User Research
By completing this lecture , students should be able to:
1. Understand how to use various user research methods to gain insights into user needs
and requirements.
2. Analyze and interpret user research data to identify user needs and requirements.
3. Utilize user research findings to design and improve user interfaces
Part of User Experience Design General Knowledge Unit, is the process of
discovering how your users think, feel, and behave in order to design better
products and services
Research Methods in Interaction Design
Effective user research is crucial for creating human-centered designs that delight and
engage. In this presentation, we'll explore a range of qualitative and quantitative methods
that interaction designers can leverage to deeply understand user needs, behaviors, and
pain points.
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Introduction to User Research
• User research is the foundation of human-centered design, providing deep insights into users' needs, goals, and
pain points.
• Effective user research involves a range of qualitative and quantitative methods to gather both attitudinal and
behavioral data.
• Insights from user research inform design decisions, leading to products and services that better meet user needs.
• Continuous user research throughout the design process ensures designs remain user-centric and responsive to
evolving user requirements.
Qualitative vs Quantitative Methods
Qualitative Methods Quantitative Methods
Qualitative methods, like interviews and observations, Quantitative methods, such as surveys and A/B testing,
provide in-depth insights into user motivations, behaviors, gather measurable data to identify trends and validate
and experiences. design decisions.
Ethnographic Field Studies
Observe users in their natural environment to uncover unmet needs and unarticulated pain points. Ethnographic field
studies are a deeply immersive method that provides rich, context-specific insights into users' daily lives and workflows.
Contextual Inquiry
Observe users as they perform real-world tasks
Gaining insights into their natural behaviors and workflow challenges.
Collaborate with users to understand their thought processes
Understand their decision-making and pain points in the moment.
Contextual inquiry provides rich, in-the-moment data
Inform design solutions that seamlessly integrate into users' lives.
Interviews and Focus Groups
One-on-one interviews
Allow deep dives into individual user motivations, behaviors, and pain points.
Focus groups
Facilitate group discussions to uncover shared user insights and identify emerging themes.
Both methods generate qualitative data that reveals the "why" behind user needs and experiences.
Card Sorting and Usability
Testing
Card Sorting Usability Testing
Card sorting reveals how users Usability testing identifies
intuitively organize friction points and validates
information and categorize design decisions, ensuring
concepts, informing site products are easy to use and
architecture and navigation. meet user needs.
Diary Studies and Experience Sampling
Diary Studies
Diary studies track user behaviors, thoughts, and emotions over time, providing deep insights into
real-world experiences.
Experience Sampling
Experience sampling captures user feedback in the moment, recording reactions to specific
interactions or events.
Longitudinal Insights
These longitudinal methods reveal evolving user needs and pain points often missed by one-time
interviews or observations.
Holistic Understanding
Diary studies and experience sampling complement other research methods, painting a more
holistic picture of the user journey.
A/B Testing and Surveys
A/B Testing 1
A/B testing compares user responses to variations of a
design, validating hypotheses and identifying high-
performing solutions. 2 Surveys
Surveys gather quantitative data on user attitudes,
behaviors, and preferences, complementing qualitative
Powerful Combination 3 insights from other research methods.
Combining A/B testing and surveys provides a powerful,
data-driven approach to optimizing designs and features for
user satisfaction.
Analyzing and Synthesizing User Data
Iterate
Continuously refine research methods and analysis to keep pace with evolving
1 user behaviors and expectations.
Synthesize
2 Combine qualitative and quantitative findings to develop user personas
and journey maps that bring user goals and pain points to life.
Identify
Uncover unmet needs and guide design decisions by spotting
3
patterns, themes, and insights across diverse user research
data.
User Personas in User Research Design
Designing effective user research starts with understanding your target audience. We'll explore how creating
comprehensive user personas can elevate your insights and drive more impactful design decisions.
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Introduction to User Personas
• User personas are fictional character profiles representing your key target users.
• They capture demographic, psychographic, and behavioral data to humanize abstract user groups.
• Personas enable empathy, focus design efforts, and align teams around shared understandings of user needs.
The Importance of User Personas in Research
Personas anchor research efforts by clearly defining target audience characteristics and needs. Personas promote stakeholder
alignment and shared understanding, ensuring research insights directly address real user challenges.
Identifying User Goals and Pain Points
Understand users' core motivations, desired Uncover workarounds, frustrations, and missed
outcomes, and obstacles they face in achieving opportunities that represent opportunities for
achieving their goals. improvement.
Gathering User Data Through Research
Conduct interviews, usability tests, and contextual 1
contextual inquiries
Directly observe users in their natural environments to
uncover unmet needs and pain points. 2 Analyze behavioral data, customer support logs,
and user feedback
Leverage online surveys, focus groups, and ethnographic
studies to gather qualitative and quantitative insights.
Synthesizing User Data into Persona Profiles
Distill user research findings into detailed, relatable persona profiles
that capture core demographics, goals, pain points, and behaviors.
Leverage persona profiles to make design decisions
that address real user needs and drive greater customer satisfaction.
Validating Personas with
Stakeholders
Collaborate with key Gather feedback to refine
stakeholders to review persona details
and validate persona
Ensure they resonate with
profiles
the broader organization.
Ensuring they accurately
represent your target users.
Applying Personas to User Research Activities
Define User Interview Questions, Task Scenarios, and Usability Testing Protocols
Use personas to clearly identify the target audience and craft research activities that address their specific needs and goals.
Create Personalized User Journeys and Storyboards
Empathize with personas to uncover key pain points and opportunities for improving the user experience.
Recruit Representative Participants for Research Studies
Leverage persona descriptions to ensure research participants accurately reflect your target audience.
Keeping Personas Up-to-Date Over Time
1 Review & Update
2 Incorporate New Data
3 Share Across Teams
Regularly review and update personas as user needs, behaviors, and market conditions evolve. Incorporate new research data,
customer feedback, and competitive intelligence to ensure personas remain accurate and actionable. Share persona updates
across teams to maintain a consistent, up-to-the-minute understanding of your target users.
Persona-Driven Design Decisions
Ground design choices in persona goals, pain points, and behaviors to create solutions tailored to real user needs. Validate design
concepts through persona-based usability testing, ensuring they effectively address target user challenges. Segment personas to
prioritize features and functionality that best serve your most critical user groups. Continually refine designs based on persona
feedback, maintaining a user-centric approach throughout the development lifecycle.
Description:
Sarah is a young professional
working in the financial sector.
She's looking for ways to save
money and invest for her
future and wants a company
that can help inform her about
her options.
Persona's journey:
Sarah is just starting to think
about her financial future. She's
doing research online and
reading articles to learn more
about her options. It’s best for
your company to establish an
online presence that can first
answer Rachel’s basic questions,
then onboard her to your free
tool, then hopefully convert her
into a paid user.
Description:
John is a middle-aged man
who owns his own business.
He's looking for ways to
improve his business, but
doesn't have a lot of time to go
to events, conferences, or
network with others.
Persona's journey:
John reads articles and listens
to podcasts from trusted
thought leaders when he can,
but doesn't have a lot of time to
make connections with them.
John is most likely to find your
company via social media or a
search engine. It’s best for you to
have an active social media
presence and interact with users
so he can see your networking
platform is a valuable time
investment.
Questions?
