‘Battling bias in UX research’ is part 2 of 3 in our trauma-informed design blog series. 阅读第一个“创伤设计”博客.
Biases are taboo, but it’s far worse to pretend you’ve n过 had them and don’t need to change. 如果你对自己的偏见感兴趣，看看 这个工具.
这让我意识到，大多数和我一样的人(白人), 中产阶级, 在80年代长大)在一个种族歧视的环境中长大, 性别歧视的, 同性恋的社会. 这并不意味着我们都是偏执狂, 但这些观点以我们需要努力去注意的方式存在着.
研究与设计, 就像我们社会的其他部分一样, 是受我们的宗法和帝国主义历史的影响吗, 它们倾向于我们作为设计师掌握权力的动态, and our intended recipients are cast in an inferior role w在这里 ‘we know what’s good for them’ and ‘they ought to be grateful’. Sheila McKechnie Foundation raises the issue of similar power dynamics in how social sector organisations work for social change – 你可以看到他们的项目 在这里.
Imagine a Victorian anthropologist (probably wearing a stupid hat) observing and disrupting an indigenous culture, spreading their germs and rigidly applying their moralistic values to what they see and making judgments accordingly. 虽然我们并没有有意识地这样做, we need to be mindful that these biases could be living rent-free in our heads – we need to strive to equalise power balances, 创造一种对话而不是“观察”和“传播”.
作为以用户为中心的实践者, 我们应该一直努力改进我们的方法, but of course we fall into ruts – we try a research method or workshop technique in a project, 当一切顺利时, 我们倾向于一遍又一遍地重复这种做法.
我知道一些我可能会陷入的窠臼. While not 过ything is a terrible crime (or caused by my upbringing), t在这里 is an impact.
对参与者“隐瞒”研究计划
我不是故意的! 我不是一个天生有条理的人, 所以我会一直增加研究计划，直到最后一刻. The knock-on effect is I can’t give it to the participants to look at in advance. Coupled with this, traditionally research doesn’t prioritise transparency to participants. 这可能会增加他们的焦虑, and denies them the chance to consider what might be useful for them to bring up from their experience. 而不是, 我们来听听他们能记住什么, 遗漏了潜在的重要信息.
什么是更好的?
对你的参与者保持透明. Give them a sense of what questions or discussion you’re planning and the contribution they can make. Tell them how long it might take and reinforce their right to withdraw at 任何 time.
招募“容易获得”的参与者
这可能是我见过的最常见的问题, 特别是对慈善机构和社会部门, as it feels mad to spend money on recruitment if you can source participants through existing relationships. Doing so leads to bias in UX research findings in ways we know and ways we don’t. 当然, people who already know your organisation have a certain kind of insight into you, 但我们在强化对那些不了解你的人的偏见.
什么是更好的?
采用混合招聘方式，利用专业机构，比如 标准 or 智慧 to source ‘strangers’, alongside people who you already know from your CRM database or mailing lists.
追随你的好奇心
定性研究在自然对话中蓬勃发展, 作为一个研究人员, you’re on the hunt for ‘treasure’ (valuable insights which will inspire ideas and solutions). 然而, it can be easy to stray into a broad conversation that doesn’t relate to your scope of inquiry, 和真正的, 你只是多管闲事. 你可能会让参与者感到被侵犯或被剥削.
什么是更好的?
自然地质疑和追求想法是很重要的, 但是在写研究脚本的时候, 我总是把它做成表格, 然后加上列, “我们为什么要问这个??’. This relates your questions back to clear objectives, which you can give your participant up front. 如果你在会议中遇到问题, 你可以问自己同样的问题——它与你的目标有什么关系? 你真的需要知道吗?
Having a great idea half way through a conversation and suggesting it off-the-cuff
这并不是最糟糕的事情，而且可以引发一场很棒的谈话. 然而, the ‘great idea’ I’ve just come up with could require an entire fleet of cargo ships full of servers to run, 在现实中, 从来都不是, 过, 会发生的. 我可能会引起极大的兴奋, 接着是参与者的极度失望, especially if this imagined service could make a big difference to their or their family’s life.
什么是更好的?
进行愉快的公开谈话, but continually remind yourself and your participants that this is all pie-in-the-sky. 谈谈障碍，如果你知道它们可能是什么. For participatory design sessions, a constraint often sparks even more creative ideas.
我💜形成型半结构化面试
这是有充分理由的. It’s easy to make the wrong assumptions and to structure your research accordingly (for instance, to ask participants to carry out a task which they would n过 actually do in real life. They’ll just be kind and go along with your delusion that this is what a human person would do). 然而，研究并非放之四海而皆准.
什么是更好的?
Formative research can benefit from good sturdy scaffolding to ensure you gather good evidence from a range of participants. 例如, 有具体问题要回答的日记式学习, or a ‘timeline’ method which asks participants to describe different stages of a long-term experience. That structure can help some participants understand and contribute effectively. 不同的方法可以确保你接触到更多不同的受众.
把研究放在项目的最前面
I love formative research because it sets the tone for the whole project: we join together in a common understanding of who we are reaching and why it matters. 然而, those participants may have given us a lot of themselves in those sessions. 他们可能与我们分享了改变生活的艰难经历. 不以长期对话来纪念这一贡献, to exclude them from the more functional testing of ideas later in the project is not just a lost opportunity for us to understand our digital product better, 但会让他们怀疑为什么要向我们袒露自己的灵魂.
什么是更好的?
It’s important to consider what pay-off we can give participants for their contribution. We can at least show them what we’ve come up with, and let them continue to be part of the dialogue. The reality is we have limited budgets and can n过 do all the research and refinement we’d like to. 好的项目计划和预算总是有帮助的. 重新拜访参与者节省了招募所需的一些时间和精力, 对参与者来说，这也是一件正确的事情.
不要让你的偏见阻止你
The worst thing I could do is feel intimidated by my own failings to the point w在这里 I avoid researching with participants.
我认为 任何 research (assuming we’re following decent safeguarding practice) is better than none, 即使是和你的嫂子谈论礼物援助如何运作.
我们在故事中茁壮成长. They move us to action and change, and research gives us one powerful story after another. If we’re all trying to improve how we find them: if we understand that our participants are equals, 专家和共同创造者, 这样，故事就会更加真实，我们的想法也更有可能成功.
