A high level overview of what UX research is, and the different methods in the research toolkit

1. UX RESEARCH METHODS
An Overview

2. WHY DO RESEARCH?
To answer questions and remove ambiguit
y
To better understand human behaviors,
needs, wants, desires, contexts
.
To build empathy for the humans you are
designing/building fo
r
All of the above are to provide insights
into your business objectives, team goals,
products, and services

3. WHAT IS RESEARCH?
Research is NOT meant to validate assumptions.
It is meant toTEST assumptions
.
Research should be unbiased and impartial.A
researcher’s job is not to give the participant
answers, but to hear/watch from them.

4. RESEARCH CAN BE DONE AT DIFFERENTTIMES IN A
PROJECT DEPENDING ONTHE QUESTIONSTO ANSWER
Interviews, observations, contextual inquiries are often done during the
discovery (early stages) of a project to answer high level questions about
business objectives and existing user behavior and needs.
Usability testing with prototypes is often done somewhere in the middle
of a project to reduce the risk that the solution does not meet the needs
(of the user or business) and that it is useful and easy to use.
Surveys can be done at different times - early to gather information on
what to work on and priority or later to track and measure the
experience and gather feedback on the product/service.

5. 2 MAINTYPES OF RESEARCH
Answers questions like:
“How Many?
”
“How Much?
”
“When?”
Answers questions like
:
“Why?
”
“How?”

6. RESEARCH METHOD EXAMPLES
Quantitativ
e
• Surveys & poll
s
• Analytics (GA, Pendo, Hotjar)
- behavior trackin
g
• Heat Map
s
• Card Sorts
Qualitativ
e
• Interview
s
• Observation
s
• Field studies / contextual inquir
y
• UsabilityTests

7. HOW DOYOU KNOW WHICH METHODTO USE?
It depends on
:
What questions you want answered (How many? Why?
How would people organize things?
)
What step of the project/process you are in (Discovery,
design, post launch..
)
Who and what do you have access to? (Actual users vs
generic recruiting, ability to visit users vs having to use
zoom)

8. SOME METHODS COVER BOTH
• Surveys might have open ended questions (Qual
)
• Usability tests might have quantitative insights like time on task or
pass/fail of tasks in addition to them explaining why they did what
they did (or didn’t do
)
• Preference and click testing (including A/B testing) - they provide
numbers to support a design, but also could provide open
feedback as to why they chose what they chose

9. OFTEN USED RESEARCH METHODS
Intervie
w
One-on-one discussions with users
show how a particular user works.They
enable you to get detailed information
about a user’s attitudes, desires, and
experiences.

10. OFTEN USED RESEARCH METHODS
Observation/
Contextual Inquir
y
Enables the observation of users in
their natural environment, giving you a
better understanding of the way users
work.

11. OFTEN USED RESEARCH METHODS
Surve
y
A series of questions asked to multiple
users of your website that help you
learn about the people who visit your
site or use your app.

12. OFTEN USED RESEARCH METHODS
Usability Tes
t
Identi
fi
es user frustrations and problems
with a site through one-on-one sessions
where a “real-life” user performs tasks on
the site/app being studied
.
Aside from sentiment/feedback, researcher
can time the tasks and record
pass/fail of tasks.
You do not need to test a lot of users to
fi
nd
most usability issues. It is better to do more tests,
each with less people than do 1 test with a lot
of people. (e.g.Three tests of 5 each will yield
more insights than one test of 15)

13. NUMBERS DON’TTELLTHE WHOLE STOR
Y
(AND CAN SOMETIMES BE MISLEADING)

14. Card Sorting: Allows users to group and sort a site’s information into a logical structure that will typically drive
navigation and the site’s information architecture. This helps ensure that the site structure matches the way users
think.
Contextual Interviews: Enables the observation of users in their natural environment, giving you a better
understanding of the way users work.
First Click Testing: A testing method focused on navigation, which can be performed on a functioning website, a
prototype, or a wireframe.
Focus Groups: Moderated discussion with a group of users, allowing insight into user attitudes, ideas, and desires.
Heuristic Evaluation/Expert Review: A group of usability experts evaluating a website against a list of established
guidelines.
Interviews: One-on-one discussions with users show how a particular user works. They enable you to get detailed
information about a user’s attitudes, desires, and experiences.
Parallel Design: A design methodology that involves several designers pursuing the same effort simultaneously but
independently, with the intention to combine the best aspects of each for the ultimate solution.
MORE DETAIL ON RESEARCH METHODS
From https://www.toptal.com/designers/user-research/guide-to-ux-research-methods

15. Personas: The creation of a representative user based on available data and user interviews. Though the personal
details of the persona may be fictional, the information used to create the user type is not.
Prototyping: Allows the design team to explore ideas before implementing them by creating a mock-up of the site. A
prototype can range from a paper mock-up to interactive HTML pages.
Surveys: A series of questions asked to multiple users of your website that help you learn about the people who visit
your site.
System Usability Scale (SUS): SUS is a technology-independent ten-item scale for subjective evaluation of the
usability.
Task Analysis: Involves learning about user goals, including what users want to do on your website, and helps you
understand the tasks that users will perform on your site.
Usability Testing: Identifies user frustrations and problems with a site through one-on-one sessions where a “real-
life” user performs tasks on the site being studied.
Use Cases: Provide a description of how users use a particular feature of your website. They provide a detailed look at
how users interact with the site, including the steps users take to accomplish each task.
MORE DETAIL ON RESEARCH METHODS
From https://www.toptal.com/designers/user-research/guide-to-ux-research-methods

16. THANKS!
For more on UX research method
s
hit up the googles or reach out t
o
Mike Gallers
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-gallers/