OBSERVATION STUDIES
INTERVIEWS
INDUCTIVE CODING
A user research group project focused on understanding purchasing behaviors and motivations to inform user-centered design decisions.
2024
YEAR
HCI 445
COURSE
ROLE
Researcher
OVERVIEW
This project was completed as part of HCI 445: User Research Methods, a course designed to provide foundational skills in user research. The course covered:
Common methods for collecting user data (e.g., observation, interviewing, and surveys).
Analysis techniques to examine user research data.
Ways to document and communicate user research findings.
In this study, our team aimed to understand consumer shopping habits and their tendency to make impulse purchases. We conducted an observation and an interview study. Through our findings, we want to contribute to a technology-based solution that empowers consumers to feel secure in their spending, improve financial responsibility, and prevent impulse purchasing behavior.
View the full presentation here.
MY ROLE
As part of this project, I:
Designed and distributed a recruitment survey to identify and recruit participants for user research.
Conducted user research through observational studies and interviews.
Analyzed data using Atlas.ti for inductive coding.
Organized findings through affinity diagramming to identify themes and patterns.
Documented findings in a detailed user research report.
Tools: Atlas.ti, Google Forms, FigJam
SCOPE
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered fear and resource scarcity, which exacerbated online shopping and continues to affect individuals today. These unregulated spending behaviors can lead to addiction and financial instability. Although various budgeting tools exist, few specifically target impulse purchasing. Our goal was to understand consumer shopping habits and identify influences that drive impulse purchases. We hope our insights will support developing a technology-based solution that mitigates impulse shopping and promotes healthier financial decisions.
RESEARCH PROCESS
We conducted observation studies to identify themes patterns and interviews to validate and expand further explore on those patterns and develop themes. In both methods, we selected 10 participants through a recruitment screening survey.
In our observation studies, participants engaged in an interactive shopping scenario while vocalizing their thoughts and actions. We documented our observations, followed up with questions about impulse buying behaviors, and organized session notes into an affinity diagram.
In our interviews, participants answered questions about emotions, events influencing purchasing decisions, and repeated exposure impact. We analyzed the transcripts using inductive coding, organized the codes in an affinity diagram.
Participant data was used to create personas, scenarios, and user journey maps.
FINDINGS
We identified four key impulse purchasing behavior themes:
Evaluating item necessity or usefulness during purchase decision
People consider how essential an item in the cart is before making an impulse purchase.
Justifying purchases based on low prices or personal finances
People buy items when they are low-priced, discounted, or when extra money is available to spend.
Subjective satisfaction and emotional spending as justifications for purchases
People justify impulse purchases when driven by a negative mood or strong positive emotions toward an item.
Increased exposure contributes to unnecessary purchases
People make impulse purchases after exposure to recommendations, promotions, advertising, or frequent browsing.
CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
We recommend focusing on design strategies that address both external and internal influences. External influences can be addressed through mitigating exposure impact to promotional tactics, while internal influences can be managed by encouraging mindfulness and reflection to reduce emotion-driven purchases. Helping consumers consider their purchase motivations and understand marketing tactics can equip them to make more informed purchasing decisions. To further this effort, future research should explore how website design and marketing strategies drive impulse buying and ways to counteract them.
REFLECTION
Throughout my time working on this group project, I’ve learned the importance of collaboration and communication. Clear communication allowed us to align on goals, share research insights effectively, and ensure that every team member’s strengths contributed to the final outcome. Collaboration was key to brainstorming creative solutions and resolving challenges, such as synthesizing diverse data sources into cohesive themes.
One significant challenge we faced was scheduling meetings around everyone’s availability, especially with the added difficulty of time zone differences. This required us to be flexible, patient, and strategic in planning, often using asynchronous communication tools to ensure progress between meetings.
Ultimately, the project highlighted how active communication and teamwork can bring out the best in everyone’s contributions. By sharing ideas, adapting to feedback, and supporting one another, we were able to produce stronger research and design outcomes together.