User Research 101

By Nick Leggett | 1 Comments | Posted in in User Experience | Permalink

For some people the term "User Research" might be a new one. Here's a quick primer if you're unfamiliar.

User Research is the umbrella term for all the research activities we undertake to better understand what people want in a new website or to determine the effectiveness of an existing site.

The most common types of studies we do at ZAAZ are:

• Usability Studies--representative users attempt key tasks using a prototype or a live site. These can be done in our usability lab or remotely.
• In-depth Interviews--we sit down one-on-one with representative users and ask them to explain their needs, limitations and goals for a particular topic.
• Contextual Inquiry--here we meet people at their work or home so they can show us how they accomplish tasks in their natural setting. This illuminates what people actually do rather than what they say they do.
  
• Surveys--among other uses, surveys gather quantitative information about how satisfied people are using a site and/or their intent for coming to the site.

Each method has its place, but employing a combination is often the best way to most fully understand  user's goals and issues when designing a complex site.

We'll dive into more details about each of these methods in future posts.