• The 4 Phases
    • All Methods
    • Phase 1Observation
      • 5 Whys
      • 6 Thinking Hats
      • AEIOU Framework
      • Card Sorting
      • Content Audit
      • Contextual Inquiry Plan
      • Crazy Eights
      • Empathy Map
      • Focus Groups
      • Future Trends
      • How Might We
      • Hypothesis Testing
      • Jobs-to-be-done (JTBD)
      • Journey Mapping
      • Mind Mapping
      • Moodboards
      • Mystery Shopping
      • Netnography
      • Observation
      • Personas
      • Poems
      • Product Love Letters
      • Stakeholder Map
      • Surveys
      • World Café
    • Phase 2Creation
      • 6 Thinking Hats
      • Brainstorming
      • Card Sorting
      • Challenge Assumptions
      • Could, Should, Must
      • Crazy Eights
      • Emotional Journey Map
      • Empathy Map
      • Focus Groups
      • How Might We
      • Hypothesis Testing
      • Innovation Board
      • Jobs-to-be-done (JTBD)
      • Journey Mapping
      • Mind Mapping
      • Mobile Diaries
      • Moodboards
      • Personas
      • Product Love Letters
      • Stakeholder Map
      • Storyboards
      • Surveys
      • User Testing
      • Value Proposition
      • World Café
    • Phase 3Implementation
      • A/B Testing
      • Could, Should, Must
      • Innovation Board
      • Mobile Diaries
      • Product Love Letters
      • Storyboards
      • User Interviews
      • User Stories
    • Phase 4Validation
      • A/B Testing
      • Concept Testing Plan
      • Contextual Inquiry Plan
      • Hypothesis Testing
      • Innovation Board
      • KPI (Key Performance Indicator) Tracking
      • Net Promoter Score (NPS)
      • Surveys
      • User Interviews
      • User Stories
      • User Testing
    • About us
  • UXSD Team
  • Liquid Design System
  1. UX Toolkit
  2. Methods
  3. Poems
beginnerobservation
PoemsPoems (people, objects, environments, messages and services) is great to structure your field research during user and environment observations.
60 - 120 min1+ Participantsworkshopsolousers
+3
DOWNLOAD FILES
INTERNAL ONLY
Summary
By Observing the surroundings of your user you can learn a lot about them personally, the objects they use, the environment they’re living in, how and who they message and what services they use. The Poems method helps you to edit and structure all new information.
Step-by-step
  1. Recruit test candidates.
  2. Use the Poems worksheet and fill-out the cells for each of the five subjects:
    1. People: Who are they in touch with? What are these people's roles, behaviours etc.
    2. Objects: With what devices, tools, helpers are the users interacting with?
    3. Environments: Where are the users spending their time and which effect does their surrounding have on them?
    4. Messages: Observe their messaging and communication behaviours. How do they communicate on a personal and professional level? What are their social interactions? What kind of language is being used?
    5. Services: Which frameworks, apps or services do they use? What do they use it for and why? How do they use it?
  3. Make sure to fill-out the Poems worksheet and pay attention to what is happening. Refer to the Observation method for more details.
  4. When performing this method at a larger scale, you will start to develop an overview of the pain points and behavioural patterns. The interpretation is up to you and your team and depends on the potential of your product.
What you need
  • Paper
  • Pens
  • Large paper
  • Poems worksheet
External resources
  • POEMS
    by The Design Exchange
Do you have a question?
These methods might seem simple, but applying them in a real project is another story. We’re there to help. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch with us at the User Experience Strategy & Design team.
Ask Away!
Explore similar methods
KPI (Key Performance Indicator) Trackingvalidation
1+ Participants
2 - 4 weeks

Tracking key data of digital products helps to continuously test and improve them.

Contextual Inquiry Planobservation
3 - 10 Participants
30 - 120 min

Plan and organize when, where, and who is to be observed to obtain information.

AEIOU Frameworkobservation
1+ Participants
45 - 60 min

Give your observations and field research structure by getting to know the problem's environment.

Future Trendsobservation
2+ Participants
45 - 90 min

Discuss and assess topics that may become trends in the future.

Netnographyobservation
1+ Participants
4 h - 4 d

Observe different online communities and their behaviours.

© Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, 2021.
Follow us
  • Dribbble
  • Instagram
  • Medium
  • Behance
Phases
  • Observation
  • Creation
  • Implementation
  • Validation
Learn more
  • About Us
  • User Experience Strategy & Design
  • Liquid Design System
Legal
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Imprint
Follow us
  • Dribbble
  • Instagram
  • Medium
  • Behance
This website uses cookies to give you the best, most relevant experience. Using this website means you’re OK with this. You can change which cookies are set at any time – and find out more about them in our Cookie Policy.