Research methods

In this video, user researchers talk about different research methods and how they choose them.

There are a number of research methods available to user researchers that give different types of data and insights and are used at different points in the development process.

User research is not as simple as asking users what they want or need and then designing a service based on their answers. There are several reasons why this approach can lead to bias or inaccurate findings.

Users may not be aware of their own needs or motivations, or they may not be able to articulate them clearly. They may tell you what they think you want to hear or what they think is socially desirable or expected.

Users may have different needs or behaviours in different contexts or situations, which may change over time, and they may not be able to predict how they would use or react to a new product or service or what features or benefits they would value the most.

There is a business urban legend that car magnate Henry Ford once said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” While he probably did not actually say this, the point remains – what users think they want might not be the best option.

For this reason, it is important to avoid relying solely on what users say and instead use a variety of methods and sources to gather evidence and insights about your users.

Common research methods

Observation

Observation means watching how users interact with your product or service, or with similar products or services, in their natural environment. This can help you identify their pain points, frustrations, goals, and behaviours.

Testing

Testing involves asking users to perform tasks or scenarios with your product or service (or sometimes a prototype or mockup), measuring their performance and satisfaction and gathering feedback. This can help you evaluate the usability, functionality, and desirability of your product or service.

Eye tracking

Eye tracking uses a special camera to track where a user is looking on a screen or app, showing how they are interacting with the user interface (UI). This can help designers optimise the placement of important information, buttons or links on the screen.

Interviews

Interviews are conversations that can be structured, semi-structured or unstructured. Having a conversation with users about their experiences, opinions, and feelings related to your product or service or to the problem domain. This can help you explore their needs, motivations, and expectations.

It is important to ask open questions and give the participant time to answer.

We will learn more about interviews later this week.

Focus group discussion

A focus group is a moderated discussion between a group of people who share a common characteristic or interest. It is different from an interview because the conversation should occur naturally between the participants, rather than in response to questions from the moderator, who is there to guide the discussion and keep it on topic.

Focus groups are effective because they help researchers gain in-depth insight into user needs, motivations and expectations, especially when the discussion reaches a point that was not planned, but here’s another opinion: Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, famously said, ‘It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.’

It is important to note that focus groups are more common in market research than in user research, which normally involves mapping workshops instead.

Mapping workshops

A mapping workshop is a collaborative session where people come together to analyse and visualise a process, system or user journey by creating a ‘map’ of the key steps, decision points and interactions involved. The goal is to understand the user experience and pinpoint areas of improvement.

A/B testing

A/B testing involves separating the participants into two groups and showing them two different versions of the thing being tested to see which performs better. Generally, the A version is the ‘control’, which does not change, and the B version is updated or altered in some way. The participants are not told which version they are using so that the researcher can get an accurate understanding of how the user interacts with it and whether the update or alteration is working as intended and meeting a user need.

Diary studies

A diary study is used to collect insights about users and their behaviour, activities and experiences in a specific context over an extended period of time. Users are asked to record their daily experiences relating to a specific context or research question so that researchers can get detailed insights into their lives and how they react in certain situations.

Surveys

Surveys are sets of questions that ask users about their demographics, preferences or attitudes related to your product or service or to the problem domain. This can help you quantify and segment your user base, and identify trends and patterns.

Bias

Like other forms of research, user research is also prone to bias.

Bias is any deviation from the truth, which can affect the quality and validity of your findings, distort results, and lead to wrong conclusions.

Bias can occur at any phase of your research – during data collection, data analysis, interpretation, or publication. Bias can also come from different sources, such as the researcher, the participant, the method, or the environment.

You must be inclusive when planning your research and your user recruitment, which means ensuring that you avoid excluding any user groups when recruiting users, conducting your research, and choosing research locations.

Task

Can you think of an advantage and a disadvantage for any of these methods? Share and compare ideas with your fellow learners in the comments below.