SWE 213 HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION

2024-205 DESIGN PROJECT

WORK PACKAGE - 1
NEEDFINDING
Submission Deadline: 22 Aralık 2025 24:00

NEEDFİNDİNG

Needfinding is conducted to observe and understand how people accomplish tasks in their
daily lives, uncovering their goals and habits to generate meaningful design insights. This
assignment is to be completed in groups and is aimed at discovering user needs, primarily
through interviews.

PREPARATION AND EXECUTION

1. Select Your Project Theme

First, as a group, choose one of the following general themes that aligns with your
area of interest. You will carry out the rest of your design project based on this
theme throughout the term.

 Sustainable Living: Explore the challenges individuals face in their daily lives
related to environmental sustainability.

 Health and Wellness: Investigate the issues users encounter within the
realms of physical or mental health.

 Travel and Exploration: Analyze difficulties people experience in planning or

exploring new travel destinations.

 Financial Management: Examine problems users face with budgeting,

expense tracking, or saving money.

 Productivity and Time Management: Identify barriers to improving efficiency

in daily tasks and managing time effectively.

2. Narrow Down the Problem Area Within Your Theme

Choose a specific area of interest within your selected theme and narrow it down
further.

 Example: For the "Sustainable Living" theme, you might choose to focus on
"exploring waste reduction habits in urban areas."

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The area should be something you want to explore further; it should NOT be an "app idea"
or a "project vision." Narrow down your theme to an area that will engage you throughout
the project development process.

3. Plan Your Interviews

Determine who you will interview, where the interviews will be conducted, and
which questions you will ask. Specifically

• Participants: Conduct interviews with at least four individuals from diverse

backgrounds (more is preferred). Consider not only directly affected users but also
other stakeholders who can provide different perspectives.

• Example: For the topic "Waste Reduction Habits in Urban Areas," interview not
only individuals but also people like store employees who promote eco-friendly
practices or local government representatives who support sustainability initiatives.

• Mode: Interviews should be conducted in person. If that’s not feasible, arrange a

video call (e.g., Google Meet) with the instructor's approval. Make an extra effort to
observe people in the context of their daily lives related to your area of interest.

• Questions: Prepare 5-10 questions in advance. Questions should align with the
observed activity and area, aiming to understand how and why participants perform
certain tasks.

Example Questions: “Why do you separate your waste?” or “What is the

biggest challenge you face in reducing waste?” Add or skip questions as
needed.

4. Conduct Interviews

Conduct at least four interviews. During the interviews, take care to observe
behaviors and context.

Example Observation: Observe how participants handle recycling or other

waste reduction routines.

5. Tips for Finding Participants

 Use your personal networks.

 Extend your reach through social media or online communities.

 If safe, try to find participants in places related to your area of interest..

SYNTHESIZING RESULTS

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 1. Analyze Findings and Identify User Needs
Based on your interview findings, compile a list of user needs. Link each need to one
or more interviews. Express needs in the form of an action verb, such as "need to do
something."

 Example: “People need to better understand waste reduction methods.”

2. Create Personas
Based on the data gathered from interviews, create 3-4 personas that represent
typical users you observed. Each persona should reflect users' goals, needs, and
challenges. Each persona should be linked to insights drawn from the interviews.

 Persona Content: Include details such as name and age, occupation, goals,
motivations, challenges, and key quotes from interviews. (See an example
persona in Appendix 1.)

3. Identify 3-4 Key User Needs

From the list of identified needs, narrow down to the 3-4 most critical needs
connected to your personas. These needs should be meaningful enough to serve as
the core objectives for an interactive application.
4. Brainstorm at Least 5 Possible Solutions for Each User Need
Encourage each group member to generate solution ideas independently for each
need. Avoid thinking about technical solutions (e.g., apps or software) or specific
features at this stage; focus on addressing user needs.
5. Select the Top Solution
Aim for diversity in the ideas generated. Use a voting or assessment method to select
the standout solution.
6. Determine Project Name and Value Proposition
The project name should evoke your solution or primary user need. The value
proposition should be a short statement summarizing the benefit users will derive
from your solution.

DELIVERABLES

One group member should submit the assignment on Blackboard, with the file name
SWE213HCI_Design_project_Work_Package_1_GroupX before the deadline. Your group
number should match the number you recorded on Google Drive..

Your submission should include the following elements:

 Introduction
 Group members

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  Selected theme and Area of interest and why/how it was chosenz
 Methodology
 Participants: Who were they, why were they chosen, how were they
recruited, age and gender, who are the extreme users and domain experts (if
any)?
 Interview Locations: Where the interviews were conducted
 Observations and Questions: Any observations made and questions asked
 Roles: Roles of each group member during the interviews
 Materials Used: E.g., camera, recorder, etc.
 Results
 Photos and relevant materials
 Key quotes
 User Needs
 Include a list or screenshot of all brainstormed user needs.
 Present the 3-4 key user needs, clearly connecting each one to interviews and
responses.
 Solutions
 Include visuals/screenshots of brainstorms.
 Describe your selected solution in 1-3 sentences, linking it to the needs it
addresses.
 Explain how and why this solution was chosen.
 Project Name and Value Proposition
 Explain how the team decided on the name.
 A one-line value proposition summarizing the benefit of the solution.

EVALUATION CRITERIA
 Participants
o Diversity and appropriateness of participants
o Number of interviews
 Methodology and Execution
o Appropriateness of methodology, participant selection, questions, and
materials
o Use of observation or contextual inquiry
o Quality of questions and interview execution
 Synthesis Quality
o Accuracy and depth of needs
o Novelty and completeness of solutions
o Justification of the selected solution
o Appropriateness of project name and value proposition

Appendix 1: Example Persona

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