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→User Goals (User Motivations)
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==User Goals | ==User Goals/User Motivations)== | ||
:Sometimes the term "goals" leads to confusion because people assume that goals are always something conciously planned. | :The term "user goals" is taken from Alan Coopers "About Face". Sometimes the term "goals" leads to confusion because people assume that goals are always something conciously planned - like your goals you write down in planning a project. To avoid this confusion I wrote about "motivations" instead of "user goals" | ||
Talking about design you often hear things like that you should improve the x function because users are assumed to want y. This is common and it is common as well that these assumptions are wrong. And even if they are right you should know why the user wants to use a certain function. Nobody does anything just to execute a program on a computer to keep the machine busy! | Talking about design you often hear things like that you should improve the x function because users are assumed to want y. This is common and it is common as well that these assumptions are wrong. And even if they are right you should know why the user wants to use a certain function. Nobody does anything just to execute a program on a computer to keep the machine busy! | ||
It is important to get to know what your users what to archive – what their | It is important to get to know what your users what to archive – what their motivations are. Motivations are not activities - like using a feature in your product. | ||
* "Finding that funny picture from the last holiday" is a | * "Finding that funny picture from the last holiday" is a Motivation the user might have, searching for it is not a Motivation the user has. If search would not be needed to find the picture she would not search! | ||
* Having a collection of good references for a scientific paper you are writing is a | * Having a collection of good references for a scientific paper you are writing is a motivation, but keeping track of the references, ordering and categorizing is not | ||
* Give friends a good impression of the place where you live is a | * Give friends a good impression of the place where you live is a motivation. Hoovering the rooms is not. | ||
What the motivations of your users are is best to find out using research methods like interviews. | What the motivations of your users are is best to find out using research methods like interviews. Motivations are hard to guess. You may not even always aware of why exactly ''you'' do something - and it is even harder to tell what drives other people. Especially if you are new to a field you should use research but even people who think they are experts are often wrong about the users goals. Don't try to guess harder. You want to know. | ||
==Research Questions== | ==Research Questions== | ||