Deciding on the Best UX Research Methods for Your Product

You have your first prototype ready, hooray 🎉! 

Now is the time to test it out with your users. But how do you decide the best UX research methods for your product? 🤔

In this blog, we have our partner from Maze, Ash Oliver, a UX Designer & Design Advocate, who’s shared tips on choosing the best UX research methods for your product!

UX Research Methods: What is UX Research Methods?

UX Research methods are ways of collecting data on your users through various types of user research methods. This procedure is crucial to test whether your product suits your targeted users’ needs or otherwise. This phase allows you to improve your products based on your users’ feedback.

UX Research Methods: Why do we need to implement UX Research Methods?

• Creating a product that solves user’s problems
• Plan better user experience
• Remove design elements that disrupt the user’s journey
• Connect with users 1st hand
• Gain insights that you never thought possible

UX Research Methods: The 6 Types of Research

• Qualitative (Why & How)
• Quantitative (How much /How many)
• Behavioral (What people do)
• Attitudinal (What people say)
• Generative (Forming idea)
• Evaluative (Refining idea)
  

UX Research Methods: The 11 Types of Common UX Research Methods

1. Field Study

• Observes people in their natural environment. A regular activity is performed and the observer watches what happens
• You will learn how users do something and why, user needs, and discovery opportunities
• Types of Research: Generative, Qualitative, and Behavioral

2. Interview

• 1:1  sessions to learn more about what users think
• You will learn about sentiment insights, motivations, user scenarios, and goals
• Types of Research: Generative, Qualitative, Attitudinal 

3. Survey

• Questionnaires that contain a set of questions, probing for information around specific learning objectives
• You will learn about the opinions and preferences of people, and satisfaction levels
• Types of Research: Generative, Qualitative, Quantitative, Attitudinal

4. Contextual Inquiry

• User and researcher are in a real user environment, observations, and inquiry within this setting around tasks
• You will learn about user tasks, user problems, the equipment users are working with, or scenario-dependent insights
• Type of Research: Generative, Qualitative, and Behavioural

5. Diary Study

• Users keep logs over an extended time that explain their activities, and document their account of what happened
• You will learn about patterns and scenarios of interactions with the product as well as the triangulation of long term behaviors
  
  Watch this 2 minute video about Triangulation: Combine Findings from Multiple User Research Methods by the Nielsen Norman Group.
  

• Types of Research: Generative, Qualitative, and Behavioral

6. Usability Testing

• Participants perform defined tasks in the system or interface
• You will discover how successful your design is and uncover usability issues, and the opportunities to improve
• Types of Research: Evaluative, Qualitative, Quantitative, and Behavioral
  

7. 5-Second Test

• Participants are shown an image for 5 seconds and asked a follow-up question about what they saw
• You will gather information about users first impressions, user recall for clarity, and emphasis
• Types of Research: Generative, Quantitative, and Attitudinal 

8. Think Aloud

• During execution of tasks, users verbalize their thinking, and actions out loud
• You will learn about how users think, what their expectations are, and the language people use
• Types of Research: Generative, Qualitative, Evaluative, and Behavioral

9. Card Sort

• Shows how users group, label, or describe information
• You will learn how users categorize and understand information, as well as the Information Architecture opportunities and alignment
• Types of Research: Generative, Qualitative, and Behavioral

10.  Tree Testing

• Evaluating site structure by asking users about findability of topics and terminology
• This test will determine if information is findable, and how users find, and understand hierarchical relationships
• Types of Research: Evaluative, Quantitative, and Behavioral

11. Desk Research

• Desk research makes use of secondary research, reviewing information that has been already collected
• You will learn about the importance of due diligence, previous research insights, comparative insights, and patterns
• Types of Research: Generative, Evaluative, Behavioral, Qualitative, Quantitative, and Attitudinal 

UX Research Methods: 5 UX Research Methods Best Practices

• Understand how decisions are made
• Relay the value of product research
• Engage the entire team
• Use design to persuade stakeholders
• Build a company learning muscle

Want to learn How to break into UX Research? and discover what it is like to be in Your first 30/60/90 days as a UX Researcher!

Contributor:
Ash Oliver (Guest Speaker) 
UX Designer & Design Advocate at Maze
LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asholiver/ 

Editor and Writer:
Farah Radzi
Content Marketer and Writer at ADPList
LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/famr/