As designers and developers, we don’t always have access to research to about our end users, or the opportunity to learn about them. This can leave us building products based on our managers personal opinion, or client specifications, and never really knowing how we can serve our users better.
But the good news is there are many opportunities for user research that most designers and developers just aren’t aware of. They are cheap, easy to implement, and can used straight away on almost any project.
Lily will talk you through 3 methods of no excuse user research that you can use immediately on the websites, products, apps and services you work on every day.
5. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Forced to prioritise features based on internal
wants and pressures
Make design and language decisions based
on project-leader preferences
Become focused on delivery speed and
uptime over usability and product fit
6. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Forced to prioritise features based on internal
wants and pressures
Make design and language decisions based
on project-leader preferences
Become focused on delivery speed and
uptime over usability and product fit
7. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Forced to prioritise features based on internal
wants and pressures
Make design and language decisions based
on project-leader preferences
Become focused on delivery speed and
uptime over usability and product fit
8. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Forced to prioritise features based on internal
wants and pressures
Make design and language decisions based
on project-leader preferences
Become focused on delivery speed and
uptime over usability and product fit
21. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Complaints are feedback
borne of frustration and
dissatisfaction. They often
reveal the best insights.
22. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify potential usability issues in our
interfaces
Identify mis-matches in product features and
user expectation
Reduce the amount of non-functional bug
reports and complaints we receive
23. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify potential usability issues in our
interfaces
Identify mis-matches in product features and
user expectation
Reduce the amount of non-functional bug
reports and complaints we receive
24. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify potential usability issues in our
interfaces
Identify mis-matches in product features and
user expectation
Reduce the amount of non-functional bug
reports and complaints we receive
25. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Record reports in a system that allows
tagging
Tag reports with appropriate labels; e.g.
“usability” and “login”
Check back regularly until you have enough
for analysis
26. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Record reports in a system that allows
tagging
Tag reports with appropriate labels; e.g.
“usability” and “login”
Check back regularly until you have enough
for analysis
27. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Record reports in a system that allows
tagging
Tag reports with appropriate labels; e.g.
“usability” and “login”
Check back regularly until you have enough
for analysis
28. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
I’ve just tried to make
a payment on my
credit card but the
debt is still showing
the same amount.”
“
Two days ago I paid
£300 off my credit
card, and the
payment still hasn’t
shown up. Has the
payment bounced?”
I tried to pay off my
credit card, the
money has left my
account, but isn’t
showing up on my
statement.”
“ “
#usability #card-statement #usability #card-statement #usability #card-statement
29. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
I have just moved
house and am trying
to update my address,
but the button
won’t work.”
“
Recently I changed
my surname after
getting married, but
can’t seem to make
the change on your
system.”
I want to update
my profile photo,
but the page won’t
save it.”
“ “
#usability #profile #usability #profile #usability #profile
30. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
I have just moved
house and am trying
to update my address,
but the button
won’t work.”
“
Recently I changed
my surname after
getting married, but
can’t seem to make
the change on your
system.”
I want to update
my profile photo,
but the page won’t
save it.”
“ “
#usability #profile #usability #profile #usability #profile
31. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
An individual bug report or complaint isn’t
enough to give us certainty of an issue
Not everyone has the time or motivation to
provide feedback or log bugs
Consider the size of your user base, ease of
reporting and the severity of the issue
32. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
An individual bug report or complaint isn’t
enough to give us certainty of an issue
Not everyone has the time or motivation to
provide feedback or log bugs
Consider the size of your user base, ease of
reporting and the severity of the issue
33. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
An individual bug report or complaint isn’t
enough to give us certainty of an issue
Not everyone has the time or motivation to
provide feedback or log bugs
Consider the size of your user base, ease of
reporting and the severity of the issue
34. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
An individual bug report or complaint isn’t
enough to give us certainty of an issue
Not everyone has the time or motivation to
provide feedback or log bugs
Consider the size of your user base, ease of
reporting and the severity of the issue
36. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues
Identify product misunderstandings
Reduce complaints and bug reports
Complaint and bug report analysis can help you to:
37. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues
Identify product misunderstandings
Reduce complaints and bug reports
Complaint and bug report analysis can help you to:
38. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues
Identify product misunderstandings
Reduce complaints and bug reports
Complaint and bug report analysis can help you to:
41. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
A transaction audit allows us
to capture feedback from
users at the point of success,
or failure.
42. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits are usually
single questions or short
forms that we ask users to fill
in at the end of their journey.
45. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits give us on the spot
feedback about user interactions
They can tell us why a user was unsatisfied,
and give insight into improving our sites
They give users a simple route to feedback
when they may not otherwise be motivated
46. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits give us on the spot
feedback about user interactions
They can tell us why a user was unsatisfied,
and give insight into improving our sites
They give users a simple route to feedback
when they may not otherwise be motivated
47. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits give us on the spot
feedback about user interactions
They can tell us why a user was unsatisfied,
and give insight into improving our sites
They give users a simple route to feedback
when they may not otherwise be motivated
49. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Thanks for your feedback.
testtransaction.com
Did you find what you were looking for?
Yes No
50. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Thanks for your feedback.
testtransaction.com
Did you find what you were looking for?
Yes No
If the user
answers yes,
submit the form.
52. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Did you find what you were looking for?
Yes No
What were you looking for?
Send
testtransaction.com
53. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Did you find what you were looking for?
Yes No
What were you looking for?
Send
testtransaction.com
If the user
answers no,
submit the
response
immediately.
The text field
should be
optional. If a
user fills it out,
update their
response.
54. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Thanks for your feedback.
testtransaction.com
We use all of the feedback we receive to improve the site.
55. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
How was your shopping experience today?
We’re sorry. What could we have improved?
Send
testtransaction.com
56. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Keep questions as simple and straightforward
as possible to maximise responses
If a user completes a transaction regularly,
don’t keep asking them
Reserve audits for key user journeys, or keep
them discrete for content feedback
57. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Keep questions as simple and straightforward
as possible to maximise responses
If a user completes a transaction regularly,
don’t keep asking them
Reserve audits for key user journeys, or keep
them discrete for content feedback
58. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Keep questions as simple and straightforward
as possible to maximise responses
If a user completes a transaction regularly,
don’t keep asking them
Reserve audits for key user journeys, or keep
them discrete for content feedback
59. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Keep questions as simple and straightforward
as possible to maximise responses
If a user completes a transaction regularly,
don’t keep asking them
Reserve audits for key user journeys, or keep
them discrete for content feedback
60. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Keep questions as simple and straightforward
as possible to maximise responses
If a user completes a transaction regularly,
don’t keep asking them
Reserve audits for key user journeys, or keep
them discrete for content feedback
61. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Audits can be created from scratch, or can be
embedded using an external survey tool
If you’re using a survey tool, the only additional
feature you’ll need is ‘branching’
Some tools also allow you to add a hidden field
to pass the URL of the page the form is on
62. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Audits can be created from scratch, or can be
embedded using an external survey tool
If you’re using a survey tool, the only additional
feature you’ll need is ‘branching’
Some tools also allow you to add a hidden field
to pass the URL of the page the form is on
63. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Audits can be created from scratch, or can be
embedded using an external survey tool
If you’re using a survey tool, the only additional
feature you’ll need is ‘branching’
Some tools also allow you to add a hidden field
to pass the URL of the page the form is on
68. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits can help you to:
Gather feedback at the point of success or failure
Identify unsatisfactory transactions
Receive continuous user feedback
69. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Gather feedback at the point of success or failure
Identify unsatisfactory transactions
Receive continuous user feedback
Transaction audits can help you to:
70. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Gather feedback at the point of success or failure
Identify unsatisfactory transactions
Receive continuous user feedback
Transaction audits can help you to:
73. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Internal search logs are a
rich, often untapped, source
of insights about user
behaviour and needs.
75. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search logs can help us to identify content
missing from our site that users want or expect
They can reveal when we’re using different
language or categorisation than our users
They can give us an indication of how easy our
popular content is to find
76. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search logs can help us to identify content
missing from our site that users want or expect
They can reveal when we’re using different
language or categorisation than our users
They can give us an indication of how easy our
popular content is to find
77. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search logs can help us to identify content
missing from our site that users want or expect
They can reveal when we’re using different
language or categorisation than our users
They can give us an indication of how easy our
popular content is to find
78. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Top search queries Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
On aliens4eva.com; a site
about alien races in
Science Fiction.
79. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
80. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
81. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
82. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
83. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
84. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
1. User language and
categorisation doesn’t
align with site content
85. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
86. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
2. Content that users are
searching for does not
exist on the site
87. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
88. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
3. Misspelling means
some users can’t find
pages they are looking for
89. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Top search queries
in the top 20 most
visited pages
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
90. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Top search queries
in the top 20 most
visited pages
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
91. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Losing traffic for popular content to other sites
in natural search
Some popular pages are harder to discover
through the site navigation
User interface promotes some content,
increasing the amount of page views
92. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Losing traffic for popular content to other sites
in natural search
Some popular pages are harder to discover
through the site navigation
User interface promotes some content,
increasing the amount of page views
93. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Losing traffic for popular content to other sites
in natural search
Some popular pages are harder to discover
through the site navigation
User interface promotes some content,
increasing the amount of page views
94. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Top search queries
in the top 20 most
visited pages
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
4. Navigational routes to
some popular content
may be convoluted
95. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search query
analysis results
User language and categorisation
doesn’t align with site content
Content that users are searching for
does not exist on the site
Misspelling means some users can’t
find pages they are looking for
Navigational routes to some popular
content may be convoluted
1
2
3
4
96. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Consider the timeframe for analysis; do external
factors affect your traffic and search terms?
Consider the size of your user base when
deciding on depth of analysis
Test out top search terms in your search engine;
where do they appear in the list of results?
97. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Consider the timeframe for analysis; do external
factors affect your traffic and search terms?
Consider the size of your user base when
deciding on depth of analysis
Test out top search terms in your search engine;
where do they appear in the list of results?
98. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Consider the timeframe for analysis; do external
factors affect your traffic and search terms?
Consider the size of your user base when
deciding on depth of analysis
Test out top search terms in your search engine;
where do they appear in the list of results?
99. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search log analysis can help you to:
Identify missing or difficult to find content
Identify non-user friendly language or categorisation
Reveal poor information architecture
100. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search log analysis can help you to:
Identify missing or difficult to find content
Identify non-user friendly language or categorisation
Reveal poor information architecture
101. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search log analysis can help you to:
Identify missing or difficult to find content
Identify non-user friendly language or categorisation
Reveal poor information architecture
103. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues and reduce usability
related bug reports and complaints
Gather continuous feedback on transaction
success and user satisfaction
Improve poor information architecture by
aligning it to user language and categorisation
104. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues and reduce usability
related bug reports and complaints
Gather continuous feedback on transaction
success and user satisfaction
Improve poor information architecture by
aligning it to user language and categorisation
105. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues and reduce usability
related bug reports and complaints
Gather continuous feedback on transaction
success and user satisfaction
Improve poor information architecture by
aligning it to user language and categorisation
106. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues and reduce usability
related bug reports and complaints
Gather continuous feedback on transaction
success and user satisfaction
Improve poor information architecture by
aligning it to user language and categorisation