What Are UX Research Methods?
UX research methods are the techniques used to gather quality data about user experiences. To successfully design and improve the user experience of a product or service, UX researchers must collect both qualitative and quantitative data from real users.
But what are UX research methods? There are a wide variety of different UX research methods used in different circumstances which include:
- Focus Groups: Discussing usability with a group that answers questions about their ideas, needs, and attitudes.
- Usability Testing: Giving test users a list of tasks to perform with a product. Users may test a product remotely or in a facility with a moderator guiding them.
- Contextual Interviews: Observing users in their own homes, workspaces, or other typical contexts, rather than an organization’s facility, to see how they naturally use a product.
- Interviews: Asking questions of a single user at a time to find that user’s needs, ideas, attitudes, and experience of the product or service.
- Card Sorting: Presenting users with movable pieces of a website’s information, encouraging them to rearrange the information into their preferred structure.
- First Click Testing: Observing where each user clicks first when they want to complete a particular task on a website.
- Surveys: Sending lists of questions to many users of a website, product, or app to find out more about typical users.
- Task Analysis: Studying the tasks and objectives users want to perform and achieve with your app, website, or product.
- Use Cases: Building a description of the ways users interact with a website or product, including the steps they went through to reach their goal.
- Prototypes: Creating a testable version of a product or website, such as a sketch, model or wireframe.
The more research and testing done early in the design process, the more the design team can create a product that users appreciate from the beginning. Choose a UX research strategy that includes research methods that fit your budget and timeline to ensure it can be effectively conducted as part of your design process.
