About UX Research – “Smooth Operator” Workshop Companion Materials

What

The goal of UX research is two-fold: 

• User research helps us understand user needs and wants and how users expect to interact with a digital product, often through interviews with users. User research is also called, among others, design research, generative research, discovery or exploratory research
• Usability testing helps us gain insights in how to make the experience easier, more intuitive, and more enjoyable and can be conducted using a prototype, development build, or live product. Usability testing is also called, among others, user testing, or evaluative research. 

When – “Test early and often” 

User research is most useful during product or feature definition. 

Usability testing occurs when a prototype, development build or live product is available. 

Things to Consider

Methodologies

A range of UX research methodologies is available, and choosing a suitable method is critical to gathering useful insights. Evaluate your situation to determine a fit and select a methodology based on the aspects below.  

In-person versus remote

In in-person UX research the study participant and moderator are in the same location at the same time. 

In remote UX research the participant and UX researcher are in physically different locations. In remote moderated sessions, the participant and researcher are connected real-time, often through software such as Zoom that allow for audio, video and screen share. Remote unmoderated UX research allows participants to complete the session asynchronously by completing a survey or recording a video.  

Qualitative versus quantitative 

Quantitative research gathers data points that are measurable, generally from a larger group of participants or respondents. A survey with multiple choice questions or time-on-task metrics are examples of quantitative research.

Qualitative research gathers user feedback, opinions and thoughts, and moderator observations, generally from a smaller group of participants. A one-on-one interview between a participant and a moderator is an example of qualitative research. 

Quantitative research gets the ‘what’, whereas qualitative research understands the ‘why’.  

Single session versus multiple sessions 

User feedback can be gathered in a single session, for instance a 1-hour user research interview or a 30-minute usability testing session. 

User feedback can also be gathered over time and require multiple check-in points. An example is a study that covers users researching a product, purchasing it, and unboxing and using it for the first time. 

Further details

For a comprehensive overview of UX methodologies, visit https://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/. 

Target Audience

Insights on user wants, needs and expectations or feedback on product use is only relevant if the participants represent the target audience for the product. If you are unsure who the target audience is, contact your marketing, product or customer insights team. If this information is not available, consider running a persona definition study. This is a user research study that aims to understand who the target user for the product is. 

Sample Size

The sample size, or how big the group of participants for your study is, depends on many factors. Quantitative research, depending on the expected rigor in data analysis, budget, and other aspects, can have sample sizes ranging from 50 or 100 to multiple thousands of participants.  

Qualitative research may use anywhere from a handful to several tens of participants. A recommended sample size for interviews is 5 to 10 participants per persona. It is possible that clear trends emerge before all sessions have been conducted. In that case it is possible to cancel or repurpose the remaining sessions. 

Session Duration

This depends on a lot of factors, including the scope of the product and the target audience. 

User research interviews are typically between 30 minutes and 1.5 hours, with most between 30 minutes and an hour. Usability testing sessions are typically 30 minutes or an hour, although unmoderated sessions can be shorter. 

The 5 Steps to successful UX research

UX research is successful when:

• It is done correctly
• Insights and recommendations are integrated in the development cycle 

The 5 steps are: 

Plan

The details of the study must be determined before the study can be executed. It is helpful to cover these in a study plan and the discussion guide. 

Study Plan

A study plan helps you keep track of important details for your study. Here’s a template that includes the basics:

Discussion Guide / Script

The discussion guide provides an outline of the items to be discussed during a session. A script is a version of a discussion guide that is adapted to an unmoderated study. Here’s a template for a discussion guide:

Execute

Run the sessions. Don’t forget to do a dry run!

Conducting interviews or crafting scripts and surveys requires some practice and an adherence to best practices. See the Additional Resources section. 

Learn

• Gather the user feedback, e.g., transcripts, videos and notes from a note taker
• Analyze the feedback
• Gather insights
• Create recommendations

Share

Share the insights and recommendations with the larger team. Help the team distinguish between low-hanging fruit and issues that will take time to consider. Guide the team to route the issues to the relevant party. E.g., content changes must be reviewed by the content team, … 

Follow Up

Your research will only be valuable if the insights and recommendations are acted upon. Check in with the teams to ensure this is the case, and to provide further assistance if needed. 

Additional Resources 

Nielsen Norman Group has an extensive library of articles and videos on pretty much any topic in UX research: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/

There are a lot of other great sources as well; simply Google a term and you’re bound to find a site that you like. 

On the topic of remote usability testing: Remote Usability Testing: Actionable insights in user behavior across geographies and time zones

There are many toolkits available (for free) that include templates for study plans, discussion guides, consent forms and sheets to analyze data. Many organizations have their own customized set. To get started, google “UX research [plan] template” or similar keywords. Or start with these, to grab a few I have found useful:

• UXPin’s toolkit: https://www.uxpin.com/usability-test-kit
• Taylor’s free UX research templates: https://taylornguyen.ca/ux-research-templates
• Userfocus’ test plan template: https://www.userfocus.co.uk/pdf/usabilitydashboard.pdf