From the ModCloth Girl Geek Dinner event on 5/2/2012. We didn't use slides at the event, but they exist so I'll share them anyway.

1. Hi, I’m Laura Paajanen.
User Experience Researcher:
Represent the voice of our users
to the rest of the company – based
on data, not assumptions

2. User Research 101:
Three cheap, fast, and easy things
you should do tomorrow (if you're
not already)
to learn more about
your actual customers.

3. 1 – Talk to your customers!
 Who are they?
 You are not your customer. Motivations
different when you’re getting paid.
 What do they care about?
 Small incentives: coupon, discount, cup of
coffee
 Example: incorrect shoe size
conversions, Australian customers confused

4. Talking with your customers
 Are they happy with your product/service?
Why or why not?
 Ask concrete questions about what they’ve
done. Actions, not ‘woulds’
 Use their language
 Ask ‘why’ more than you think you should
 Pause to let them continue

5. 2 – Watch your customers use
your product/site/service
 See how they actually use it: ex scanning for
similar body measurements in product reviews
 In person or video chat & screen share
 Do a pilot, and plan for technical difficulties
 Unexpected uses & hacks are opportunities
for you

6. 3 – Get information from
multiple sources
 Site analytics
 Customer service
 Social media
 Are you hearing the same thing
from multiple sources?

7. Review – three things to do
 1 – Talk to your customers!
 2 – Watch your customers use your
product/site/service
 3 – Get information from multiple
sources
 If you’re at a larger company with
people doing this, get involved

8. One more thing:
Follow up on what you learned!
 Share with your team. Presentations, not
reports.
 Bring stories of customers’ problems to
people who can fix them.
 Talk about what you can do next.
 Tell everyone how talking to customers
made things better, then do it more!

9. Thanks!
I <3 this stuff – ask me questions!
Laura Paajanen
@MissPaaj