top of page

RESEARCHING THE TARGET CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

COURSE NAME

Principles & Methods of
User Research

COURSE DATE

August 2019 - December 2019

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This 14 week course serves as an introduction to the fundamental principles and methods designed for conducting user research. The class focused providing:

  • Understand user-centered design.

  • Recognize the role of user research in different phases of the design process.

  • Identify and evaluate user research method(s) suited to their design goals.

  • Develop and implement an efficient user research study design.

  • Carry out, analyze, synthesize, and present user research studies.

  • Understand the relevance of emerging social theories to the practice of user research.

USER RESEARCH

HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN

  GRADUATE SCHOOL PROJECT  

COURSE OVERVIEW

Students were assigned a client throughout this 14 week course. Each week were challenged to conduct a new method of user research, synthesize findings, and produce a report. 

​

I began researching Target and through early secondary research, decided to focus on Target's grocery shopping experience, which is one of Target's top investment areas of 2019.  

  ASSIGNMENT 01  

DISCOVERY RESEARCH

Conduct secondary research to get up to speed on client, their business, and their customers.
Then developed a "top-line memo" as a tool to to align hypothetical team members around client background and findings. 

  ASSIGNMENT 02  

HEURISTIC EVALUATION

Conducted a Heuristic Evaluation with 3 participants and then developed Report that identifies usability issues identified in the clients digital experience.

I selected three digital experiences:

  1. The weekly deals section to evaluate the digital adaptation of a historically analogue customer touch point

  2. Target Debit Card payment flow

  3. In-store self checkout experience

  ASSIGNMENT 04  

IN HOME INTERVIEWS

To better understand customer sentiment around Target's online grocery shopping experience, I wanted to better understand broader sentiment around grocery shopping in relation to other types of shopping. 

  ASSIGNMENT 03  

THINK ALOUDS

One of Target's 3 big investment categories for 2019 was in the Online Grocery Shopping experience. To understand how effectively this strategy is performing with users, I conducted 3 think aloud studies observing users interactions from finding the website through checkout.