Conference presented by Dr Carine Lallemand (University of Luxembourg) at the World Interaction Design Day on Sept 2018. Event organised by IXDA Lausanne. The limited resources in design projects often encourage the use of fast, low-cost, quick & dirty UX methods. However, guerrilla UX can also be "quick" without being "dirty". It can be an inspiring and valid alternative to traditional UX design methods. Beyond the famous Starbucks user tests, this conference will introduce you to several guerrilla alternatives to interviews, questionnaires, observations, as well as ideation, storyboarding or prototyping. A great dose of inspiration to give everyone the power to apply UX techniques and to focus on users even it seems unaffordable!

1. GUERRILLA UX
"QUICK"
YET NOT
CARINELALLEMAND
"DIRTY"

2. 01
WHO AM I?
DR. CARINE LALLEMAND
@CARILALL
AUTHOR OF A HANDBOOK ON
UX DESIGN METHODS
RESEARCHER
AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF LUXEMBOURG
« I SUPPORT
DESIGNERS BY
CREATING OR
ADAPTING
DESIGN
METHODS »
HOT AIR BALLOON
STUDENT PILOT

3. Crédit photo: Francine Lee

4. Crédit photo: Sarah Khalid

5. Guerrilla quick & clean?
HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION RESEARCH GROUP
The concept of guerrilla refers to
unconventional techniques used
when:
• the resources are lacking to apply
conventional methods
• one wishes to overcome certain
limits of conventional methods
• one wants to adopt a more original
or innovative approach
5
#IXDD @IXDALAUSANNE @CARILALL

6. GUERRILLA TECHNIQUES CAN BE APPLIED
AT ANY STAGE IN THE DESIGN PROCESS
Planning
Exploration
Ideation
Generation
Evaluation

7. -
LESS
PARTICIPANTS NEEDED
TO GET VALID RESULTS
TIME-EFFICIENT
PLANNING
ADMINISTRATION
ANALYSIS
LOW COST SELF-ADMINISTERED
DOES NOT REQUIRE THE
DESIGNER’S PRESENCE
THE GUERRILLA APPROACH SAVES RESOURCES
Depending on the technique used, benefits might include:

8. BEYOND BEING “LOW COST”, GUERRILLA
CAN ALSO BE AN OPPORTUNITY
ENGAGE
BUSY PEOPLE
LESS BIASES
(PARTICIPANT)
LARGE-SCALELESS BIASES
(DESIGNER)

9. WHAT ABOUT (A LOT OF)
EXAMPLES?

10. Planning
Exploration
Ideation
Generation
Evaluation

11. USER INTERVIEWS
Understanding a user's motivations and needs through an in-depth individual discussion
#IXDD @IXDALAUSANNE @CARILALL
EXPLORATION
CONDUCT THE INTERVIEWS TAKE NOTES ON THE FLY
YET IN A STRUCTURED WAY
TRANSCRIBE AND ANALYSE DATADEFINE INTERVIEW GUIDE AND
RECRUIT PARTICIPANTS
Temporal resources Difficulty level Level of expertise
P 1 ___ : ___ ___________
Etudesitewebv2
Q + - Fait Émotion
P ___ : ___ ___________
Nomdel’étude
Q 2 + - Fait Émotion
P ___ : ___ Utilisabilité
Nomdel’étude
Q + - Fait Émotion
P ___ : ___ ___________
Nomdel’étude
Q X + - Fait X Émotion
P 14 : 03 ___________
Nomdel’étude
Q + - Fait Emotion
P ___ : ___ ___________
Nomdel’étude
Q + - Fait Émotion
Indiquez ici votre observation ou
un « verbatim du participant » Chaque observation est reportée
dans une case différente
Avant d’imprimer votre grille de
prise de notes, indiquez l’identifiant
du participant en haut à gauche et
le nom de l’étude
Utilisez ces cases pour décrire si l’observation
concerne un fait ou une émotion et quelle est
sa valence (est-ce positif ou négatif pour le
participant ?)
N’oubliez pas ici de noter le numéro de la
question liée à chaque observation
À la fin de vos entretiens,
découpez les cases de vos
grilles pour réaliser des
diagrammes d’affinité !
Si l’observation est particulièrement intéressante,
indiquez ici l’heure afin de retrouver ce moment
précis de l’entretien dans votre enregistrement..
Personnalisez votre grille de prise
de notes selon vos besoins !
Pendant l’entretien, vous pouvez indiquer ici un
mot clé ou thème décrivant votre observation

12. VIRTUAL USER INTERVIEW
1. Recruit several participants in parallel: each
receives by email the instructions and the
first open-ended question of the interview
2. The interview is asynchronous and spread
over several days: as soon as a participant
answers your email, reply by moving
forward to the next question/prompt
3. Participants can answer at the most
opportune moment and have the time to
elaborate their answers
4. The transcription of the data is already
ready (and this is really time-efficient!)
TIME-EFFICIENT
> ADMINISTRATION
> ANALYSIS
LESS BIASES
(PARTICIPANT)
Crédit photo: https://perzonseo.com
ENGAGE
BUSY PEOPLE
SELF-ADMINISTERED
Interview

13. SENTENCE COMPLETION
1. Sentence completion is embedded into an
online survey
2. In a free text field (similar to an open-ended
question), participants spontaneously
complete several sentence stems
(=beginning of sentences)
3. The data collected is qualitative and
provides information on the needs,
motivations, frustrations or even dreams of
target users
4. The method is funnier and more engaging
than open-ended questions, which usually
have a low response rate
TIME-EFFICIENT
> ADMINISTRATION
> ANALYSIS
Interview
SELF-ADMINISTERED
LARGE-SCALE
LOW COST

14. OBSERVATION
Collecting data on users’ behaviors and interactions in the field
#IXDD @IXDALAUSANNE @CARILALL
EXPLORATION
CONDUCT OBSERVATIONS
IN THE FIELD
TAKE SYSTEMATIC NOTES ON THE FLY TRANSCRIBE AND ANALYSE DATADEFINE YOUR PROTOCOL
AND YOUR OBSERVATION TOOLS
P 1 ___ : ___ ___________
Etudesitewebv2
Q + - Fait Émotion
P ___ : ___ ___________
Nomdel’étude
Q 2 + - Fait Émotion
P ___ : ___ Utilisabilité
Nomdel’étude
Q + - Fait Émotion
P ___ : ___ ___________
Nomdel’étude
Q X + - Fait X Émotion
P 14 : 03 ___________
Nomdel’étude
Q + - Fait Emotion
P ___ : ___ ___________
Nomdel’étude
Q + - Fait Émotion
Indiquez ici votre observation ou
un « verbatim du participant » Chaque observation est reportée
dans une case différente
Avant d’imprimer votre grille de
prise de notes, indiquez l’identifiant
du participant en haut à gauche et
le nom de l’étude
Utilisez ces cases pour décrire si l’observation
concerne un fait ou une émotion et quelle est
sa valence (est-ce positif ou négatif pour le
participant ?)
N’oubliez pas ici de noter le numéro de la
question liée à chaque observation
À la fin de vos entretiens,
découpez les cases de vos
grilles pour réaliser des
diagrammes d’affinité !
Si l’observation est particulièrement intéressante,
indiquez ici l’heure afin de retrouver ce moment
précis de l’entretien dans votre enregistrement..
Personnalisez votre grille de prise
de notes selon vos besoins !
Pendant l’entretien, vous pouvez indiquer ici un
mot clé ou thème décrivant votre observation
Vendredi Samedi Dimanche Lundi Mardi Mercredi
0
20
40
60
80
100
Chargementdelabatterie(en%)
Lieu : domicile
Raison : batterie faible
Moyen : recharge par secteur
Lieu : domicile
Raison : synchronisation
Moyen : recharge par port USB
Temporal resources Difficulty level Level of expertise

15. FLY ON THE WALL
1. Just like a « fly on the wall », the designer
observes users’ behaviors without
interfering in the situation
2. Settle in close to the activity that you intend
to observe, so that you can see people’s
actions and you can hear their comments
3. Without intervening or get noticed, take
notes on their activities, their emotions and
their interactions as well as on the context
of use.
Do not use any recording device. If you do so,
you need to ask for their permission.
Observation
Crédit photo: E. Mercier
LESS BIASES
(PARTICIPANT)
TIME-EFFICIENT
> ADMINISTRATION
LOW COST

16. AUTO-OBSERVATION
1. Auto-observation is to observe oneself in
performing the activity under investigation
2. In the absence of participants, the results
are obviously not representative of target
users
3. It is however a good basis for
understanding the problem, scoping it and
developing empathy for the users
4. It supports the designer in the creation of
use scenarios, interview guides or relevant
observation grids to conduct real user
research
Observation
Crédit photo: E. Mercier
LOW COST
LESS BIASES
(DESIGNER)
-
LESS
PARTICIPANTS NEEDED

17. AUTO-OBSERVATION
Example Patricia Moore (1985)
At the age of 26, conduct an auto-ethnography
experiment to understand “what it feels like to
be old”.
For 3 years, she travelled the USA disguised as
an old lady. Her transformation also simulated
sensory and physical changes related to aging
(blurred vision, arthrisis, etc).
Thanks to this experience, Patricia has been
designing numerous innovative products for the
elderly and became a key player within the field
universal design.
Observation
Crédit photo: Patricia Moore

18. THE SHORT STORY DISPENSER
Observation
Crédit photo: Patricia Moore
auto-observation fly-on-the wall

19. CULTURAL PROBES
Gathering inspirational data about people via small creative packages of artifacts
and evocative tasks
#IXDD @IXDALAUSANNE @CARILALL
EXPLORATION
DESIGN YOUR CULTURAL PROBES KIT DEPLOY THE PROBES
USERS FILL THEM OUT ON THEIR OWN
USE THESE RICH USERS’ INSIGHTS AS
SOURCES OF INSPIRATION
DEFINE YOUR TARGET USERS AND
BRAINSTORM ON THE TYPE OF PROBES
Temporal resources Difficulty level Level of expertise

20. ‘CROSSING POINTS’ PROBES
Cultural probes
SELF-ADMINISTERED
LARGE SCALE
1. Rather than a whole probe kit, make a
unique and more ephemeral probe that you
will place in a crossing point or crowded
area
2. At first sight, your probe should challenge,
pique curiosity, and thus encourage people
to look at it and engage with it.
3. The proposed activity must be easy, fun
and engaging. Do not ask too much: the
activity must be short and adapted to the
context.
4. Plan a way to collect the probe once filled
out (e.g. return box, enveloppe+stamp)
Photo pôle supérieur de designVillefontaine
TIME EFFICIENT
> PLANNING
> ADMINISTRATION

21. THE PROBES POSTER
SELF-ADMINISTERED
LARGE SCALE
1. The probes poster is a summary of several
probe activities on a single A0 format
2. It is sent to participants for self-
documentation
3. They will keep it for 1-2 weeks and fill it out
progressively as they find inspiring
elements
Thoring et al., 2015
TIME EFFICIENT
> PLANNING
> ADMINISTRATION
Cultural probes

22. my wishlist
for the idealab
people I want to meet
activities to do
the perfect event at the lab
what inspires me my current
workspace
what I really need
what annoys me
this is how my ideal
IdeaLab looks like
The probes poster - example (Thoring et al., 2015)

23. PHOTO SAFARI
1. Define the safari theme openly enough to
make room for each participant's
interpretation. Prepare a short tour guide
covering different aspects of the topic.
2. Send participants on safari! Depending on
the project, you can select the place or
leave it open for them to go wherever they
want.
3. Collect participants’ photos and look at
them to find patterns. Ask each participant
to describe in a few words the images
collected, or to participate to a workshop
where they will tell a story related to each
photo.
Crédit photo : Helle Rohde Andersen
SELF-ADMINISTERED
LARGE SCALE
TIME EFFICIENT
> PLANNING
> ADMINISTRATION
Cultural probes

24. Planning
Exploration
Ideation
Generation
Evaluation

25. USER PERSONAS
Fictional characters created from user data used to reflect user types
#IXDD @IXDALAUSANNE @CARILALL
IDEATION
REPRESENT IDENTIFIED PROFILES
UNDER THE FORM OF PERSONAS
ORGANISE YOUR DATA
TO IDENTIFY PATTERNS
SYNTHESIZE USER RESEARCH DATACOLLECT DATA ABOUT USERS
THROUGH INTERVIEWS OR OBSERVATION
Temporal resources Difficulty level Level of expertise

26. #IXDD @IXDALAUSANNE @CARILALL

27. CONFRONTED PROTO-PERSONAS
1. The design team creates proto-personas
(= not based on user research) based on
internal resources
2. These proto-personas are sent to some
target users
3. Participants criticize and annotate the proto-
personas so that they reflect their own user
profile (motivations and behaviours)
4. The design team synthesize the data to
enhance the generated personas iteratively
5. If real user research is done at a later stage,
the personas are updated accordingly.
ENGAGE
BUSY PEOPLE
TIME EFFICIENT
> PASSATION
Personas

28. BRAINSTORMING
Group creativity technique, led by a facilitator conducting the discussion
#IXDD @IXDALAUSANNE @CARILALL
IDEATION
SELECT THE MOST RELEVANT IDEASORGANISE / CATEGORISE ALL IDEASINVITE THE GROUP TO GENERATE
NEW IDEAS AND SOLUTIONS
EXPOSE THE PROBLEM/GOAL AND
THE BASIC RULES OF BRAINSTORMING
Temporal resources Difficulty level Level of expertise

29. NOTEBOOK TECHNIQUE
1. Each participant receives a notebook, in
which you will write down the question/
challenge to solve
2. Each participant is asked to produce at
least 3 ideas/day during a week
3. The following week, participants exchange
their notebook and use other participants’
ideas as an inspiration to produce new
ones. Repeat during 4 weeks.
4. The facilitator collects and synthesizes the
ideas, which can optionally be discussed
or sorted out during a workshop
Brainstorming
Crédit photo: MoleskineTIME EFFICIENT
> PASSATION
ENGAGE
BUSY PEOPLE
SELF-ADMINISTERED
LESS BIASES
(PARTICIPANT)

30. IDEATION CARDS
1. Card sets presenting particular concepts,
theories or design strategies. Often based
on scientific research, they are a bridge
between research and practice.
2. Use the cards of your choice during a
brainstorming session to improve the
quantity and quality of ideas.
3. Many card sets can be downloaded for
free: emotional design, UX needs, human
values, persuasive design, IoT, service
design …
Ideation
Crédit photo: Delft Institute of Positive Design
TIME EFFICIENT
SCIENCE-BASED

31. WORLD CAFÉ
1. Several tables are placed in a room.
Participants are divided by groups of 4-5.
Each table has a host (rotating role), who
facilitates the discussion and takes notes.
2. Participants produce as many ideas as
possible during an allotted time slot (10 min)
3. An audible signal indicates when it is time for
participants to move to another table. The
host stays at the table to report on the
outputs to the next participants.
4. Participants generate new ideas on this basis
or elaborate on previous ones.
5. At the end of the session, all hosts synthesize
the brainstorming outcomes and present the
results to the audience.
Brainstorming
LARGE-SCALE
TIME EFFICIENT
> ADMINISTRATION
Crédit photo: http://www.kursaal.eus

32. Planning
Exploration
Ideation
Generation
Evaluation

33. PROTOTYPING
Building a concrete representation of a system, product or service
#IXDD @IXDALAUSANNE @CARILALL
GENERATION
DEFINE THE FORMAT OF THE
PROTOTYPE (FIDELITY LEVEL)
DESIGN THE MOCKUPS AND PROTOTYPE
ITERATIVELY
USE THE PROTOTYPE FOR USER TESTING
OR COMMUNICATION PURPOSES
DETERMINE WHAT NEEDS TO BE
PROTOTYPED
Temporal resources Difficulty level Level of expertise

34. SKETCH-A-THON
Crédit photo: Connie Liegl
LARGE-SCALE
1. The sketch-a-thon invites users to sketch the
ideal interface of a system
2. Print out and distribute sketching templates.
Place them in strategic locations where your
target users are most likely to see them
3. To motivate your “lay designers”, offer an
incentive under the form of a raffle
4. The produced sketches are not to be used
directly. Use them as sources of inspiration,
or combine the best ideas and add them to
your final mockup.
SELF-ADMINISTERED
TIME EFFICIENT
> ADMINISTRATION
Prototyping

35. DIY PARTICIPATORY DESIGN KITS
Prototyping
Crédit photo: Carine Lallemand
LARGE-SCALE
1. If you can’t run co-design workshops, or if
you need a wider distribution (participation
enhances engagement and appropriation of
solutions), create DIY design kits.
2. These kits can take various forms depending
on your project, but it is essential that they
are engaging, fun, and self-explanatory.
3. Pilot test the kits to make sure they are
understandable and produce the desired
outcomes.
SELF-ADMINISTERED
TIME EFFICIENT
> ADMINISTRATION

36. Crédit photo: Carine Lallemand

37. Crédit photo: Carine Lallemand

38. CARD SORTING
Understanding users’ mental model to design an optimal information architecture
#IXDD @IXDALAUSANNE @CARILALL
GENERATION
ADMINISTER THE CARD SORT EXERCISE ANALYSE THE RESULTS THROUGH
MATRIXES AND DENDOGRAMS
DESIGN YOUR INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE
IDENTIFY KEY CONCEPTS AND WRITE
THEM ON INDEX CARDS
Temporal resources Difficulty level Level of expertise

39. 1. First participant (seed) creates initial structure
2. Second (and subsequent participants)
comment on previous participant's structure
and make changes to reflect their own
mental model
3. Continue with new participants until there are
no more (significant) changes
4. No need for an analysis to aggregate
participants’ results as the outcome is
already a synthesis of their choices
DELPHI CARD SORTING
-LESS
PARTICIPANTS NEEDED
TIME EFFICIENT
> ADMINISTRATION
> ANALYSIS
Card sorting

40. Planning
Exploration
Ideation
Generation
Evaluation

41. THE QUICK & CLEAN
RULES OF THUMB

42. SAMPLING TARGET USERS
A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE

43. GUERRILLA RECRUITMENT
ENGAGE
BUSY PEOPLE
Recruitment
Crédit photo:Aktan Service Kitchen
LOW COST
TIME EFFICIENT
1. Identify your target users. Where to find
them and how to engage with them?
2. The more heterogeneous the population is,
the more participants you will need to
collect relevant data. Better have a small
representative sample than a large
irrelevant sample.
3. Collect your data in the places (physical or
virtual) where your target users are. Be
ingenious!

44. IDENTIFYING SOURCES OF BIAISES TO GAIN UNBIASED FEEDBACK
BEWARE OF BIASES

45. SAFEGUARDING THE QUALITY OF DATA
PILOT TEST. ALWAYS. (REALLY)

47. #IXDD @IXDALAUSANNE @CARILALL
user insights before pilot testing
© Université du Luxembourg
QUALITY OF USER DATA
Example - Do It Yourself Design Kit: participatory design for innovative learning spaces (University of Luxembourg)
user insights after pilot testing

48. AND YOU SHOULD PROTOTYPE EVERYTHING
YOU CAN PROTOTYPE ANYTHING
© Aktan

49. © Carine Lallemand, University of Luxembourg

51. Photo credit : Ingrid Pettersson

52. Photo credit : Ford

53. TAKE AWAY MESSAGES

54. THERE IS
ALWAYS A
WAY

55. EVERYTHING
IS A MATTER
OF CHOICE

56. 3METHODS
ARE
INGREDIENTS
OR MEALS
RATHER THAN
RECIPES

57. 4
INNOVATION IN
OUR METHODS
SPARKS
INNOVATIVE
OUTCOMES

58. 5DO IT “QUICK”
YET
DO IT “CLEAN”

59. 01
Thank you for
your attention!
2ND EDITION
SEPT 2018

60. 01
ICONS
Citizens by MRFA from the Noun Project
Time by Manohara from the Noun Project
Crowd by Rockicon from the Noun Project
User by Xinh Studio from the Noun Project
Piggy Bank byVineet Kumar Thakur from the Noun Project
Censorship by Luis Prado from the Noun Project
Confirmation Bias by Mike Pick from the Noun Project
Selfie Stick by mikicon from the Noun Project