User research

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User research focuses on understanding user behaviors, needs and motivations through interviews, surveys, usability evaluations and other forms of feedback methodologies. [1] It is used to understand how people interact with products and evaluate whether design solutions meet their needs. [2] This field of research aims at improving the user experience (UX) of products, services, or processes [3] by incorporating experimental and observational research [4] methods to guide the design, development, and refinement of a product. User research is used to improve a multitude of products like websites, mobile phones, medical devices, banking, government services and many more. It is an iterative process that can be used at anytime during product development and is a core part of user-centered design. [5]

Contents

Data from users can be used to identify a problem for which solutions may be proposed. From these proposals, design solutions are prototyped and then tested with the target user group even before launching the product in the market. This process is repeated as many times as necessary. [6] After the product is launched in the market, user research can also be used to understand how to improve it or create a new solution. User research also helps to uncover problems faced by users when they interact with a product and turn them into actionable insights. User research is beneficial in all stages of product development from ideation to market release. [7]

Mike Kuniavsky further notes that it is "the process of understanding the impact of design on an audience." The types of user research you can or should perform will depend on the type of site, system or app you are developing, your timeline, and your environment. [1] Professionals who practice user research often use the job title 'user researcher'. User researchers are becoming very common especially in the digital and service industries, even in the government. [8] User researchers often work alongside designers, engineers, and programmers in all stages of product development.

Purpose

With respect to user research in the field of design, research is typically approached with an empathetic perspective in order to humanize data collected about people. This method can also be referred to a human-centred approach to problem-solving. User researcher aims to uncover the barriers or frustrations users face as they interact with products, services, or systems. A unique facet of user research is the brand of user experience (UX) research which focuses on the feelings, thoughts, and situations users go through as they interact with products, services, and systems. Many businesses focus on creating enjoyable experiences for their users; however, not including users in their development process can result in failed products. [9] Involving users in the development process helps design better products, adapt products to change in behaviors and needs, and design the right products and desirable experiences for the users. [9] User research helps businesses and organizations improve their products and services by helping them better understand: [9]

There are various benefits to conducting user research more than just designing better products and services. Understanding what people want before releasing products in the market will help save money. [9] Additionally, user research helps to gather data that can help influence stakeholders' decisions based on evidence and not opinions.

Applications

User research is interrelated with the field of design. In many cases, someone working in the field can take on both roles of researcher and designer. Alternatively, these roles may also be separated and teams of designers and researchers must collaborate through their projects. [10] User research is commonly used in:

Types of User Research

There is pure and applied research, user research utilizes applied research to make better products. There are many ways of classifying research, Erika Hall in her book 'Just Enough Research' mentions four ways of classifying user research. [5]

Generative or exploratory research

Generative research or exploratory research is done to understand and define the problems to solve for users in the first place. It can be used during the initial stages of product development to create new solutions or it can be applied to an existing product to identify improvements and enhancements. Interviews, observational studies, secondary research, etc., are some of the common methods used during this phase. These methods are used to answer broad and open questions, where the aim is to identify problems users might be experiencing. Usually, the data collected through generative research must be synthesized in order to formulate the problems to be solved, for whom and why it is important. [11]

Descriptive or explanatory research

Descriptive research or explanatory research helps to define the characteristics of the problem and populations previously identified. It is used to understand the context of the problem and the context in which users have the problem. The methods in this phase can be very similar to the methods used in the generative research phase. However, this phase helps to identify what is the best way to solve a problem as opposed to what problem to solve. [5] During this phase, experts in the problem area are consulted to fill knowledge gaps that will be required to create a solution. This phase is required to avoid making assumptions about the problem or people that might otherwise result in a biased solution. The aim of this phase is to get a good understanding of the problem, to get the right solution ideas.

Evaluative research

Evaluative research is used to test the solution ideas to ensure they work and solve the problems identified. Ideas are usually tested by representatives from the target population. This is an iterative process and can be done on prototype versions of the solution. [11] The commonly used method in this phase is called usability testing and it focuses on measuring if the solution addressed the intended problem. [5] Users can also be asked to provide their subjective opinion about the solution, or they can be given a set of tasks to observe if the solution is intuitive and easy to use. In simple words, evaluative research assess whether the solution fits the problem and whether the right problems were addressed. [12] [11]

Causal research

Causal research typically answers why something is happening. Once the solution is up and running, one can observe how people are using it in real time and understand why it is or isn't used the way the solution was envisioned. One of the common methods used in this phase is A/B testing. [5] [13]

Tools and Methods

The user research process follows a traditional iterative design approach that is common to user-centered design and design thinking. [14] User research can be applied anywhere in the design cycle. Typically software projects start conducting user research at the requirement gathering stage to involve users right from the start of the projects. There are various design models that can be used in an organization, they includeA wide range of research methods are used in the field of user research. The Nielsen Norman group has provided a framework to better understand when to use which method, it is helpful to view them along a 3-dimensional framework with the following axes: [15]

Qualitative methods

List of common qualitative user research methods
MethodDescriptionContext of Product use
User Interviews It is a qualitative methods where the researcher interviews individual participants to learn about a topic of interest. Usually, user interviews are conducted on a one-on-one basis and at the start and end of a project. [18] [19] Not using product
Guerilla testing This method collects data in short sessions focused on specific tasks. Participants aren't recruited before the session but are approached in various settings on similar topics focussed by the team.Scripted use
Focus Groups In this research method, researchers bring together a small group of people to take part in an interactive discussion in a moderated context. The participants usually have a certain aspect in common such as demographic, interest, etc. [20] Not using product
Participatory Design It is a democratic approach for designing social and technological systems that incorporate human activity, based on the idea that users should be involved in the designs they will use, and that all stakeholders, including and especially users, should have equal input into interaction design. [21] Scripted or Natural use
Diary studies A diary study is a type of research that collects qualitative data over time regarding user behaviors, activities, and experiences. Participants in a diary study self-report data longitudinally, that is, over a period of time that can range from a few days to a month or longer.Natural use
Card Sorting Consumers are asked to organize data into logical categories in this research method. Users are given a set of labeled cards and asked to sort and organize them into categories they believe are acceptable. Categories can be defined by the users or defined by the researchers, based on the method used they are called open or closed card-sorting. [22] Not using product
Usability Studies(moderated/

unmoderated)

Usability studies are used when a product or service has to be evaluated by testing it with the target user group. During usability tests, users perform some tasks set up by the researchers in a natural environment where researchers observe and identify usability issues with the product. Usability studies can be conducted in a lab or remotely and they can also be conducted without the presence of a researcher. This is called unmoderated usability testing. [23] Scripted use
Ethnographic studies In ethnographic research, a researcher or a group of researchers observe the behavior of single or multiple participants to observe their actions. They can be either overtly conducted (by informing the participants about the research or covertly conducted (by keeping the participants unaware of the research conditions)Natural use

Quantitative methods

List of common quantitative user research methods
MethodDescriptionContext of Product use
Surveys Surveys can be both qualitative and quantitative, based on the format of questions used. They are a low-risk, high-reward research method [24] as they're inexpensive and help to reach out to a large group of people at once. [9] Scripted or

Natural use

Eye Tracking Eye Tracking is used to measure where people are looking, for long they are looking for something, etc., It provides a view of the product to the users' eyes and provides insights into the users' visual attention. [25] Scripted or

Natural use

Web AnalyticsThe measurement, collecting, analysis, and reporting of web data in order to understand and optimize web usage is known as web analytics. Web analytics is more than just a way of measuring web traffic; it can also be used to conduct business and market research, as well as evaluate and enhance the effectiveness of a website. [26] Natural use
A/B Testing A/B testing compares two versions of a product by showing them to users to see which one performs best or which one is preferred best. [27] Scripted or Natural use
Quantitative Usability testingUsability testing is a technique used to evaluate a product. This is done by testing it on users. The aim is to give direct input on how real users would use the system. Quantitative measures like a system usability score, user experience questionnaire, etc, can be recorded as a post-task measure. [23] Scripted use

Deliverables

User research deliverables helps summarize research and make insights digestible to the audience. There are multiple formats of presenting research deliverables, regardless of the format the deliverable has to be engaging, actionable and cater to the audience. [28] The following are some most common user research deliverables:

ResearchOps

In 2018, a group of like-minded professionals in the user research industry called the ResearchOps Community defined a new practice called Research Ops to operationalize user research practice in companies. [29] ResearchOps is similar to DevOps, DesignOps and SalesOps where the goal is to support practitioners by removing some operational tasks from their daily work. [30] The goal of ResearchOps is to enable researchers be efficient in their roles by saving time taken for data collection and processing data for analysis. ResearchOps aims to support researchers in all facets of user research starting from planning, conducting, analyzing, and maintaining user research data. [31] The ResearchOps Community defines it as the people, mechanisms, and strategies that set user research in motion - providing the roles, tools and processes needed to support researchers in delivering and scaling the impact of the craft across an organization. [29] ResearchOps focuses on standardizing research methods across the organization, providing support documentation like scripts, templates, consent forms, etc, to ensure quick application of research, managing participants and recruitment in studies, providing governance, having oversight of research ethics, ensuring research insights are accessible to the organization. [30] [29]

Ethics in User Research

In private companies there are no clear regulations and ethics committee approval when conducting user research, unlike academic research. [32] [33] In 2014, facebook conducted an emotional contagion experiment where they manipulated the newsfeed of 689,000 users by showing either positive or negative content than the average user. [34] [35] [36] The experiment lasted for a week and facebook found out that users who were shown positive posts posted more positive content and the users who were shown negative posts posted more sadder content than previously. [32] This study was criticized because the users were not presented with an informed consent and were unaware that they were a part of the experiment. [36] However, this study seemed to be legal under facebook's terms and conditions because facebook's users relinquish the use of their data for data analysis, testing and research. [35] The criticism was mainly due to the manipulative nature of the study, harm caused to the participants who were shown negative content and a lack of explicit informed consent. [34] Since then, facebook has an Institutional review board (IRB), however, not all studies undergo an ethics approval. [37]

User Researcher often gather and analyze data from their users, however, such activity does not fall under the legal definition of research according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' requirements for common rule (46.102.l). [38] According to them, the legal definition of research is a "systematic investigation, including research development, testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge". [38] Most of the user research studies do not contribute to generalizable knowledge but companies use the data to improve their products and offerings. [33] Design research organizations like IDEO have compiled a guidebook for conducting ethical design research. [39] Their principles are Respect for users, Responsibility to protect peoples' interests, Honesty in truthful and timely communication. [39] However, there is no official framework or process that exists for ethical approval of user research in companies. [40]

See also

Related Research Articles

Usability testing is a technique used in user-centered interaction design to evaluate a product by testing it on users. This can be seen as an irreplaceable usability practice, since it gives direct input on how real users use the system. It is more concerned with the design intuitiveness of the product and tested with users who have no prior exposure to it. Such testing is paramount to the success of an end product as a fully functioning application that creates confusion amongst its users will not last for long. This is in contrast with usability inspection methods where experts use different methods to evaluate a user interface without involving users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnography</span> Systematic study of people and cultures

Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining the behavior of the participants in a given social situation and understanding the group members' own interpretation of such behavior.

Usability engineering is a professional discipline that focuses on improving the usability of interactive systems. It draws on theories from computer science and psychology to define problems that occur during the use of such a system. Usability Engineering involves the testing of designs at various stages of the development process, with users or with usability experts. The history of usability engineering in this context dates back to the 1980s. In 1988, authors John Whiteside and John Bennett—of Digital Equipment Corporation and IBM, respectively—published material on the subject, isolating the early setting of goals, iterative evaluation, and prototyping as key activities. The usability expert Jakob Nielsen is a leader in the field of usability engineering. In his 1993 book Usability Engineering, Nielsen describes methods to use throughout a product development process—so designers can ensure they take into account the most important barriers to learnability, efficiency, memorability, error-free use, and subjective satisfaction before implementing the product. Nielsen’s work describes how to perform usability tests and how to use usability heuristics in the usability engineering lifecycle. Ensuring good usability via this process prevents problems in product adoption after release. Rather than focusing on finding solutions for usability problems—which is the focus of a UX or interaction designer—a usability engineer mainly concentrates on the research phase. In this sense, it is not strictly a design role, and many usability engineers have a background in computer science because of this. Despite this point, its connection to the design trade is absolutely crucial, not least as it delivers the framework by which designers can work so as to be sure that their products will connect properly with their target usership.

Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal is to identify and assess how changing elements of the marketing mix impacts customer behavior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Focus group</span> Group interviewed to analyse opinions

A focus group is a group interview involving a small number of demographically similar participants. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are used in market research to understand better people's reactions to products or services or participants' perceptions of shared experiences. The discussions can be guided or open. In market research, focus groups can explore a group's response to a new product or service. As a program evaluation tool, they can elicit lessons learned and recommendations for performance improvement. The idea is for the researcher to understand participants' reactions. If group members are representative of a larger population, those reactions may be expected to reflect the views of that larger population. Thus, focus groups constitute a research or evaluation method that researchers organize to collect qualitative data through interactive and directed discussions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Usability</span> Capacity of a system for its users to perform tasks

Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a software can be used by specified consumers to achieve quantified objectives with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a quantified context of use.

User-centered design (UCD) or user-driven development (UDD) is a framework of process in which usability goals, user characteristics, environment, tasks and workflow of a product, service or process are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process. These tests are conducted with/without actual users during each stage of the process from requirements, pre-production models and post production, completing a circle of proof back to and ensuring that "development proceeds with the user as the center of focus." Such testing is necessary as it is often very difficult for the designers of a product to understand intuitively the first-time users of their design experiences, and what each user's learning curve may look like. User-centered design is based on the understanding of a user, their demands, priorities and experiences and when used, is known to lead to an increased product usefulness and usability as it delivers satisfaction to the user.

In product development and process optimization, a requirement is a singular documented physical or functional need that a particular design, product or process aims to satisfy. It is commonly used in a formal sense in engineering design, including for example in systems engineering, software engineering, or enterprise engineering. It is a broad concept that could speak to any necessary function, attribute, capability, characteristic, or quality of a system for it to have value and utility to a customer, organization, internal user, or other stakeholder. Requirements can come with different levels of specificity; for example, a requirement specification or requirement "spec" refers to an explicit, highly objective/clear requirement to be satisfied by a material, design, product, or service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">User interface design</span> Planned operator–machine interaction

User interface (UI) design or user interface engineering is the design of user interfaces for machines and software, such as computers, home appliances, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, with the focus on maximizing usability and the user experience. In computer or software design, user interface (UI) design primarily focuses on information architecture. It is the process of building interfaces that clearly communicate to the user what's important. UI design refers to graphical user interfaces and other forms of interface design. The goal of user interface design is to make the user's interaction as simple and efficient as possible, in terms of accomplishing user goals.

The engineering design process, also known as the engineering method, is a common series of steps that engineers use in creating functional products and processes. The process is highly iterative – parts of the process often need to be repeated many times before another can be entered – though the part(s) that get iterated and the number of such cycles in any given project may vary.

User experience design defines the experience a user would go through when interacting with a company, its services, and its products. User experience design is a user centered design approach because it considers the user's experience when using a product or platform. Research, data analysis, and test results drive design decisions in UX design rather than aesthetic preferences and opinions. Unlike user interface design, which focuses solely on the design of a computer interface, UX design encompasses all aspects of a user's perceived experience with a product or website, such as its usability, usefulness, desirability, brand perception, and overall performance. UX design is also an element of the customer experience (CX), and encompasses all aspects and stages of a customer's experience and interaction with a company.

A problem statement is a description of an issue to be addressed or a condition to be improved upon. It identifies the gap between the current problem and goal. The problem statement should be designed to address the Five Ws. The first condition of solving a problem is understanding the problem, which can be done by way of a problem statement.

In software engineering, a software development process or software development life cycle (SDLC) is a process of planning and managing software development. It typically involves dividing software development work into smaller, parallel, or sequential steps or sub-processes to improve design and/or product management. The methodology may include the pre-definition of specific deliverables and artifacts that are created and completed by a project team to develop or maintain an application.

Netnography is a specific type of qualitative social media research. It adapts the methods of ethnography to understand social interaction in contemporary digital communications contexts. Netnography is a specific set of research practices related to data collection, analysis, research ethics, and representation, rooted in participant observation. In netnography, a significant amount of the data originates in and manifests through the digital traces of naturally occurring public conversations recorded by contemporary communications networks. Netnography uses these conversations as data. It is an interpretive research method that adapts the traditional, in-person participant observation techniques of anthropology to the study of interactions and experiences manifesting through digital communications.

User experience evaluation (UXE) or user experience assessment (UXA) refers to a collection of methods, skills and tools utilized to uncover how a person perceives a system before, during and after interacting with it. It is non-trivial to assess user experience since user experience is subjective, context-dependent and dynamic over time. For a UXA study to be successful, the researcher has to select the right dimensions, constructs, and methods and target the research for the specific area of interest such as game, transportation, mobile, etc.

Disciplined agile delivery (DAD) is the software development portion of the Disciplined Agile Toolkit. DAD enables teams to make simplified process decisions around incremental and iterative solution delivery. DAD builds on the many practices espoused by advocates of agile software development, including scrum, agile modeling, lean software development, and others.

Agile usability engineering is a method created from a combination of agile software development and usability engineering practices. Agile usability engineering attempts to apply the principles of rapid and iterative development to the field of user interface design.

User advocacy is a user experience design principle concerned with representing user perspectives in product design. One definition states that user advocacy is the practice of using designated spokespeople to facilitate interaction between users and designers of the products they use. Another more broadly defines user advocacy as the practice of advocating for the user, regardless of whether one is a user, designer, developer, researcher, manager, etc. User advocates typically may suspend their own personal or functional point of view, and attempt to see the product through the eyes of, and the experience of, the user of that product. The ability to take on the user's point of view, without personal judgement or bias, allows the advocate to see things as the user might see them, enabling them to ultimately make observations and perhaps recommendations to improve the user experience. Similarly, some user advocates will take a neutral, scientific point of view, and will observe and collect data from users that will suggest that the product and/or user experience could be changed or improved in a way that users would prefer or benefit from. User advocates may be scientists or engineers who use the scientific method to make improvements that result in increased ease of use, time savings, improved levels of user satisfaction, or other user-centered metrics.

TestOps refers to the discipline of managing the operational aspects of testing within the software delivery lifecycle.

Design prototyping in its broader definition comprises the actions to make, test and analyse a prototype, a model or a mockup according to one or various purposes in different stages of the design process. Other definitions consider prototyping as the methods or techniques for making a prototype, or a stage in the design process. The concept of prototyping in design disciplines' literature is also related to the concepts of experimentation, and Research through Design (RtD).

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