17. Insights from User Testing Data

and Marketing your findings

Part of Milestone D — packet due Thu Dec 17, 2026, by 4:10pm ET (Timeline).

Topic Overview

You have already completed much of the Understanding users and completed usability testing and/or play testing. You may have also added iterations or made recommendations. Based on your play testing and your usability testing you will create a report which will be in written form or added to your presentation slides.

All of these elements, insights from data, task analysis and ethnographic research can be done together as one report.

This will further cumulate in a list of recommendations for your project or game.

Marketing your Findings:

If noone knows about your findings and what you have learned it does not help the greater good. By summarizing your findings in a One Sheet and listing your Aha moments you will be able to share an "elevator pitch" or a succinct statement about your aims, hour audience and what you will create.

Assignments

Overview Video and how to prep for your finals.

1: Learn: Read these Articles and Watch these videos:

2: Write your Report:

3: Market your findings: Create a One Sheet and Aha moment sheet.

4: Submit

Overview Video and how to prep for your finals.

1: Learn: Read these Articles and Watch these videos:

Articles:

Insights from Data

by Valeta Wensloff

Task Analysis + Ethnographic Research

by Valeta Wensloff

Writing Ethnographic Research Reports

by Valeta Wensloff

2: Write your Report:

Writing the report will make more sense after you have collected data and watched the mini-lectures. There is a formal structure and method for writing user observation research reports.

You will need to have completed the usability testing and playtesting modules first.

For those of you pursuing a PhD or a Masters with a research focus, the recommendation is for a written paper. The link should be included in the slides. The slides mirror what is in the paper, it would be a preperation for a presenation at a conference.

For those of you on the Game or Design side, doing a project or game for your Master's, the recommendation is for a slideshow; include visuals and keep your report in the slides, not as a formal written report, more of a presentation.

Report Structure

Include these sections

Introduction (short paragraph describing why you conducted this design research study - for example, your design challenge or problem you are trying to solve)
Methods
- How you selected your sample
- Diagram and description of the observation location
- Summary table of your observations (use pseudonyms for people or groups, include demographic or other key identifying information about each)
- Verbal description of your sample (describe the information the table presents, in words)

Findings (repeat the structure below for each section or set of related categories you analyzed)
- Section Introduction (describe what you will examine in this section. Group logically related observation categories into different sections)
- Table or charts (present your observations in charts or tables first) (Ensure you are using Universal Design guide for Colors and Describing Charts)
- Analyze, Synthisize and Create Themes from your raw data.
- Overview (Summary statement describing overall results)
- Details (More detailed results, focusing on how individuals you observed, or groups if you were observing groups, are unique or similar) One outcome of this exercise could be an iterated persona.
- Insights (Draw insightful comparisons across the observations you are analyzing, including implications for your product idea and refinements of your audience or design challenge).
Overall Recommendations (Use bullet points to list and then paragraphs to discuss the key recommendations you make to your team based on this analysis. What should we do or not do?)
- Include Prototype visual adjustments, sharing before and after images.

3: Market your findings: Create a One Sheet and Aha moment sheet.

One Sheet Overviews

Review this slideshow contains previous examples for One Sheets and AHA Moments.

One Sheet Overviews F24

Use the template to create your one sheet.
Add your logo to slide 1.
Use the template slides - copy them and add your content for the one sheet and Aha moments.
Copy your slides from this presentation into your final presentation.
These become great examples to place into Behance, LinkedIn or your website to gain traction and interest.

4: Submit

Add a link to your User Observation Report on your slides if it is in paper form, you can also submit it as slides.
Add the One Sheet and Aha Moments to your slides.
Submit the direct link to your personal slides in D2L.

Methods section

Have a strong justification of your sampling approach -- how and why you picked the people or groups to observe, as well as how many observations were made. Give details of the settings and characteristics of the people you observed. Give statistics including number of participants and demographics.

Findings, organized by section

Tables and Charts: creative, clear, informative tables and graphs, good use of accessible color, thoughtful ordering
Overall summaries: Clearly convey overall observations for each section.
Details and Comparisons: Discuss key similarities and differences among the people or groups you observed. Point out observations about individuals or sets of individuals that have implications for your project. This section is like a guided tour of the content of the tables and charts.
Insights: How do your observations relate to your own project? Discuss useful implications for design of your team project are provided, based on your analysis of the observations.

Recommendations section

Format for easy reading, use bullet points, make helpful suggestions grounded in the analysis of your observations.

Be positive.

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