Think Like a UX Researcher: How to Observe Users, Influence Design, and Shape Business Strategy from CRC Press will challenge your preconceptions about user experience (UX) research and encourage you to think beyond the obvious. You'll discover how to plan and conduct UX research, analyze data, persuade teams to take action on the results and build a career in UX. The book will help you take a more strategic view of product design so you can focus on optimizing the user's experience. UX Researchers, Designers, Project Managers, Scrum Masters, Business Analysts, and Marketing Managers will find tools, inspiration, and ideas to rejuvenate their thinking, inspire their team and improve their craft.
Key Features
- A dive-in-anywhere book that offers practical advice and topical examples
- Thought triggers, exercises and scenarios to test your knowledge of UX research
- Workshop ideas to build a development team’s UX maturity
- War stories from seasoned researchers to show you how UX research methods can be tailored to your own organization
Table of Contents
Introduction vii
Acknowledgments xi
1 Setting the Stage 1
The Seven Deadly Sins of UX Research 2
Think Like a Detective 10
The Two Questions We Answer with UX Research 18
Anatomy of a Research Question 21
Applying Psychology to UX Research 28
Why Iterative Design Isn't Enough to Create Innovative Products 33
Does your Company Deliver a Superior Customer Experience? 38
2 Planning User Experience Research 43
Defining Your UX Research Problem 44
How to Approach Desk Research 51
Conducting an Effective Stakeholder Interview 56
Identifying the User Groups for Your UX Research 64
Writing the Perfect Participant Screener 69
Arguments Against a Representative Sample 75
How to Find More Usability Problems with Fewer Participants 81
Deciding on Your First Research Activity with Users 85
3 Conducting User Experience Research 89
Gaining Informed Consent from Your Research Participants 90
What Is Design Ethnography? 96
Structuring the Ethnographic Interview 100
Writing Effective Usability Test Tasks 106
The Five Mistakes You'll Make as a Usability Test Moderator 110
Avoiding Personal opinions in Usability Expert Reviews 116
Toward a Lean UX 121
Controlling Researcher Effects 128
4 Analyzing User Experience Research 135
Sharpening Your Thinking Tools 136
UX Research and Strength of Evidence 145
Agile Personas 150
How to Prioritize Usability Problems 156
Creating Insights, Hypotheses and Testable Design Ideas 160
How to Manage Design Projects with User Experience Metrics 166
Two Measures that Will Justify Any Design Change 173
Your Web Survey Is a Lot Less Reliable than You Think 177
5 Persuading People to Take Action on the Results of User
Experience Research 183
Evangelizing UX Research 184
How to Create a User Journey Map 195
Generating Solutions to Usability Problems 203
Building UX Research Into the Design Studio Methodology 208
Dealing with Common objections to UX Research 215
The User Experience Debrief Meeting 221
Creating a User Experience Dashboard 228
Achieving Boardroom Influence 234
6 Building a Career in User Experience 241
Hiring a User Experience Leader 242
A Tool for Assessing and Developing the Technical Skills of
User Experience Practitioners 248
Going Beyond Technical Skills: What Makes a Great UXResearcher? 260
How to Wow People with Your UX Research Portfolio 267
A Week-by-Week Guide to Your First Month in a UX Research
Role 273
The Reflective UX Researcher 278
Endnotes 283
Index 289
Acknowledgments xi
1 Setting the Stage 1
The Seven Deadly Sins of UX Research 2
Think Like a Detective 10
The Two Questions We Answer with UX Research 18
Anatomy of a Research Question 21
Applying Psychology to UX Research 28
Why Iterative Design Isn't Enough to Create Innovative Products 33
Does your Company Deliver a Superior Customer Experience? 38
2 Planning User Experience Research 43
Defining Your UX Research Problem 44
How to Approach Desk Research 51
Conducting an Effective Stakeholder Interview 56
Identifying the User Groups for Your UX Research 64
Writing the Perfect Participant Screener 69
Arguments Against a Representative Sample 75
How to Find More Usability Problems with Fewer Participants 81
Deciding on Your First Research Activity with Users 85
3 Conducting User Experience Research 89
Gaining Informed Consent from Your Research Participants 90
What Is Design Ethnography? 96
Structuring the Ethnographic Interview 100
Writing Effective Usability Test Tasks 106
The Five Mistakes You'll Make as a Usability Test Moderator 110
Avoiding Personal opinions in Usability Expert Reviews 116
Toward a Lean UX 121
Controlling Researcher Effects 128
4 Analyzing User Experience Research 135
Sharpening Your Thinking Tools 136
UX Research and Strength of Evidence 145
Agile Personas 150
How to Prioritize Usability Problems 156
Creating Insights, Hypotheses and Testable Design Ideas 160
How to Manage Design Projects with User Experience Metrics 166
Two Measures that Will Justify Any Design Change 173
Your Web Survey Is a Lot Less Reliable than You Think 177
5 Persuading People to Take Action on the Results of User
Experience Research 183
Evangelizing UX Research 184
How to Create a User Journey Map 195
Generating Solutions to Usability Problems 203
Building UX Research Into the Design Studio Methodology 208
Dealing with Common objections to UX Research 215
The User Experience Debrief Meeting 221
Creating a User Experience Dashboard 228
Achieving Boardroom Influence 234
6 Building a Career in User Experience 241
Hiring a User Experience Leader 242
A Tool for Assessing and Developing the Technical Skills of
User Experience Practitioners 248
Going Beyond Technical Skills: What Makes a Great UXResearcher? 260
How to Wow People with Your UX Research Portfolio 267
A Week-by-Week Guide to Your First Month in a UX Research
Role 273
The Reflective UX Researcher 278
Endnotes 283
Index 289
About the Authors
David Travis has been carrying out ethnographic field research and running product usability tests since 1989. He has published three books on user experience and over 30,000 students have taken his face-to-face and online training courses. He has a PhD in Experimental Psychology.
Philip Hodgson has been a UX researcher for over 25 years. His work has influenced design for the US, European and Asian markets, for everything from banking software and medical devices to store displays, packaging and even baby care products. He has a PhD in Experimental Psychology.
Philip Hodgson has been a UX researcher for over 25 years. His work has influenced design for the US, European and Asian markets, for everything from banking software and medical devices to store displays, packaging and even baby care products. He has a PhD in Experimental Psychology.