Research and the Physical Environment

It’s important to understand the physical environment of the user when designing any kind of a product. To do so, there are some key questions to ask and things to observe:

• Lighting – Is the user in good light, poor light, outdoors or indoors?
• Work area – How large is the workspace? A desk or counter is different than a hand-held device  without a table or ledge to rest the device on
• Screen size – How large is the typical screen (for software) and what is the resolution?
• Distance – How far apart are users that may need to collaborate?
• Variability – Does the environment change, or is it consistent?
• Distractions – Are there events in the environment that may prove distracting to the user or interrupt the process?

Asking such questions should be a key part of research, but even better is to photograph or create a simple illustration of the user’s environment.