps companies improve in areas of innovation, allowing designers to explore new markets that await development.
[edit] Christine Shih 21:48, 11 February 2007 (PST)
"NeedFinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Needs"
This article talks about how being able to figure out people's needs is the key to designing successful products. The article makes a few points about how needs last longer than any solution- so it's more important to focus on the need which never changes than improving current solutions. Also, it mentions how to look beyond immediate solvable problems because even if current technology cannot address the issue- it will help the company plan in advance for the future. This article also touches upon how you observe customer needs. You want to keep directly observe people, keep people's behaviors natural, interview in customer's environment,record information in customer's terms..etc.
[edit] Connie Ko 23:01, 11 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need”
This article talked about designing products with customer's needs in mind rather than being just technology driven. If a designer looks for needs instead of solutions, it opens up the spectrum of products that could eventually be created. Furthermore, I thought it was interesting that they said designing products for customer's needs doesn't necessarily mean a new need is fulfilled. Sometimes fulfilling a need means an old need is satisfied in a different and better way. The example they used was the different ways of storing information.
[edit] Rakesh Vij 23:05, 11 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need
This article is rather interesting as it discusses how to discover people's needs before a technology is released. The example given is the Palm Pilot versus Apple's MessagePad. Both companies PDA devices that failed, but Palm went back and looked into its customer's desires and demands rather than focusing strictly on the technology. Traditionally companies have used market research methods to figure out customer's preferences, but when you are dealing with a product that doesn't exist yet this can be hard. This is what this article explains; namely, needfinding. The central problem associated with Needfinding is that discovering needs is hard. The article is written well and first gives various methods to discover needs, but eventually reveals the four steps of Needfinding. They are: Frame and Prepare, Watch and Record, Ask and Record, and Interpret and Reframe. These steps are relatively straightforward and are ways in which designers can thoroughly understand the needs of the customers and create a better solution accordingly. As I already mentioned this article was written fabulously and presents a great design approach.
[edit] Nicolas Suryono 23:08, 11 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need"
I really like how the author describes why it is important to satisfy the customer needs rather than giving them a specific solution to their problem. I also like the methods of acquiring the necessary data to determine what the customer really need (i.e the Needfinding method). I agree with the author that we need to focus on the customer's need rather than providing customer with a solution to their problem. I think this will enforce the designer's creativity to come up with many solutions for the customer's problem and also helps them to communicate better with their customer.
[edit] Justin Hsu 00:18, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Needs”
The article "Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Needs" was an interesting article about several exploratory techniques one could use to find consumer needs. The first example in the article illustrated quite well why exactly the process of "needfinding" is important. Although Apple was the first to recognize a market opportunity in personal desktop devices, they executed their product incorrectly by making it far more complicated than it needed to be. The added sophistication detracted from the device's aesthetic appeal. Palm, on the other hand, refined Apple's market opportunity by narrowing it down to several key consumer needs and built a much simpler/specific device that turned out to be quite successful. A good point that the article brought up was that when addressing a need, the need itself should be the center of attention, not the solution. The need will always be there but the solution will always be ongoing. (Devices designed will always evolve because as technology advances, products will be able to better address consumer needs. The article brought up many of the same points as our previous reading on contextual inquiry - it reiterated many of the same important points when setting up and participating in a contextual inquiry sessions. It also emphasized reiteration in the design process, a theme that we have seen come up over and over again. It is good to see these themes appear in a wide variety of readings because it demonstrates how important and fundamental these ideas are. One part of the article that I thought could be improved was the fact that it did not spend a considerable amount of time mentioning what the marketing and design relationship dynamic should be. The beginning of the article made it seem like this would be a central topic of the article but other than mentioning that they should work together, I felt like it was never substantially addressed.
[edit] Siu Pan Lam 00:21, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Needs”
This article opens with an example of an industry struggling on needfinding by discussing the history of PDAs. It was interesting to read about the history of PDAs because I did not know that they were originally equipped with word processors (even though it was first introduced over ten years ago) in addition to organizers and calendars. The research effort being emphasized in the article is called needfinding. Needfinding is “an approach to studying people to identify their unmet needs…allows design managers to determine which problems they should solve first.” In general, this concept claims that identifying the needs is more important than finding the solutions to a problem in order for a new product to receive great market attention and demand. I think this is an effective method and that designers and business people should really take this method into consideration when doing market research. If there is any questions about how to go about needfinding, they can follow the four-step approach of the needfinding process described in the article, which I find to be very interesting and useful.
[edit] Michael Lovejoy 00:30, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need”
This article was pretty informative. I liked the example of Palm versus Apple – it clearly introduced the importance of finding out what customers want and how to get that information. I also like how it appreciates the importance of sociology and anthropology in figuring out normal human characteristics in a qualitative manner. I especially liked the point that needs outlast solutions and that designers should focus on needs, leaving open brand new ideas to solve the problem. The many examples are interesting, short, to-the-point, and very applicable in proving the point being made. Another important point I liked was looking beyond the immediately solvable problem. This is where creativity and other important ideas come from. The section about the needfinding process was a little boring and just more of what we have already read about. Overall, I really liked how this article emphasized the important of needfinding, not just interviewing techniques and problem-solving.
[edit] Christopher Ling 02:01, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need”
This article discussed the idea of needfinding, or having a “qualitative approach to studying people to identify their unmet needs. This article focused on what seems like a repeating theme in our design-focused topics: the importance of design and its relationship with form and function. A prime example of this is shown with Apple and PalmPilot. Apple’s PDA was a failure because it did not address the underlying customer pain presented by users who did not want to replace their desktop computer, but instead wanted a small, handy, organizational tool to manage such things as addresses and calendars. After that, the article discusses important steps to proper needfinding, such as looking for needs instead of solutions or looking beyond the immediately solvable problems. I feel that many of these points are used to allow the designer to think outside of the box to broaden his or her perspective. It’s good not to be focused on one distinct solution, because solutions are constantly changing, but the overarching need still exists.
[edit] Michael Chen 3:54, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Needs”
The article deals with what I think is one of the biggest problems in today's technology companies: the realization that they're not selling a product, but rather fulfilling a need. Much of the worst business practices today, by the RIAA, MPAA, and the large telecoms, are sticking with their old, tried and true technology, but fail to realize that the newer technologies are fulfilling consumer's needs far better than the old ones. The article defines a somewhat systematic approach to find needs, which is all well and good, but also notes that a good portion of needfinding is from the people who experience the need. As I see it, that's probably the best way for Needfinding to occur. It should be that the people that have the need be the ones that fix it. Unfortunately, we don't always see that clearly.
[edit] Marshall Anderson 10:17, 12 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding: I liked this article because it is a perfect supplement to our past readings. In particular, this article has several differences in the suggested rules compared to the “Contextual Inquiry” reading. The biggest difference between the two articles involves the observation. In this article, the authors suggest avoiding interruptions and asking questions until the observation is complete. The contextual inquiry article, on the other hand, suggested being nosy and asking lots of questions. I think that both approaches have their advantages and drawbacks. Being quite until the end relies heavily on memory and notes while interruptions can cause things to fall in between the cracks. Perhaps the best method depends on the behavior and personality of the person being interviewed. Other differences relate to who is controlling the discussion and what information is to be recorded. In the contextual inquiry article it is said that the “power” should be split by partnership and that the designers should focus the conversation and only take down details regarding relevant issues. While the needfinding article says that the user should control the conversation and that things that may seem irrelevant should be recorded. Again I think that both have their benefits and drawbacks. I think the best method is not to concentrate too hard on the rules and rather focus on what is working at the time you are observing.
[edit] Ricky Surachman 12:21, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Needs”
Just like the title suggest, this article discussed on ways to discover what people really need. One of the most interesting thing in this article is about focusing the design of a product for what people's needs today while keeping the option of improving the deisgn for the future. This is something that is true because sometimes designers like to design something that is really fancy without considering the customers' need. So, eventhough the product is really good, because there is no one really need the features that the product is offering, the product doesn't sell really well. This article also said that the designers should look for people's need not the simple and obvious solution. Just like what we already discuss in class several times, if the designers only think for the simple solution, they will limit themselves while actually they can create something better.
[edit] YeeWan Cheung 12:46, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need”
This article gives an overview of the Needfinding’s core methodology. It talks about the understanding of needs can help planning the short- and long-term goal of a product design project, and it can also help putting the goals into a priority order. I agree that satisfy the user’s need is the ultimate goal of a product. There are many different kinds of need demand on the real world regarding to all the products and designs that we encounter everyday. Therefore, “needs are opportunities waiting to be exploted”, and it can then be turned into a profitable business project. In the later session of the article, the authors introduce us the four stages of Needfinding process. Not only descriptions are given, but also the specific methods are provided. I found these four steps pretty similar to the article we have read before. The one that talks about observation is the key of every stage of product developement.
[edit] Aubuchon 13:21, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Needs”
This article discusses techniques for users to uncover the actual needs of the user. Many times the user does not actually understand what his/her problem is, and observation is necessary. Although it may seem obvious, the article emphasizes that a product is not necessarily any good if it doesn’t address the needs of some customer base. The most innovative designs may not be worthwhile if no one actually needs them. The article also brings up a good point that identifying needs paves the way for future designs, because while a particular design may address a user’s needs, that design will eventually fade away. The user’s needs however, can persist for much longer. This article was well organized and clearly bulleted key tips in observing needs, such as how to record observations, how to prioritize, and how to behave during observation.
[edit] Raymond Kim 13:24, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need”
This article gave a framework for a different approach to design process: focusing on users' needs. Initially, this idea seems quite intuitive and self-explanatory. However, the article provides good examples such as the Apple PDA which failed after being released simply due to its complexity. It was certainly a very capable device, but it failed to meet the basic user needs at the time which were simple tasks such as calendars, address books, etc. The concept of discovering and working toward satisfying user needs is a process which needs to be understood and executed by all successful designers since user needs are perpetual and forever changing. Often times, meeting user needs does not require fancy products with all the bells and whistles, just a simple, functional device.
[edit] Tawan Udtamadilok 13:26, 12 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need
Designers often try to come up with a solution to a problem. This article describes how this technique can be problematic because it can sometimes limit the development of a product that truly satisfies the user. Instead, the designer should spend a substantial amount of time focusing on the needs of the user. This method helps to reduce time spent on decision-making during the design process, and allows for more iterations of the design. In addition to defining this method, the article goes into great detail about the possible questions to ask the user and how to record their responses. This article helps to understand the bigger picture when designing.
[edit] Anar Joshi 13:55, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Needs”: This article examined the means by which marketers and design teams can stay at the forefront of innovation by understanding and meeting the needs of their customers. While on the surface this may seem like a simple task, many times products are developed without addressing the actual customer pain point. This article emphasized connecting with the end user by visiting them onsite and letting them set the agenda. Interestingly it also stated that needfinding researchers pay attention to contradictions between different sources of data, which can lead to uncovering unmet needs. When describing the principles of needfinding the authors noted that the findings of any needs research need to be refined. This stress on ensuring that the research is iterative is a characteristic that we have found in many other design processes that we have studied in this course.
[edit] Johannesleholm 14:23, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need”
Another article about understanding the customer through iterative processes and I finally get it, I really do. This article was a bit different because it explicitly focused on 'needfinding,' two words that the authors grouped together to describe more clearly what those two separated words describe awkwardly. The fact that design should respond to user's needs isn't knew, after all necessity has always been the parental unit of invention (or new designs). The authors do give exceptionally terrific insight on how to actually determine users needs and common caveats encountered by well intentioned, but ultimately unfortunate designers. I really liked the part about observing users in their environment because it touched specifically on the article we read last week -- that is to always allow users to feel at will, usually by being in a comfortable setting. I also liked focusing on needs, rather than solutions. This provides the designers the creative freedom to think of great new solutions.
[edit] Katherine Tong 14:32, 12 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Needs"
What I found the most interesting about this article were two main points:
1. "Refrain from inquiring about the activities being observed until after those activities have been completed" (41).
In one of the previous readings, "Principles of Contextual Inquiry," the author emphasized asking questions during observation rather than after. In this reading, however, a point has clearly been made not to. I agree more with this article mainly because one can go over what and why they did something. This would be more benificial to research because there would be no risk of interrupting the user's thought process.
2. "Research questions should change and the needer group should be redefined" (42).
Although this seems obvious, to redefine and adjust to new information, I feel like this is the first article that actually directly address this issue. Whereas other articles briefly mention it.
[edit] Erin Palermo 14:41, 12 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding"
This was an interesting article. I notice that a lot of my electronic equipment have features that are completely unused. What is the purpose of having these features? They are a waste of time and energy on the part of developers if it is indeed the case that no one is going to use these aspects. I like that the focus on needs drives companies, not the focus on creating a product. I agree that innovation is derived from locating a need, then finding a solution to satisfy the need. It is rare that someone comes up with a revolutionary new idea which is not based on anything. Further, this reading reminded me of the Task Analysis and Contexual Inquiry I reading from before. They both discuss going to the person's environment to study them in order to find their needs. That way, you can observe the customer's needs directly, seeing the objects that they use and refer to in their daily work. I also liked the emphasis on the iterative process of design. This seems to be a recurrent theme in this class: development, test, iterate, and I think it is useful. It is good for designers to reevaluate their products to see if they really are meeting the customer's needs.
[edit] Bryan Boling 14:48, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding”
This article provided a useful method for identifying customer needs that may or may not be readily apparent, and stressed the necessity for iteration and incremental advances in design. Although this article was similar to others we’ve encountered in the past in this course, the four iterative steps to identifying a need and coming up with a solution are unique. I’ve never really thought about the adjustments I make everyday to deal with ongoing problems, and have never recognized that as a need. It’s interesting that many people take their needs for granted, and like myself, can often have trouble articulating the need for a solution. Also, this article provided many useful hints in customer interviews and surveys, such as the need for the designer to not interrupt the customer or interfere with their daily activities. All of this makes sense, since people definitely do act differently when they are aware they are being observed and studied.
[edit] HAK-SEUNG KIM 14:53, 12 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding
The author demonstrates overview of needfinding’s core methodology. Needfinding is surely important because we cannot separate understanding of people’s need from the product design. We have learned that there are more than twenty thousand things in our daily lives. However, how many of those can actually be used by people’s needs. Surely, there are many unwanted things around us. Thus, as an industrial designer, he/she should observe the people’s need, needfinding, so that people enjoy with their product. In our lecture, we have learned that persona, “hypothetical archetypes,” is a precise description of users in term. Also, this makes easy to generate specific fictional people. Here in the second article, the author writes about actual creation of personas and usage toolkit. Throughout reading this article, I have learned various techniques of personas. This article is so detailed, and well organized. Especially, I like the way that author uses many tables to explain about persona creation and usage toolkit.
[edit] Shwan Kazzaz 15:02, 12 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Needs:
This article gave a good analysis of how to really understand what your user wants. It is based on her needs, and "needfinding" involves clearly identifying the needs and then addressing them appropriately. The process involves framing and preparing the research, understanding your own goals as well as what you can gain from the customer. Next you watch and record the customer. This all goes back to contextuality. We need to put the user in her own context, and often we will notice problems or needs that they don't even realize they have. Asking and recording is the next step. Of course, simply watching cannot do the full job, you must entice the user to identify the needs clearly. Interpreting and reframing mean making sense of the data you gather, and identifying some sort of conclusion.
[edit] Ryan Jue 15:04, 12 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding: The How and Why of Uncovering People's Need
The article was about methods to survey and examine your user base to determine their needs for the product. That majority of the suggestions were pretty standard and logical. However, I thought that the most interesting part of the article was the suggestion to look for eclectic data when examining a user. This includes keepsakes in an office, facial expressions during different topics, etc. While most of the other suggestions seemed pretty common, this one was not one that would first come to mind. However, when thinking about it, it is really important. For example, themes might be an overlooked aspect and by examining the environment that potential customers immerse themselves in can give hints to potential additions to the product.
[edit] Sumeet Patel 15:05, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Needs”
I found this article very useful for not only product developers but for entrepreneurs as well. The article talks about the concept of Needfinding or finding the customers needs that they do not know about. I especially liked the example of Apple and Palm and how the PalmPilot came about. After reading the article it is easy to see how many of the everyday products we use are out of need. This article can relate to entrepreneurs as well as they are trying to fill a customer pain. A customer pain is very similar to a customer need and by needfinding, an entrepreneur can develop a product that will be highly successful. The article also outlines the steps to need finding: frame and prepare, watch and record, ask and record, and interpret and reframe. The article was informative and easily readable so was able to relay its message easily.
[edit] Minhaaj Khan 15:29, 12 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering Peoples Needs
This article is a great summation of a lot of design concepts we’ve read about in the last few weeks of this class. It combines iterative design, contextual inquiry, and the importance of using visual methods to express ideas that we’ve all covered up to this point. The basic idea if this article is that that people can easily express their preferences among a set of known options while solutions that aren’t immediately apparent can go unvoiced (e.g. Palm Pilot or Honda Motorcycles). This is were Needfinding comes in, it combines an iterative design process along with contextual inquiry, and by utilizing qualitative information acquired from user groups; it focuses on extracting their unarticulated needs. Personally I feel like this article combines a lot of the tools we’ve learned about in class, and presents an excellent means of utilizing those tools in the design process to meet users unmet needs. If there’s one reading assignment this semester everyone should read without just skimming over, it’s this one.
[edit] Luciana Cook 15:51, 12 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Needs"
I liked this article a lot because it focus on customer needs. In a previous Marketing class I took there was a process you had to followed when designing a product and the first was define your market. Who needs this product, why they need it and how is it that they are suppose to (or want to) use it. I think that before anyone can start to create a product they first need to think about the possible market in which this product will be demanded.
[edit] Yang Hung 16:05, 12 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need" I really enjoyed reading this article. I really liked how the intro of this article used Apple's Newton and Palm's Palmpilot to illustrate the importance of need-finding in consumer products. The case study of Apple and Palm further illustrate the central theme for design, which is that the "customer is king." This article also reiterates the key point that it is important to keep an open mind and look for all possible solutions, instead of the solution that one thinks will work. This article also gives a simple to follow four-step process for need-finding that even non-designers can understand. The article also makes a very clear distinction between finding a need and finding a solution in the design process. A need is something that will always exist for the customer. But a solution will not always last since new technologies or changing customer tastes will shift market forces accordingly.
[edit] Royapakzad 16:10, 12 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need"
The article is very well-written and easy to follow. I think the Need-finding methodology, is a very productive approach for product development, simply because it focuses on consumer’s needs rather that current solutions and that encourages companies to continue innovating better ways to serve those needs. The example of the clerk trying to reach the boxes from a high shelf, clearly explained that the NEED leaves open possible solutions, and that NEEDS provide a roadmap for development. Moreover, the four stages of the Need-finding process was also very helpful and personally helped me on how to develop my project proposal.
[edit] Monica Tanza 16:13, 12 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need
I found this article easy to understand and read, even if the four steps of needfinding were the same steps that we have read about in different articles. There were a few interesting points that this article made. First of all, it warned that designers must look for needs and not solutions (the example was that a person needs to get a box off a high shelf, not a ladder). I agree that this is important and one of the only ways that new technologies will get developed (thus, it goes against the point of plagarism that was brought up in one of the first articles). This is similar to another point the article made, which was that we need to see beyond problems we can solve. Just because there is not an easy, readily available solution does not mean we will be able to successfully design a new solution.
[edit] Patricia Wang 16:16, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need”
This article steps through the process and central principles of Needfinding as well as why such a methodology is necessary for an innovative design process. Needfinding, if followed, pushes the designer to stay focused on what the customer needs, and by doing so, keeps the pool of plausible solutions as unlimited as possible. It was also interesting that Needfinding can provide a framework for business development. The argument is that even without the necessary technological resources, designers can anticipate opportunities of the future by seeking out long-term needs. This methodology, like many of the others we have read about, requires iteration and a comprehensive understanding of the user’s needs in order to be able to effectively address them.
[edit] Karey Park 16:16, 12 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering Peoples Needs"
This article was insightful; it presented the process of identifying needs not as a set of steps to follow, but as a framework to adopt. Needfinding, though not the most creative name, is fleshed out as a perspective of how to see people's needs. Looking to the customer, to the problems around them, as well as beyond the immediately visible problems are what the author calls for. The process, in a way, is very ecological - seek to understand and fulfill other people's needs, and dialogue is created, and along with it communication, innovation, and incremental change. Unfortunately, Needfinding is complicated by the ironic fact that needs aren't obvious to the consumers themselves, let alone the designers. The challenge presented by this is not one that the authors allow the reader to overlook. I was very thankful that they made it easier for me by bulleting and bolding the text to each step of the four principles of Needfinding.
[edit] Fenelia Kosasih 16:17, 12 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Needs
Similar to previous readings, the article emphasizes on the importance on including user in the process of design and development. However, the previous articles manifested the user-integration in a “descriptive” way rather than a “prescriptive” one. That means, they tend to emphasize on customers’ preferences on existing solutions rather than finding out the real needs of the people. This article, however, focuses on needfinding, and encouraging companies to find ways to satisfy those needs, rather than to come up with temporary solutions.
[edit] Richard Chen 16:19, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Need”
I really enjoyed this article because a lot of the concepts were previously mentioned in lecture. The basic principle that is being emphasized is the need to always keep users in the back of your mind as a designer—that the user’s needs serve as the ultimate guiding light for your production—not the idealized image of the product that you are trying to create. Another principle that is integrated well within the article is the iterative design cycle and how essential it is to incorporate the feedback that is generated from one around into the next round of design cycles. After reading this article, I further recognized the importance of having to work with the user or customer early on in the design so that an impact can be made right from the initial stages of the product design cycle, as that will lead to the biggest impact. If you don’t incorporate user’s needs right from the start of the project, it may become harder and harder as your project launches to steer the design of the product towards the direction that would most please the user. Finally, a lot of what the article talked about invoked important principles taught in a marketing class, such as market segmentation and clearly defining which characteristics of the products those segments of users look for—and how to design products with those ends in mind.
[edit] Luna Dai 16:25, 12 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The Why and how of Uncovering People's Need"
This article introduces needfinding as an essential process in creating a successful product that customers want to use. In the introduction, the author discusses the development of a personal data assistant by Palm and Apple. Both companies initially misread the customer's needs in a personal computing device and came out with the MessagePad and Zoomer, which functioned more as computer substitutes. Both of these products flopped. Through need-finding, Palm found out that customers actually just wanted to use a few programs on their PDAs and to use them as a simple personal assistant that functioned in addition to their main computers. Incorporating this new understanding, Palm went on to create a successful PalmPilot. The article goes on to describe the steps of need-finding: "frame and prepare, watch and record, ask and record, interpret and frame." The most essential thing I got from this article is that it is more important to focus a product design on the problem it addresses - and let what necessary functions ensue from this problem.
[edit] Ryan Panchadsaram 16:25, 12 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The Why and how of Uncovering People's Need"
This article talks about the value of uncovering people’s needs and how it affects product design. When introducing a new product, it is not about creating a solution, it is more about addressing the needs of your customer. By creating a product around a solution, the problem is solved when the product is created. When you address a need, it opens up the possibility of a future of products. Also, when you look at a person’s need, you can start to see what they would be willing to pay for. The article gives two great examples, the Palm Pilot and the Honda motorcycle. Palm realized what they customers wanted by looking at how they used their products. Their customers did not want a tablet portable computers, they wanted digital date book. They observed their customers’ needs and came up with a new product that sold like wildfire. Honda entered the Indian market successfully by creating a motorcycle that had a center engine (which made starting up easier); something that their competitor Bajaj did not have. The rest of the article outlines the steps of observation, analysis, and how to iterate. I personally think this is a great read for anyone who wants to create a new product. This customer need (pain) is a useful metric to justify a new product or project.
[edit] Rabia Siddiqi 16:26, 12 February 2007 (PST)
Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Need
I found this article to be enjoyable and well-written, with very interesting and relevant examples. It is very important for designers to think about the needs of their users and try to identify these needs even when they are not explicitly stated. The Bajaj and Honda motor scooter example illustrates that even if customers believe they are satisfied with a product, there still may be ways to improve it. Also, it's useful to focus on needs because by doing so, designers can come up with new innovative ways to solve the problem as well as improve on the existing solutions. This means more options for designers and products that better fulfill the needs of users. Although this article discusses how extensive research can be used to discover needs, I'm still not convinced that it can be done without luck and intuition. However, I do believe that the procedures of observing and asking questions described in the article are very useful in order to finetune the understanding of the needs once they are identified.
[edit] Joshua Funamura 16:28, 12 February 2007 (PST)
"Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People's Needs"
This article gives good motivation for performing needfinding, emphasizing references to failed Apple and Palm projects. I found it interesting that it points to needfinding as being one of the most important steps for a designer, even if that designer wasn't actually doing the execution. The main emphasis, though, provides the "How" to perform needfinding, outlining a lot of the same steps that we learned about with contextual inquiry, like immersing in the observed group and doing first-hand learning, but some elements of "Techniques for Observing Users" in that some observation is best without interruptions or outside influence. It is a nice parallel that iteration, as always, is important in the needfinding as it is in the main design process.
[edit] Jason Hu 16:29, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding…”
This article was mostly a retread and review of many of the design concepts and strategies that we have been discussing since the beginning of the course. These concepts include the idea that customers often do not understand their own requirements (making things very tricky when building an entirely new product), the importance of real-world contextual observations of potential users’ behavior, and in general - actively looking beyond what the customer asks of you to what the customer needs. I found the anecdote about the development of the PDA by both Apple and Palm Pilot to be illustrative of some of these principles. One concept that was a little newer to me was the idea that needs last longer than any one solution, and that companies should focus on satisfying those needs rather than on producing a particular product. Though initially counterintuitive, that’s really what must be done. We have to reject the old adage, “build a better mousetrap,” and instead remember to get the mice out by any means necessary.
[edit] Shady Guirguis 16:42, 12 February 2007 (PST)
“Needfinding: The Why and How of Uncovering People’s Need”
This was a very good read in my opinion. The article follows the logic of the material we have been covering in the course so far. It explains the importance of designing products that meet the needs of customers rather than aiming to develop something new. Similarly to the brainstorming article, it is important that when designing new products that one must search for customer needs. The example of the PDA and the motor scooter illustrate this concept. The PDA has been redeveloped to meet customers’ needs more and more rather than trying to develop new things. Many great inventions and products out there are merely a better design of an existing product. Such as the iPod, the cell phone and so on.
