Key Concepts in Research for Product Design

Research in Design

• Often misperceived as technical and complex.
• Fundamentally involves meeting and talking to people.

Purpose of Research

• Identify useful information relevant to product design.
• Helps avoid pitfalls in product development.
• Enables better decision-making on software features based on user needs.

Common Misconception

• Many believe products must cater to everyone (e.g., banking software for all over 16).
• Designing for everyone is challenging and often ineffective.

Understanding User Needs

• Users engage with software with specific goals in mind.
• Important aspects to focus on:
• Goals: What users aim to achieve.
• Behaviors: How users interact with the software.
• Context: The situation in which users use the software.

Difference Between Target Audience and Design Target

• Target Audience: Broad, e.g., all citizens over 16.
• Design Target: Specific goals, behaviors, and contexts of users when performing banking transactions online.

Next Steps

• Upcoming discussion on the significance of goals, behaviors, and context in product design.