User Research & Methods
There are numerous techniques and approaches that may be used while conducting user research.
The fundamental components of any user research will be explained in this post, along with the methodologies you should employ depending on the work at hand.
Learn more about user research in the sections that follow, including what it is, how it may improve your product designs, and typical mistakes to avoid.
Observing your users or clients while they use your product is the process of doing user research.
Surveys, interviews, or a combination of the two may be used in this study.
The objective is to comprehend your users better so that you can enhance the product and boost the value of the user experience.
You can better understand your clients' wants, how they now use your product, and potential future demands with the use of this study.
You can use the findings to improve your product roadmap and choose which products to prioritize.
Here are some of the best user research methods in general -
Usability Testing : One-on-one with a researcher, participants are taken inside a lab and given a series of situations that lead to tasks and usage of a certain product or service.
Field Studies: Participants are studied in their own environments (at work or home), where they are most likely to use the product or service in the most realistic or natural setting.
Contextual Inquiry: In the participant's own surroundings, researchers and participants work together to gather information on and observe the nature of the tasks and work being done.
This approach, which was created to examine large systems and intricate processes, is quite comparable to a field study.
Focus Groups : A discussion about a series of subjects is facilitated in groups of three to twelve participants, who provide both vocal and written feedback through discussion and exercises.
User Interviews: In-depth discussions on the participant's opinions on the subject are had during one-on-one meetings with the researcher.
Eye Tracking: An eye tracking tool is set up to accurately track participants' gaze patterns as they work on tasks or organically interact with websites, applications, physical objects, or settings.
Remote Testing : Remote usability testing is done using methods like video conferencing, screen-sharing.
Unmoderated Usability Testing:An automated technique that can be applied to both quantitative and qualitative research, using a specific research instrument to record participant attitudes and behaviours. Typically, participants are given objectives or scenarios to complete using a site, app, or prototype.
The program may capture a video stream of every user session and collect usability data including task completion rate, task duration, and perceived usability.
Diary Studies: Participants are using a tool (such as a camera, smartphone app, paper or digital diary) to document and discuss parts of their lives that are important to the target market or simply relevant to a product or service.
Diary studies are often longitudinal and can only be used for data that participants can easily record.
User Feedback : Often through a feedback link, button, form, or email, a self-selected sample of people provides open-ended and/or close-ended information.
Card Sorting: A quantitative or qualitative method that requests users to categorize items into categories and give each group a category.
By revealing users' mental models, this technique aids in the development or improvement of a site's information architecture.
Analytics: Examining information gathered from user actions such as clicks, form filling, and other interactions that were recorded. It necessitates that the website or application be properly instrumented beforehand.
A/B Testing: A technique for evaluating various site designs scientifically that involves assigning groups of people to interact with various designs at random and seeing how these assignments affect user Behavior.
Quick Surveys : A method of measuring attitudes quantitatively by asking a sequence of questions that are often more closed-ended than open-ended. A survey that is launched during the use of a website or application is known as an intercept survey, and it is typically launched by user behavior. .
The majority of the time, participants are found by email or another method, such social media.
How to Categorize the Testing Methods in Development Process
Below are three main categories -
- Product Development Process
- Behavior and Attitude
- Quantitative and Qualitative
1. Product Development Process
Goals - To validate and discard assumptions.
There are four methods under this -
- Field Studies
- Diary Studies.
- User Interviews
- Stakeholder Interviews
Explore - Understanding the problem and user satisfaction. There is vast difference between the problem and the requirement. The ideas generate from here.
Under explore comes 6 methods -
- Competitive Analysis
- Journey Mapping
- Persona Building
- Design Reviews
- Card Sorting
- Task Analysis
- Testing
Test - We test the products and make sure that the products for whom we are designing, should be perfect. Before development all the issues were resolved.
Under Test there 3 Methods -
Qualitative Testing - It tracks the behavior of the users while performing any product tasks.Benchmark Testing - Different benchmarks are created. It runs on the regular basis like monthly quarterly or yearly. Slowly how the user experience changes and based on that what changes are updated on the product.
Accessibility Evaluation - The products is made accessible to every type of user, like, for disabled persons, such as, vision impairment, cognitive disabilities, hearing disabilities etc.
Listen - This is the method which is based on the metrics and the numbers.
There are 5 methods
Surveys - There are multiple choice questions are provided to understand the response of your users. We get a pattern that how people use the applications
Analytics Review - Through charts and reports we review the products search log analysis.
Usability Bug Review - What bugs they are finding and what problems they are coming across.
FAQ Review - What questions they will ask after using the products.
2. Behavior and Attitude
Research observes users doing certain tasks. How they face the challenges while using the product. By attitude, we see the user reports and asks some questions.
There are three phases in behavior and attitude-
Discovery Research - It's same like discover phase where we do all types of research. We create the diagrams and the flow.
Initial Design Phase - It includes low fidelity and high fidelity wire-frames and tested. How the visual design is and how the people enjoying the product.
After Completing Product - After completing the product, the testing is done through eye tracking, qualitative and quantitative methods.
By Attitude
Early Design Phase - Surveys, Diary Studies, Focus Groups, Interviews
Later Design Phase - Surveys, Diary Studies, Focus Groups, Interviews, Participatory Design
After Design Phase - Surveys, Diary Studies, Focus Groups, Interviews, Participatory Design
3. Quantitative & Qualitative
Quantitative - Surveys, Metrics, Numbers
Qualitative - Behavior, Observations, Stories
Design decisions are influenced by qualitative research, whereas benchmarking programs and ROI estimates are based on quantitative research.
Quantitative: At the very beginning of design cycle this research method can be used to compare the products with their competitors. If you want to find that redesign is necessary or not, you can do Quantitative testing.
Qualitative - This method can be used as-
- If there is any usability issues in the prototypes
- Identifying the solutions
- While making the formative decisions about the design choices at the early stage.
- When there are large no.of researchers and possibilities
Quantitative and Qualitative Methods -
Quantitative Methods -
- Analytics
- Heat Maps
- Funnel Analysis
- Card Sorting
- A/B Testing
Qualitative Methods-
- Interviews
- Focus Groups
- High Fidelity Prototypes
- Testing
Here are some key user research tasks that you should think about for your product. Depending on the research method you choose, you may be able to conduct more than one of these key tasks.
- Pre-Visit - Identify users before they visit your product.
- Who are they?
- Where do they come from?
- What are their needs and frustrations?
- Post-Visit - Learn what happened during the user’s visit to your product.
- What did they do?
- What did they like?
- What didn’t they like?
- What did they think about your product?
- In-Between - Observe your users’ behavior as they’re navigating your product.
- Did they read an article on your website?
- Did they watch a video?
- Did they visit your store?
- Post-Use - Ask your users questions after they’ve used your product.
- What did they do?
- Did they accomplish what they set out to do?
- Did they have any issues?
- Did they have any needs?
Conclusion
User research is incredibly important for the success of any product. It’s your opportunity to get insight into your customers’ needs, desires, and frustrations. Armed with this knowledge, you can create a better product for your users.
In order to do this, you need to get out of your office and into your users’ shoes. You need to talk to real people, observe their behavior, and get a sense of what they need from your product. User research can be incredibly insightful and helpful. It just requires a little bit of effort and a willingness to get out of your office and observe your customers in their natural habitats.
