User Experience Methods Catalogue

# Bodystorming

Purpose
To experience the context physically and discover new aspects
Time required
1 to 3 hours
Participants
UX team, user
Level of experience
Expert

# Summary

Bodystorming is based on the idea of brainstorming. However, it is not only about verbally putting oneself in other people's shoes in order to generate ideas, but actually experiencing a physical situation in the role of the person in question. The participants adopt the spatial, temporal, cognitive, motivational and emotional perspective of the user.

# Result

The aim of the method is to obtain information and inspiration through the actual experience of concrete situations, which help to generate ideas and open up new needs and paths.

# Approach

  1. Define the location for the scenario to be examined and go there with the team.
  2. Observe the behaviour of the people at this location and the artifacts they interact with.
  3. Capture all relevant persons, actions and conditions that influence the actions.
  4. Replay and film the scenarios in the team, taking into account the insights gained.
  5. Ask the participants about their subjective experiences and feelings during the simulation of the scenario.
  6. Analyse the individual findings and the video recordings.

# Time of use

It makes sense to use this method if there is no holistic picture of the customers' needs or if other approaches to generating ideas do not respond adequately to the users' needs.

# Tools and Templates

  • Plenty of room
  • Whiteboard
  • Video camera

# Advantages

In addition to clarity and practical relevance, bodystorming offers the advantage of working out individual aspects, developing details and ultimately improving the overall experience.

# Disadvantages

The disadvantages of this method are the time required and the difficulties in getting used to the roles. In addition, inauthentic or unrealistic behavior of the participants can slow down the success of this method.

# Hints

It is important that the participants are able to put themselves into the situation and are not afraid to make mistakes, as these may be typical also for the user and therefore important to discover.

# Sources

← Brainstorming →