“Hear My Roar”
LQBTQIA+ and Consumer Apparel
OpPORTUNITY
During our Design Research class (taught by Amy Schwartz and Andrew Burroughs, who brought their wisdom from a combined 40+ years at IDEO into the classroom), we were asked to understand the consumer apparel experience from the perspective of adults in the LQBTQIA+ community. We focused on open-ended exploration and used visual stimulus (games, creative prompts, visuals) to augment our virtual user interviews.
Focus Area & Skills
- Ethnographic research
- Qualitative data synthesis (translating observations > insights > how might we’s)
- Visual stimulus development and usage in interviews
- Seeking insights with “design energy”
- All of the above – in a remote setting!
Key Learnings
- Thoughtfully curated visual stimuli can elevate the richness of insights from a user interview, especially in a remote setting.
- Asking about the user’s “best” and “worst” experiences is a great way to unpack their values, behavior drivers, and underlying motivations.
- If you anticipating broaching potentially uncomfortable topics during an interview, it’s important to set that expectation upfront to ensure the user is completely comfortable or has an opportunity to opt out.
Amanda J. Santangelo 