A variety of materials including photographs, illustrations, text, colors, and textures for participants to choose and arrange in their collage.

Collage Materials

Clear and concise instructions for participants on how to create their collage and what the collage should represent (e.g. feelings, experiences, or expectations about a product, service or brand).

Participant Instructions

Completed collages created by participants to represent their feelings, experiences, or expectations.

Participant Collages

High-quality photographs or digital scans of each completed collage for documenting and analyzing the visual data.

Collage Photographs

Recorded discussions or interviews with participants about their process of selecting materials and arranging the collage, as well as their reflections on the final result.

Participant Feedback and Insights

An analysis, including thematic and visual patterns, of the completed collages, taking into account the participant's feedback and insights.

Collage Analysis

A comprehensive report outlining the process, outcomes, findings, and insights of the collage method, along with recommendations for future UX improvements.

Collage Method Report

A visual presentation summarizing the findings and insights from the collage method, intended for stakeholders and team members.

Collage Method Presentation

Collage is a UX research method that involves participants creating visual artifacts to express their attitudes, thoughts, feelings, and desires, helping to understand user values and emotions.

This collage showcases users' ideal vacation experiences by combining images and text snippets. Users selected various photographs of relaxing beach scenes, thrilling adventures like hiking and skydiving, and bustling cityscapes with cultural attractions. They also included phrases like 'stress-free,' 'quality time with friends,' and 'exploring diverse cuisines.' This collage helps UX researchers gain insights into users' preferred travel experiences, thus enabling designers to tailor their product or service accordingly.

Travel Experience Collage

The Smart Home Collage represents the users' visions of the ideal smart home experience. Images of various smart devices, such as thermostats, security cameras, and voice assistants, are included alongside drawings and writings with keywords like 'efficiency,' 'user-friendly,' and 'integrated ecosystem.' This collage helps UX researchers understand the user's expectations, fears, and hopes for a smart home system, which can guide the design process for improved usability and user satisfaction.

Smart Home Collage

This collage illustrates diverse health and fitness goals, as expressed by users through a combination of images and texts. The collage includes pictures of people exercising, healthy meals, fitness trackers, and motivational quotes, alongside personal statements such as 'lose 10 pounds,' 'run a marathon,' and 'increase flexibility.' Analyzing this collage enables UX researchers to better understand the motivations, challenges, and goals that drive users to adopt specific health and fitness apps, products, or services.

Health and Fitness Goals Collage

Start by identifying the goals and objectives of the collage exercise. Be specific about what insights you would like to learn from your participants, such as emotions, preferences, attitudes, or mental models associated with the topic.

Define Objectives

Identify and recruit target participants who represent your user segment or audience. Aim for a diverse set of participants with a range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives on the topic of interest.

Select Participants

Prepare a wide variety of visual materials for the collage, including images, words, and symbols from magazines, websites, and other sources. Ensure you have enough variety to cover different themes, and elements that can evoke different emotions and associations.

Gather Materials

Arrange a comfortable workspace with sufficient space, light, and seating for participants. Provide scissors, glue, tape, pens, markers, and other craft supplies. Organize the collage materials into an easy-to-navigate layout for participants to easily explore and select from.

Setup Workspace

Introduce the activity to the participants, explaining the objectives, and any specific instructions or prompts. Encourage them to explore their thoughts, feelings, and emotions associated with the topic as they create their collage. Give participants enough time, usually 45-90 minutes, to thoughtfully create their collages.

Facilitate Collage Creation

As participants finish their collages, document each finished collage by taking photographs or notes. Ensure to collect details of the images used, and the layout or sequence of their arrangement, as this reflects the participant's thought process and associations.

Document Collages

Guide a group discussion or one-on-one interviews with participants about their collages. Encourage them to share the meaning, emotions, and thought processes behind their choices, and how the images they chose relate to the topic. Capture these insights through audio or video recordings, and notes.

Conduct Discussion

Analyze the collected data by identifying patterns, themes, and connections among participants' collages and their explanations. Look for commonalities and differences in their visual representations, emotions, and thought processes to uncover insights about users' experiences, needs, and expectations.

Analyze Results

Summarize the findings in a clear, concise manner, illustrating the key insights and patterns identified through the collage activity. Use visuals, quotations, and descriptions to help convey the participant experiences and perspectives. Present your findings to stakeholders, and consider how to incorporate these insights into your UX design or strategy.

Report Findings

Time

Writing materials, scissors, glue, magazines, camera, printer, and other materials

Equipment

People

This is the 21st in a series of 100 short articles about UX design and evaluation methods. Today, I will discuss the use of collages for assessing emotional aspects of products and services and generating ideas and requirements. 

Method 21 of 100: Collages

Creating collages allows participants to visually express thoughts, desires,
        emotions, and other aspects of life that may be difficult to via other traditional means.

Collage | 100 Days of UX

Discover UX methods for your next design sprint, agile software development process or digital product life cycle.

Collage

The collaging method helps participants drive the discussion through imagery, oftentimes in an unexpected direction.

How (and Why) To Try the Collaging Method

Design Kit is IDEO.org's platform to learn human-centered design, a creative approach to solving the world's most difficult problems.

Design Kit

A detailed scenario outlining the purpose, goal, and actions the mystery shopper needs to follow, while interacting with the product, service, or establishment being evaluated

Mystery Shopper Scenario

A timetable specifying dates, times, and locations for mystery shopping visits to ensure proper coverage and unbiased evaluation of user experience

Shop Visit Schedule

A list of tasks, interactions or observations, that the mystery shopper should make during the visit, such as purchasing a specific item or asking for assistance

Shop Visit Checklist

A comprehensive report from the mystery shopper detailing their experience during the visit, while including feedback on specific tasks, interactions, and observations made

Shop Visit Report

A systematic approach to collect and analyze data from multiple mystery shopping visits in order to identify patterns, insights, and trends

Data Collection and Analysis

A categorized repository of identified UX issues, highlighting areas for improvement

UX Issues Repository

Both short- and long-term recommendations for addressing issues identified during the mystery shopping process, along with an action plan to implement the proposed solutions

Recommendations & Action Plan

A set of quantitative and qualitative metrics to assess the effectiveness of the mystery shopping approach and track improvements over time

Performance Metrics

A follow-up mystery shopping stage after implementing improvement actions to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the proposed solutions

Post-Improvement Follow-up

Mystery shopping is a research method used to evaluate and gather data on user experiences with an existing service by disguising the evaluator as a real user, providing valuable qualitative and quantitative data.

**Goal:** Evaluate sales staff engagement, store ambiance, and overall purchase process in a retail store.

**In-store sales experience mystery shopping deliverable:** A comprehensive report that includes a detailed breakdown of the sales associate's behavior, greeting process, product knowledge, upselling skills, and store tidiness. Relevant photographs of different store sections and product displays may also be included in the report.

In-store Sales Experience

**Goal:** Assess the performance of customer support representatives and the resolution process on a service call.

**Customer support call mystery shopping deliverable:** An anonymized audio recording of the call along with a transcript, and an analysis of key performance indicators such as average wait time, politeness, problem-solving capabilities, and follow-up protocol.

Customer Support Call Interaction

**Goal:** Understand customer purchase journey and identify areas of friction in the online user experience that may lead to shopping cart abandonment.

**E-commerce site usability mystery shopping deliverable:** A website walkthrough of the entire user journey from browsing products to completing the purchase, identifying any confusing elements, pain points, or broken features. The deliverable can include screen recordings, detailed notes, and suggestions for improving the user experience.

E-commerce Site Usability Analysis

Identify the primary goals of the mystery shopping exercise such as evaluating customer service, compliance with regulations, or obtaining competitor information.

Choose appropriate individuals to act as mystery shoppers, ensuring they represent your target audience and can remain unbiased during the evaluation. Provide them with clear instructions about the intended experience.

Select Mystery Shoppers

Create a realistic scenario that the mystery shoppers will enact during their visit. Determine specific evaluation criteria aligned with your objectives, such as employee interaction, facility cleanliness or product quality.

Develop Scenario and Evaluation Criteria

Thoroughly brief the mystery shoppers about the scenario, key evaluation criteria, and expectations during their visit. It is crucial to maintain their anonymity and to not have any connection to the evaluated establishment.

Brief the Mystery Shoppers

The mystery shoppers visit the establishment or interact with the service, following the predefined scenario, and assess the experience based on the given criteria.

Mystery Shopper Visits

After completing the visit, mystery shoppers provide feedback and documentation such as observations, notes, photographs or any other relevant materials. They may also fill out a questionnaire or survey about their experience.

Gather Feedback and Documentation

Review the feedback, questionnaire responses, and other documentation from the mystery shoppers. Analyze the findings to identify trends or patterns, as well as areas of strength or opportunities for improvement.

Analyze and Interpret Results

Compile the results into a comprehensive report, including both quantitative and qualitative data. Share the findings with the relevant stakeholders or team members, highlighting key insights and recommended actions.

Based on the report findings, identify, plan and execute necessary improvements or changes to the evaluated establishment or service to enhance overall user experience or performance.

Implement Improvements

Monitor the improvement progress, analyze the results of the implemented changes, and conduct follow-up mystery shopping visits to ensure continuous quality control and user experience evaluation.

Measure Improvement and Conduct Follow-up

Mystery shopping script, recording equipment, writing supplies, etc.

Tools

Mystery Shopping

Mystery Shopping is a covert participant observation that aims to recreate the customer experience or to measure the service quality in a structured and methodologically controlled way.

A Researcher’s Guide to Mystery Shopping

Mystery Shopping the User Experience? In this article we explain what this involves and what businesses can gain from it. Contact us for more info!

Mystery Shopping the User Experience

Mystery shopping is a customer service method that involves the use of secret shoppers to evaluate and rate a company’s customer service.

Mystery Shopping: Definition, Types, Process and How It Works

Online Mystery Shopping with UX/UI Features

A detailed breakdown of each task performed by the user, including goals, subtasks, decision points, and actions.

Task Analysis

A visual representation of the mental processes, knowledge, and decision-making involved in performing tasks within the system. This may include flowcharts, diagrams, and other visual aids.

Cognitive Framework

A characterization of the target users, including demographics, educational background, experience, and cognitive abilities, to better understand their needs and limitations.

User Profiles

An evaluation of the cognitive demands placed on users by the system, identifying areas of high and low cognitive load and potential issues with information processing and decision-making.

Cognitive Load Analysis

An examination of the components of the system that require attention or memory from users, and recommendations for optimizing these elements to reduce cognitive strain.

Attention and Memory Analysis

A systematic review of user errors, which can help identify potential causes, patterns, and possible solutions or mitigations for error reduction within the system.

Error Analysis

An assessment of the system's usability and learnability through a series of scenarios, focusing on the cognitive processes and decision-making of users.

Cognitive Walkthrough

Insights from users collected through interviews, providing qualitative data about their cognitive experiences, challenges, and preferences when interacting with the system.

User Interviews

Suggestions for improving the system's usability, cognitive performance, and learnability, based on the findings and conclusions of the cognitive work analysis.

Design Recommendations

A comprehensive document describing the analysis process, findings, user profiles, and recommendations, along with visual aids and supporting data for presentation to stakeholders and team members.

Report and Documentation

A comprehensive research design that enables understanding of information behavior, activities, and motives of actors in complex environments in a specific context.

A **Task Analysis Diagram** visually represents the mental processes, decisions, and actions taken by users while performing a specific task. It helps to identify gaps in user understanding, opportunities for improvement, and potential pain points in the user experience.

Task Analysis Diagram

A **Cognitive Walkthrough** is a usability inspection method where the researcher evaluates the user interface by simulating user interactions based on their mental model. The report includes identified issues, user misunderstandings, and recommended design updates to better support cognitive processing.

Cognitive Walkthrough Report

By interviewing users and capturing their understanding of a system or process, researchers can create **Mental Model Comparisons** to map out users' cognitive structures. Comparing these models can reveal shared patterns, discrepancies, and areas where users struggle to understand the system.

Mental Model Comparisons

**Hierarchical Task Analysis** is a method used to break down tasks into subtasks and represent them in a hierarchical format. This helps researchers to visualize the complexity of tasks and identify potential pain points or areas for improvement.

Hierarchical Task Analysis

**GOMS Analysis** (Goals, Operators, Methods, and Selection rules) is a formal method used to model and analyze user interactions with a system. This analysis helps to identify the cognitive and physical workload required for tasks, and it can guide designers to optimize user performance by reducing complexity or automating tasks.

GOMS Analysis

Before starting the analysis, outline and prioritize the research objectives. Determine the scope of work, including the specific cognitive aspects you want to investigate, such as decision-making, memory, attention, or problem-solving.

Define Research Goals

Identify and select the cognitive tasks to be analyzed, ensuring they are relevant to your research goals. These tasks should involve significant cognitive processes and have a considerable impact on the overall user experience.

Select Cognitive Tasks

Choose appropriate data collection methods to obtain rich and valuable insights into the users' cognitive processes. Some common methods include interviews, observations, think-aloud protocols, and eye-tracking studies.

Determine Data Collection Methods

Conduct the chosen data collection methods with your target users. Ensure that the participants are representative of your user base and that the data collection process is structured and organized to avoid biases or errors.

Gather Data

Analyze the collected data and translate the findings into cognitive models. These models can include mental models, information processing models, or decision-making models, and they should provide an understanding of the users' cognitive processes during task performance.

Develop Cognitive Models

Examine the cognitive models to identify any issues or limitations that may be impacting the users' task performance. These issues could be attributed to a lack of knowledge, incorrect mental representations, or inefficient cognitive strategies.

Identify Cognitive Issues

Based on the identified cognitive issues, propose design recommendations that target the specific cognitive needs of the users. These recommendations should aim to enhance cognitive efficiency, reduce user errors, and improve overall performance.

Generate Design Recommendations

Implement the proposed design changes and validate their effectiveness through additional user testing and data collection. The validation process should be iterative, ensuring that modifications align with users' cognitive processes and improve overall usability.

Validate Design Recommendations

Create a detailed report to document the cognitive analysis findings, cognitive models, identified issues, and design recommendations. Share this information with relevant stakeholders to support evidence-based decision-making and further design development.

Document Findings

User data, statistical software, writing materials, recording equipment

Learnability is a crucial component of UX for complex and novel interfaces. Cognitive walkthroughs can identify design problems that derail new users.

Evaluate Interface Learnability with Cognitive Walkthroughs

One of the most important steps in the Design Thinking process that is often employed as standard practice in UX design is to define the users’ problems. What does this mean?

How to improve your UX designs with Task Analysis

An instructional guide to using task analysis in user research, with definitions, pros and cons, tips, examples, and templates.

Task Analysis: Evaluative UX Research Methods

Go beyond knowing what your users want to do, to understanding how they do it. Here’s how to improve your UX with tasks analysis!

What Is Task Analysis In UX? [Complete Guide]

Analysis of Cognitive Work

A visual representation of the user's end-to-end experience with a product or service, highlighting pain points, opportunities, and emotional states throughout the process.

Customer Journey Map

A visual representation of all stakeholders involved in the service delivery process, categorizing them based on their roles, responsibilities, and influence on the user experience.

Stakeholder Map

A list of all actions, touchpoints, or interactions between the users and the service that are directly visible or experienced by the users.

Frontstage Actions

A list of all actions or processes that occur behind the scenes, which are not directly visible or experienced by the users, but support the overall service delivery.

Backstage Actions

Identification and detail of the underlying processes that enable both frontstage and backstage actions, such as IT systems, logistics, and employee training.

Support Processes

Identification of key areas or stages in the service delivery process where improvements can be made to enhance the overall user experience or resolve user pain points.

Opportunity Areas

A comprehensive document that captures all the components listed above, establishing a blueprint for the service, which can be used for communication, reference, and future improvements.

Service Blueprint Documentation

A plan that outlines the steps, resources, and timeline needed to implement the improvements identified in the service blueprint, along with a prioritization of tasks and initiatives based on impact and feasibility.

Implementation Plan

A set of quantifiable metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track and evaluate the success of service improvements, along with a plan for regular data collection, analysis, and benchmarking.

Metrics and Evaluation Plan

A visual diagram that provides a detailed description of a service or part of it, focusing on both the user experience perspective and the internal processes perspective.

This service blueprint focuses on the experience users have when they contact customer support.

![The blueprint is divided into different layers, such as physical evidence, customer actions, frontstage, backstage, and support processes](https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/1*8ilpIAbYXLzDkZwAblZnsQ.png).

Lanes in blueprint include Physical Evidence, Customer Actions, Frontstage, Backstage, and Support Processes. The interaction flow starts from customers having an issue, exploring help documentation, contacting support via chat, being assisted by the support agent who accesses internal tools, and finally providing a resolution. Potential pain points and opportunities are identified for each step.

Customer Support Experience

This service blueprint illustrates the process of new users creating an account and setting up their profile in a banking mobile app.

![The blueprint is divided into different lanes, such as customer actions, touchpoints, frontstage, backstage, and support processes](https://www.smartsheet.com/sites/default/files/styles/wide_left/public/Service%20blueprint_screen_v2.png).

Lanes in blueprint include Customer Actions, Touchpoints, Frontstage, Backstage, and Support Processes. Steps in the user journey include downloading the app, registering an account, connecting a bank account, verifying identity, and logging in. Touchpoints show the corresponding interactions within the app, while frontstage and backstage show the actions taken by staff and systems to facilitate a smooth user experience.

Banking Mobile App Onboarding

This service blueprint examines the steps customers take to complete their purchase on an e-commerce website, and the supporting processes needed.

![The blueprint includes lanes for physical evidence, user journey, frontstage, backstage, and support processes](https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/1251/posts/32430/image/service-blueprint-example2.png).

Lanes in blueprint include Physical Evidence, User Journey, Frontstage, Backstage, and Support Processes. Customer touchpoints include browsing products, adding to cart, reviewing cart, entering shipping information, providing payment details, and receiving a confirmation. Frontstage actions involve user interface updates, while backstage actions consist of inventory checks, fraud detection, and order processing.

E-commerce Checkout Process

Determine the specific service you want to analyze and improve. This could be an entire service, a specific process, or a particular touchpoint within the service. Make sure to involve relevant stakeholders when narrowing it down.

Identify the Service

Collect all the materials, processes, and data relevant to the service that you are examining, including customer interactions, marketing materials, and process documentation. Analyze user feedback, satisfaction level, and pain points to get insight into the service's current state.

Gather Information

Outline the steps customers go through when engaging with the service. This is known as the customer journey map, which showcases the multiple touchpoints involved. Include information such as actions, emotions, and expectations that users have throughout their journey.

Create Customer Journey Map

Map out the visible actions and interactions between the service provider and the customer. These are the frontstage processes that directly impact the customer's experience, like customer service interactions, purchasing process, or touchpoints on a digital platform.

Outline Frontstage Processes

Document the internal operations and processes that the customer doesn't see but helps to deliver the service effectively. Examples include inventory management, supplier communication, or employee training, which ultimately impact the frontstage processes.

Monster Catalog of
UX Research Methods

Explore the Ultimate Resource for UX Research

Extensive Variety of Methods

Ready-made Solutions for Various Problems

User-Friendly Interface

Get a Taste of Our UX Research Methods

Collage

Mystery Shopping

Analysis of Cognitive Work

Service Blueprint

Support the project

Monster Catalog ofUX Research Methods

Explore the Ultimate Resource for UX Research

Extensive Variety of Methods

Ready-made Solutions for Various Problems

User-Friendly Interface

Get a Taste of Our UX Research Methods

Collage

Mystery Shopping

Analysis of Cognitive Work

Service Blueprint

Support the project

Monster Catalog of
UX Research Methods