Onism Coffee Co.
A Coffeehouse Community in Your Own Home
UX Research Deep Dive
Background
While the design portion of this project is still underway I thought I'd showcase my research process which I was able to use during this internship.
Location
The company is based in Los Angeles, CA, but we worked remotely with team members throughout the country
Process
Time Frame
1. Kickoff
2. Prepare
3. Conducting
4. Analysis
5. Report
2 Months
Kickoff
Research Objective
Onism coffee is attempting to create an online coffee shop to attract the maximum amount of customers. They need to fully understand their customers to know how to design an online marketplace which will attract the most people.
The objective of this research is to learn more about our target audience’s needs, motivations, and pain points as well as the competitive landscape of our market.
Participant profile:
Research is only as good as the people you are conducting it with. We broke down our potential customers into three groups, and secured interviews with 5 to 6 people per profile.
1. Profile 1
Age: Gen Z (18 - 24)
Constraint: Has purchased coffee before
2. Profile 2
Age: Millennial (25 - 39)
Constraint: Has purchased coffee before
3. Profile 3
Age: Gen X (40 - 59)
Constraint: Has purchased coffee before
Prepare
Research Plan
We decided to do use both semi-structured user interviews as well as conduct a competitive analysis to get broadest scope of the problem as possible.
Research Questions
Target audience
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Who is our target audience?
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What are the needs and motivations of our target audience?
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What are the pain points of our target audience while purchasing online?
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What role does branding play when deciding where to purchase from?
Competitive landscape
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Who are the main competitors?
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What needs are not being met by competitors?
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What differentiates competitors currently?
Roles
We would conduct 15 semi-structured user interviews, using the criteria we created during the kickoff. We planned on using the same interview script as a guide. Both my coworker and myself would take turns alternating between primary interviewer and the primary scribe.
Primary Interviewer
The person asking the participant all the questions.
Key Points to keep in mind:
1. Asking Follow-Up Questions
A semi-structured interview format gives me a script of questions to use as a guide but these questions will not always give me the answers I need. I need to be prepared to follow-up on any aspect of the participant's answer I think is interesting or insightful.
2. Remain Unbiased
It can be hard as a researcher to not ask leading questions so I have to be aware of the way I ask question to keep from biasing the participant. A participant might think they know "the right" answer, and it's important to make it clear I am indifferent to any of their responses as the researcher.
3. Rehearse the Introduction
It can feel very robotic to read from a script while I am introducing myself and the interview process to a participant at the beginning of an interview. It is very important for a researcher to rehearse and set the tone for a casual and friendly conversation.
Scribe
The person recording all the responses.
Key Points to keep in mind:
1. Include Necessary Information
Some participants are chatty and will give lots of information which will not answer the question. The scribe should try to record as much of the answer as possible, and emphasize the ideas which seem most relevant to the research.
2. Note Interesting Insights
There is more to an interview than just verbal responses. The way a participant reacts to a question and their body language can give insights into a participant's true motivations. It can be helpful for a scribe to note these things while they are listening to an interview.
3. Take Note of Themes
I will conduct a thorough theme analysis after all the interviews are completed, but it can helpful to note any themes throughout the process as well. I try to highlight themes I see during interviews on a separate document to return to later.
Feedback to Stakeholders
!
It was really important to keep the founder and his partner in the loop throughout our research. We wanted them to know who we were talking to, and why every step of the way. This was especially important when we first began interviewing, because we did not have any deliverable results yet. We kept the founder updated on the profiles of the users we were working with and research questions we were hoping to get answered.
Conduct
Interview Script
We created an interview script for our semi-structured interviews. This would allow us to have a backbone of interview questions that we wanted answered, but still gave us room to ask important follow-up questions on any topics we thought might be helpful.
What are the needs of our target audience when purchasing coffee beans?
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What is important to you when purchasing coffee beans?
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What stops you from purchasing coffee beans?
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What are the factors which lead to you purchasing coffee beans?
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Any other questions?
What are the motivations of our target audience when purchasing coffee beans?
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What factors influence the types of coffee beans you purchase?
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What is most important to you when purchasing coffee beans?
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What are some reasons you might purchase coffee beans for yourself?
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Is there a time you switched coffee brands?
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If so: Can you explain your reasoning behind that switch?
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If no: Why not?
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What initially motivated you to purchase coffee beans?
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Any other questions from the group?
What are the pain points of our target audience while purchasing online?
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Can you remember a time that you encountered an issue when purchasing something online?
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If so, can you tell me more about that issue?
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If not, dive deeper into question (without biasing)
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What are some “red flags” for you when purchasing something online?
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What do you dislike about purchasing things online?
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How much of an impact do dislikes have on purchasing behavior?
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Have you ever purchased coffee beans online before?
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Any other questions from the group?
What role does branding play when deciding where to purchase from?
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Is the brand or company you are purchasing from important to you?
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If so: Are there any other factors more important to you than brand when deciding to purchase online?
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If no: What is most important to you when purchasing something online?
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What aspects of a brand are most important to you?
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Any other questions from the group?
Analysis
Theme Analysis
After finishing all the interviews, I would normally do an affinity map to find themes within the participant responses. Due to time constraints, we used a matrix system to conduct a theme analysis instead.
Themes from Research Questions
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2.
What are the needs of our target audience when purchasing coffee beans?
Target customers primarily have five needs when purchasing coffee: taste, freshness, price, quality, and accessibility. The level of impact these needs have vary from profile to profile; however, the overall biggest needs for our target customers revolve around price and taste.
What are the motivations of our target audience when purchasing coffee beans?
Our target audience is extremely motivated by taste and price and these things cannot be overlooked. While Gen Z and Millennials may be motivated to venture out and try different brands and types of coffee, Gen Xs are happy with brands that they know and trust.
3.
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What are the pain points of our target audience while purchasing online?
The biggest pain point of our target audience is trust. Customers want to know their information is going to be safe when they purchase from a new website and they check to see that both the company and website are reputable. They also want to be reassured that the product they are purchasing will be exactly as it is represented online. Customers find it harder to purchase online since they cannot experience the product in person.
What role does branding play when deciding where to purchase from?
Our target audience doesn’t seem to have extreme brand loyalty and values price and product quality more. While Gen Z values social presences and sustainability, our audience as a whole values price and consistency of the product as non-negotiables.