Phase Two of the Gutenberg project will see the post editor expand to act as a site-building tool. This brief exploratory research study will help designers to better understand the users for whom they are building concepts, and will inform work on Phase Two.
The goal for this exploratory research is to understand how people think about building a website. Results will be used to inform product decisions and the overall boundaries of the initial work.
Understand how people currently build websites using either WordPress or other tools.
Learn more about the mental models of site builders vs. page builders.
Assess pain points and areas of friction when it comes to building and creating a website / single page.
Identify vocabulary used in relation to the visual structures of a website.
Participants
For this study, we are aiming to talk to 20 users, roughly a 60/40 split across the following groups:
Website newbies: People who have less than 1 year of experience building websites.(60%)
Power users: Existing WordPress users who post more than 10 pieces of content a week.(40%)
Users will be recruited via respondent.io.
Methodology
We’ll be interviewing users one-on-one remotely via Zoom. Each user session will last 60 minutes and will comprise of an interview and a guided exercise. Full scripts will be provided.
These sessions will require at least one moderator and one notetaker, and will be followed by a 30-minute private debriefing session immediately afterward in order to capture, record, and discuss themes, highlights, and observations.
All sessions will be recorded and notes will be taken.
We will do a thematic analysis identifying the main themes in the interviews.
Consent & privacy
We will send an email to the participants explaining the purpose of the study before the interviews. In the beginning of the interview session we will repeat the same information to ensure that the participant has understood and consents to participating.
Communication
The core project team and the community at large will be encouraged to participate in sessions, either as observers, notetakers, or moderators. Updates will be posted to make.wordpress.org/design at regular intervals to keep the community informed.
At the end of the project we will write a report documenting the research process and the results. This will also include recommendations.
Purpose
Participants
Methodology
Script & supporting materials
Data and Analysis
Consent & privacy
Communication
Timeline