For my market research on the design of the user interface, I pulled out all the stops on my budget and printed out screen shots of other company’s online applications (yes, sarcasm is intended on the budget topic). I then took those printouts to my friends and family and asked them simple questions like “how would you get to “home” if you were on this screen. I kept track of what people answered and used that data to come up with my own design. As you may have guessed, I was going for “easy navigation” as my main (but not my only) theme for my research. I finished each screen shot review by asking what the person thought of the general overall design of the site (in one sentence if possible). It was actually a fun experience.

I originally started with 26 screen shots. But that was just too much to ask of my friends. So when it became obvious that certain designs were difficult to navigate, I tossed them. The first 8 people I asked got tortured with 26 screen shots, the rest of them only had to sit through 9 of my screen shots.

I was starting to get a little worried during my research that I was not asking the right target audience to look at the screen shots. What if my audience turned out to be completely different from who I was trying to target in the first place? But my wife reminded me that I was on a tight budget and that I was doing the best I could. But just for kicks, I went to either end of the age spectrum. I asked people that I had originally not planned on asking to review the screen shots. My kids got their opinions in the mix, and so did my 87 year old grandmother.

In fact, I was a little desperate. I found myself asking perfect strangers to review the screen shots. The librarian at the town library was happy to review the screens with me, but other strangers seemed a little too busy for me.

So I came up with another method, but it cost me money, so I was limited on how much of this I could do. Here is what I did. I went into the local coffee shop and my pitch would go something like this ( I would catch the people in line):

“I am developing a website and I would like it to be easy to navigate, so I am doing a little research to find out what sites people find easy to get around on. It’ll take 5 - 10 minutes at the most and if you do it, I’ll buy you your coffee.” I would follow it with a cheesy “Please?” and a smile. It worked every time!

A few things came from this. One was the realization that for a latte, people were happy to waste 10 minutes with me. In fact, most people would be sipping their “free” coffee and easily spend 15 or 20 minutes giving me their opinions. I would be saying “I’m sorry to have used up so much of your time” and they’d be telling me, “oh, I’m in no rush”.

The second thing I thought was what a great little business that could be for someone. Gathering great market data for the price of a cup of coffee. But that’s not what I’m into…

Another thing I learned is that many people think you are hitting on them when you follow pitches like this with a cheesy “Please” and a smile. I’m telling you, I’m not a great looking guy. I’m not ugly either. I’m average and I know it. That’s fine. But for some reason I had several girls and even one guy flirting with me. I’m telling you I’m not crazy. One girl gave me her number and told me to call her if I needed more help with research. I was wearing my wedding ring and everything. What’s up with that?