You know you need customer insights to make good design decisions but without a dedicated researcher on your team how do you run the research? These tips will help you get started.

1. Getting started with
User Experience
Research
Carol Rossi
October 2017

2. I often hear …
“I need to do a usability
study”
“We need to send out a
survey”

3. People tend to use the technique
they already know
to answer ALL research questions

4. It’s a lot easier to look at things
tactically than
strategically

6. Why are we doing research?
To be able to make better,
more well-informed
decisions

7. So before you start running a study,
think about
Context

8. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/
One way to think about Context

9. What do I mean by CONTEXT?
How does your research contribute
to your company?

10. People have a much easier time
understanding and
valuing things that are
tangible.

11. What are you delivering?
Who What How tangible is it?
Designer Designs: Wires,
InVision, PSD files
Tangible

12. What are you delivering?
Who What How tangible is it?
Designer Designs: Wires,
InVision, PSD files
Tangible
Developer Code Tangible

13. What are you delivering?
Who What How tangible is it?
Designer Designs: Wires,
InVision, PSD files
Tangible
Developer Code Tangible
Product
Manager
The Product! Tangible

14. What are you delivering?
Who What How tangible is it?
Designer Designs: Wires,
InVision, PSD files
Tangible
Developer Code Tangible
Product
Manager
The Product! Tangible
Researcher Insights Intangible

15. IMPORTANT to figure out how to
make the insights be as
valued as the tangible deliverables

16. Context - of your company
1. Culture
2. Strategy
3. Business Goals

17. https://www.fastcodesign.com/90135223/the-golden-age-of-ux-wont
-last-heres-how-to-prepare-for-whats-next

18. What are the Beliefs and
Behaviors that determine how
people interact?
1. Culture

19. What’s Valued at your company?
1. Culture
How do people
Communicate?

20. How does the product you’re working on connect
to the other products made by your
company?
2. Strategy
How does your company want to leverage its
assets to beat competitors?

21. What does your company mean by Growth?
3. Business goals
How does the product you’re working on make
money for the company?
What is your product manager’s primary
business goal right now?

22. Good Design
=
Growth Design

23. Okay, so how do you execute
the research that gets the insights you
need based on this context?

24. Steps for ANY research project
1. Prepare
2. Run
3. Synthesize
4. Share
5. Reflect

25. best practice:
Work collaboratively so
ownership of insights is
shared

26. Involve
key stakeholders in the
planning and execution of the study
Work collaboratively

27. Steps for ANY research project
1. Prepare
2. Run
3. Synthesize
4. Share
5. Reflect

28. 1. Prepare
Determine approach
Identify objectives
Create a research plan
Identify target participants
Write tasks

29. 1. Prepare
Determine approach
Identify objectives
Create a research plan
Identify target participants
Write tasks

30. What is the
business question
you are trying to answer?
1. Prepare: Objectives

31. Are you trying to answer a
Strategic or a Tactical
question?
1. Prepare: Objectives

32. Strategic research answers these kinds of questions:
● Who are our users?
● What do they need?
● How does our product fit into their lives?
● What competitors or other
products do they use?

33. Tactical research answers these kinds of questions:
● What issues do people encounter when they use
our product?
● How desirable is our product?
● What do they actually do with our product?
● How well can people perform desired tasks over
time?

34. Do users understand how to perform
a task (e.g., buy a pair of shoes, read a review)?
You've got 5 design alternatives and you
can only AB test 2 of them - how do you narrow your
choices?
What motivates different types of
users (e.g., full-time students, returning students,
people training for a job)?
Typical questions designers are trying to answer

35. 1. Prepare
Determine approach
Identify objectives
Create a research plan
Identify target participants
Write tasks

36. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/

37. Business question Approach
Do users understand how to perform a task
(e.g., buy a pair of shoes, read a review)?
Usability test
You've got 5 design alternatives and you
can only AB test 2 of them - how do you
narrow your choices?
Usability test
What motivates different types of users
(e.g., full-time students, returning students,
people training for a job)?
Interview /
Field study

38. 1. Prepare
Determine approach
Identify objectives
Create a research plan
Identify target participants
Write tasks

39. Who are your target users /
personas?
1. Prepare: Participants
You need to be able to find those
people!

40. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/
90% of usability issues are uncovered
with 8 users

41. 1. Prepare
Determine approach
Identify objectives
Create a research plan
Identify target participants
Write tasks

42. What tasks will you give the
user to get to your
objectives?
1. Prepare: Tasks

43. Identify the end result you want the
person to get
DO NOT spell out the steps
1. Prepare: Tasks
It’s tempting to think about helping
them but avoid the temptation

44. 1. Prepare
Determine approach
Identify objectives
Create a research plan
Identify target participants
Write tasks

45. Remember: this is a collaborative
effort.
Write down the plan, share
with team, discuss, get
agreement BEFORE you
run the study.
1. Prepare: Research plan

48. Steps for ANY research project
1. Prepare
2. Run
3. Synthesize
4. Share
5. Reflect

49. IMPORTANT:
reduce bias
2. Run
What is bias?
Influencing the results of
the study by using poor research
techniques.

50. IMPORTANT:
reduce bias
2. Run
Why is bias a bad thing?
You can’t reliably answer
your business question with
biased data.

51. Three biggest bias mistakes I see:
Asking leading questions
Talking too much
Asking people what they
would do
2. Run

52. Avoid:
Asking leading questions
2. Run

53. 2. Run
Leading questions Non-leading questions
Are you feeling frustrated
because this is hard to do?
Didn't you see the blue
button?
Why wasn't it clear that
you should've clicked on
the green button?

54. 2. Run
Leading questions Non-leading questions
Are you feeling frustrated
because this is hard to do?
I think I just heard you say
this is hard. Tell me more
about that.
Didn't you see the blue
button?
Why wasn't it clear that
you should've clicked on
the green button?

55. 2. Run
Leading questions Non-leading questions
Are you feeling frustrated
because this is hard to do?
I think I just heard you say
this is hard. Tell me more
about that.
Didn't you see the blue
button?
Tell me all the things you
can do on this page.
Why wasn't it clear that
you should've clicked on
the green button?

56. 2. Run
Leading questions Non-leading questions
Are you feeling frustrated
because this is hard to do?
I think I just heard you say
this is hard. Tell me more
about that.
Didn't you see the blue
button?
Tell me all the things you
can do on this page.
Why wasn't it clear that
you should've clicked on
the green button?
Tell me what you’d expect
to happen if you clicked on
the green button.

57. Avoid:
Talking too much
2. Run
Instead:
Just give them the task and
watch/listen.
Silence is your friend.

58. Avoid:
Asking people what they
would do
2. Run
Why:
People are terrible predictors
of future behavior.

59. Steps for ANY research project
1. Prepare
2. Run
3. Synthesize
4. Share
5. Reflect

60. Goal is to identify key insights
What do they mean for your project?
What potential solutions do you
see?
3. Synthesize

61. 3. Synthesize
Remember: this is a collaborative
effort.
Get the key stakeholders in the
room to synthesize together.

62. 3. Synthesize: affinity diagramming

63. Steps for ANY research project
1. Prepare
2. Run
3. Synthesize
4. Share
5. Reflect

64. People have a much easier time
understanding and
valuing things that are
tangible.
4. Share

65. IMPORTANT to figure out
how to make the insights
be as valued as the tangible
deliverables
4. Share

66. Make insights Actionable.
How?

67. Make insights Actionable.
Consider the Context
(i.e., Culture, Strategy, Business Goals)
and Connect the insights back to
the context.

68. Yes, write a quick summary of
the study but don’t rely on that
as your only deliverable.

69. After Key
Insights, list:
Objectives
Participants
Approach
Tasks

70. 4. Share
Usability severity scale
Success Irritant Moderate Severe
Task
successfully
completed!
Minor
consistency
issue, some
hesitation or
slight
irritation
Participant
struggled but
completed task
with significant
delay or
frustration
Task failed

71. 4. Share
Team prioritization scale
Objective Issue Usability
Severity
Action
Can users
successfully
register?
Password
error
message
unclear
Moderate Team member: AM
Provide specific error
message “Password
must contain 6
characters …”
Fix during next sprint.

72. 4. Share
Find culture-specific ways to
communicate insights
Museums
Video showings
Tell stories
Blogs
https://medium.com/@FBResearch/beyond-bullet-points-four
-creative-ways-to-share-research-c10fa047f025

73. Steps for ANY research project
1. Prepare
2. Run
3. Synthesize
4. Share
5. Reflect

74. What went well?
What would you do
differently next time?
5. Reflect

75. UserTesting.com
https://www.usertesting.com/resources/checklists
UXPin
https://www.uxpin.com/studio/blog/how-to-run-an-insightful-usability-test/
Nielson Norman Group
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/
InVision
https://www.invisionapp.com/blog/data-driven-usability-testing/
Carol’s blog post
http://www.carolrossi.com/blog/2017/1/10/getting-started-with-ux-research
Don’t Make me Think Steve Krug
https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Think-Revisited-Usability/dp/0321965515/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid
=1502487811&sr=8-1&keywords=don%27t+make+me+think
Observing the User Experience Goodman, Kuniavsky, Moad
https://www.amazon.com/Observing-User-Experience-Second-Practitioners/dp/0123848695/ref=sr_1_1?
s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1502487909&sr=1-1&keywords=observing+the+user+experience
Resources - some articles & books on UX Research

76. PRACTICE!
✓ PURE OBSERVATION
✓ FEELING
✓ MEANING
Thank you.
Carol Rossi
carolrossi.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crossiux/
Twitter: @crossiUX

77. Bonus slides:
Writing tasks

78. Case study
You just got a job with Fandango. The
analytics lead just told you people are going to
the home page and bouncing and they don’t
know why.
You’ve determined you need to run a usability
study to see if there are issues inhibiting
people from finding convenient
movie times and locations.

79. Objective Good or bad task?
Understand what
issues get in the
way of users finding
movie times and
convenient
locations.
Go to www.fandango.com.
Click on a movie you like,
then on the Buy Tickets
button.
Writing tasks

80. Objective Bad!
Understand what
issues get in the
way of users finding
movie times and
convenient
locations.
Go to www.fandango.com.
Click on a movie you like,
then on the Buy Tickets
button.
Writing tasks

81. Objective Good or bad task?
Understand what
issues get in the
way of users finding
movie times and
convenient
locations.
Use www.fandango.com to
find a movie you’d be
interested in seeing on
Sunday afternoon.
Writing tasks

82. Objective Good!
Understand what
issues get in the
way of users finding
movie times and
convenient
locations.
Use www.fandango.com to
find a movie you’d be
interested in seeing on
Sunday afternoon.
Writing tasks