Exploratory or Formative Study - II

Objective
The main objective of the exploratory study is to examine the effectiveness of preliminary design concepts. If one thinks of a user interface or a document as being divided into a high-level aspect and a more detailed aspect, the exploratory study is concerned with the former.
For example, designers of a Web application interface would benefit greatly knowing early on whether the user intuitively grasps the fundamental and distinguishing elements of the interface. For example, designers might want to know how well the interface:
■ Supports users' tasks within a goal.
■ Communicates the intended workflow.
- Allows the user to navigate from screen to screen and within a screen.  Or, using the task-oriented user guide of a software product as an example, technical writers typically might want to explore the following high-level issues:
■ Overall organization of subject matter
■ Whether to use a graphic or verbal approach
■ How well the proposed format supports findability
■ Anticipated points of assistance and messaging
■ How to address reference information
The implications of these high-level issues go beyond the product, because you are also interested in verifying your assumptions about the users. Understanding one is necessary to define the other. Some typical user-oriented questions that an exploratory study would attempt to answer might include the following:
■ What do users conceive and think about using the product?
■ Does the product's basic functionality have value to the user?
■ How easily and successfully can users navigate?
■ How easily do users make inferences about how to use this user interface, based on their previous experience?
■ What type of prerequisite information does a person need to use the product?
■ Which functions of the product are "walk up and use" and which will probably require either help or written documentation?
■ How should the table of contents be organized to accommodate both novice and experienced users?