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FLY ON THE WALL
Fly on the wall allows the researcher to
observe the interactions of users with their
environment. As there is no direct
interactions involved between the
researcher and the users, the formation of
biases are on the lower end.
This method might intimidate the users
initially but gradually the researcher
becomes the part of the environment.
Reshmi Mahesh Kumar | reshmi.maheshkumar@mitid.edu.in
Module 1 | Week 2
OBSERVING THE JOURNEY OF A VENDOR AT A VEGETABLE
MARKET
As a classroom project, I spent the entire day at a vegetable market
consisting of approximately 30 vendors. I fixed my spot and reached
there before the market opened and left the market after it was shut.
I started observing the environment of the market before the
vendors entered. During my observation I kept noting down the
interaction between vendor to vendor, vendor to customer, vendor to
dealer and how did they use the space around them. I also noted
down the process they followed to set up their stalls and the people
coming in other than vendors and customers.
I further noted down the artifacts used by them and the audible
interactions to have a better understanding.
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BODYSTORMING
Designers or researchers try to understand
how the user interacts with the
product/service/environment by
pretending to be the user. Body storming
helps in defining the problems by
understanding a user’s journey in the initial
phase.
As this method is quite iterative in nature,
it requires the designers and researchers
to design solutions within the environment
of the user.
Reshmi Mahesh Kumar | reshmi.maheshkumar@mitid.edu.in
Module 1 | Week 2
DESIGNING CHILD FRIENDLY SPACES
To design child friendly spaces, it is important for the designers to
keep in mind the anthropometry of the child so that the child can
relate with the environment she is in.
For instance, if we take a normal room, the windows are usually
placed as per an adult. However, if the same room is a pre-school, it
would be better to have the windows placed as per children’s
measurements so that they feel a sense of belongingness with the
place.
These windows need not necessarily be only child friendly but can
also be designed in a way that is child and adult friendly.
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ROLE REVERSAL
Role reversal is a situation in which two
people have chosen or been forced to
exchange their duties and responsibilities,
in order to understand each role.
This helps in understanding the
perspective of the different stakeholders
and further helps in mitigating the conflict,
if any.
Reshmi Mahesh Kumar | reshmi.maheshkumar@mitid.edu.in
Module 1 | Week 2
HOUSE CHORES IN THE TIME OF COVID-19
Due to COVID-19 situation, the home maids are told not to serve
their clients. This puts the house owners in the shoes of maids and
helps them understand the activities and probable difficulties faced
by the maids to use a particular cleaning tool. This could possibly
put the house owner in a position to be more empathetic and
identify the difficulties in certain activities and resolve them.
STRATEGISING A GAME FOR A TOURNAMENT
In order to win a game against the toughest opponent the team
together watches the old tapes of the opponents’ game to
understand their strategies, moves and mechanism. The team
studies these patterns and tries to play the game by dividing
themselves into two teams, where one team plays the role of the
opponent and practices their moves and how to break the same.
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SHADOWING
Shadowing is performed in order to
understand the actions of a person in a
given context. It reveals how a person
behaves in a particular context and how
does she experiences the situation.
There is less to no intervention while
performing this method
Reshmi Mahesh Kumar | reshmi.maheshkumar@mitid.edu.in
Module 1 | Week 2
UNDERSTANDING HOW TO OPERATE AN ATM MACHINE
We all at some point in life have performed shadowing in some
context.
Taking for instance, a teenager who is told to accompany her parent
or older sibling to the bank in order to understand how the money is
withdrawn or deposited to the bank is technically performing the
method shadowing.
This will help the teenager to understand each action and perform
the actions at a bank independently.
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WORD CONCEPT ASSOCIATION
Word concept association helps the
designers and researchers to understand
how a user perceives and values a given
issue.
It helps to unveil the mental model of the
users with respect to a particular issue
Reshmi Mahesh Kumar | reshmi.maheshkumar@mitid.edu.in
Module 1 | Week 2
WHAT WORDS DO YOU ASSOCIATE WITH - ONLINE CLASSES
In order to understand the perception of the students regarding
Online Classes, the students can be asked 3 words that they could
associate with ‘Online Classes’.
This can help us understand the advantages and disadvantages of
Online Classes and how to make the experience better.
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