Summary & Comparison

Part 5 of 5 in the series 4 ways I meet "users".

As the final part of my short series about participatory design I have created a comparison table to help you chose the best method for the current phase of your project. LDR = Long-distance Relationship.

	Usability Test	Interview	Guided Exploration	LDR
Focus area	Single feature	Use context	Scenario	Use over time
# of participants	10-15	5-10	5-7	20-100
User state	Novices	Novice / Intermedate / Expert	Novice / Intermedate / Expert	From novice to expert over time
Duration	5 minutes	30–60 minutes	30–60 minutes	1–6 months
Material	Prototype	None	Interactive prototype or production system	Production system
Researchers	2–5	1–2	1	1
Observers	2–5	None	None	None

NISO conference talk: From somewhat awful to pretty great for librarians, a new e-commerce tool

We started building an e-commerce tool for librarians to license individual eBooks. The first version was partly good, partly awful. It is getting better, a little at a time.

Interaction design: The Bolibompa dragon

Part 13 of 13 in the series Some of my skills.

All adults know that dragons giggle when they are tickled. But many kids have not found that out yet. So we in the Bolibompa team set out to build a digital dragon who kids relate to and whom they want to tickle! A Ticklish Mission.

Design research: How we 3 to 5 year olds behave

Part 12 of 13 in the series Some of my skills.

Sure, we are individuals. But when we are given an iPad many of us behave quite predictably. We always relax ... and are always active.

Welcome to my brain