This method involves observing how a user uses an existing report or app.
When a user demonstrates the process of using a report or an app, observation helps the designer understand the user's thought process, observe the chain of actions, and identify any gaps or pain points.
Observation can be part of a user interview or can be set up as a separate session. Remind the user to bring any existing material they use. This could be reports, an app in a BI tool, excel files, word docs etc.
Observe the user interact with a report or application. Ask questions during the session to get a better sense of how they interact with the report. Here are some example questions that can help with observation
- What is the first thing you look at?
- What does it measure?
- What is the comparison that tells you whether it is good or bad?
- What is the next thing you look at if it is good/bad?
- Repeat till the next step is outside of this report/app.