6
Talking
to users
The importance of user research as a critical tool to ensure the experiences we design are actually delivering on people’s needs.
You are not your user.
Goal
Understand the importance of research to create products that solve real-world problems.
Illustrations by Michela Picchi
As you start to dive deeper into digital product design, you’ll start seeing terms like User Research, UX Research, Usability Testing, or User-Centered Design. What they all have in common is bringing users into the design process. Ultimately, we’re creating products that will be used by real people, and more often than not, these people think and behave quite differently than we do.
User research has two goals: (1) to make sure we’re designing the right thing, and (2) to make sure we’re designing the thing right. The former is about understanding people’s needs so that we include features that will meet their needs. The latter is about evaluating whether our designs for those features are easy to use. These are often referred to as Generative Research and Evaluation Research, respectively.
“Want your users to fall in love with your designs? Fall in love with your users.”
There are several methods designers and researchers can use to get those insights. Some methods are qualitative (focused on extracting insights from observations and interviews) while others are quantitative (focused on measuring things with numerical data).
You can interview users and have a casual conversation with them to understand their habits (User Interviews). You can sit down with a user and have them go through your designs to see if they can successfully complete a certain task (Usability Testing). You can send people a link to an online form and ask them to fill it out (Survey). Or, you can design two versions of a screen or flow, test each version separately, and compare how they perform (A/B testing).
These are just a few ways user research can take shape, and you will have time to learn about each method and practice with real users as you progress in your career as a designer. The most important thing is to understand when to use which technique. User research is all about answering a question or hypothesis you and your team have. It’s up to you as the designer, in partnership with your cross-functional team, to choose the method that will help you reach your research goals.
This chapter will give you a baseline understanding of user research methods, how they fit within a project timeline, and some mechanisms you can use to make sure you don’t go too far without validating your ideas with real users.
Reading list
1.
Just Enough
Research
Good research is about asking better questions, and thinking critically about the answers. By Erika Hall.
Borrow this book from local public libraries or buy it from local bookstores.
2.
A crash course in UX design research
Matt Lavoie (15 min)
3.
UX research field guide
Quintin Carlson (35 min)
4.
Becoming a UX researcher: my experience and things I’ve learned along the way
Tatiana Vlahovic (6 min)
5.
Ethics & power: understanding the role of shame in UX research
Vivianne Castillo (6 min)
6.
What happens when you don’t design for the problem
Mallory Kim (6 min)
7.
Which UX research methodology should you use?
Nikki Anderson (5 min)
8.
Competitive analysis is a method, not a solution
Caio Braga (6 min)
1.
The first secret to design is... noticing
Tony Fadell
2.
Human-centered design
David Kelley
3.
The siren call of self-neglect
Vivianne Castillo
Watchlist
What’s the role of research in the design work? At what stages of the project do you think it should be used, and why?
How do you see yourself involved in the research process? Do you see yourself as a moderator/facilitator? What skills do you think you will need to develop to get there?
Based on your readings, what’s the right balance between quantitative and qualitative research? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
Reflection
See it in practice
Understanding what people need is the starting point of any design work. Any good design case study will be a good research case study. You can read about projects focused on research and discovery, you can learn tips and guides to make the most of a research session, or check how the week of a researcher looks like.
Next time you see a case study, ask yourself:
• Which research methods did the designer use, and why?
•What was an insight coming from users vs. the designer’s personal opinion about the problem?
• How did the designer apply insights from research to the final solution?
![Abstract shapes](https://i-p.rmcdn.net/5ecbe27f82f5b3005df02f46/1937030/upload-3e473d41-aa25-46c4-85ef-f12f848eb87e.jpg?w=1006&e=webp)
![The word "Desire"](https://i-p.rmcdn.net/5ecbe27f82f5b3005df02f46/1937030/upload-4f02dde8-32d8-49b6-beaa-74f0e702fb69.jpg?w=1006&e=webp)
![Book: just enough research](https://i-p.rmcdn.net/5ecbe27f82f5b3005df02f46/1937030/upload-548f99a3-9b0d-4907-8856-f08d0c83f709.png?w=196&e=webp&nll=true)