Beyond Marketing. Applying Qualitative User Experience Research Techniques on Social Media Applications

摘要

Active participation of users in the development cycle of media applications such as social media applications is challenging but at the same time quite demanding for current design community cultures. Several parties such as the user and the designer are challenged in their own perception on how a sociable, likeable, and usable product can be built (or put together). They are stimulated to leave their own safety zone. In this paper we discuss findings of a qualitative investigation using several user experience research techniques adapted for the elaboration of new social media application concepts and the search for new ones. A dedicated methodological framework is conceived and verified during the process. Starting points of this framework are participatory design in the natural setting after contextual investigations, extension of co-design techniques with aspects of creativity techniques, and family design events. Engineers, designers and sociologists participate from the start and guarantee a multidisciplinary approach. Although this work is still in progress (in the context of the Celtic EnComPAs research project 2004-2006) we can report on some preliminary results. One of the key problems to address is how to channel the overwhelming enthusiasm and creativity of the user and the inspiration of the developer into a conveyable engineering result, taking into account marketing and business interests.