Define the problem, ask questions and listen intensely. Identify the problem by studying your customers. Ask questions that cover the essential information you need about your users, their environment, relationships, tools, and interactions.
The 5Ws has been a series of prompts asked by journalists for a some time.
- Who did that?
- What happened?
- Where did it take place?
- When did it take place?
- Why did that happen?
Some people, like Rudyard Kipling, add “H” to the formula. He wrote:
I keep six honest serving men
They taught me all I knew, Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
When, where and who can answer the how. Here’s how to apply the 5Ws technique to UX. A stricter, but still simple, approach is to use the AEIOU Framework/Categorizing Heuristic. It is a template for capturing and organizing field observations. The mnemonic stands for:
- Artifacts
- Environment
- Interactions
- Objects
- Users
The purpose of UX research is to create a thick description of users and their situation with precise explanations of events. Answer technical questions within the context of your user research.
