Research is an excellent way to understand more about users\u2019 interactions with a product. While research can be highly formalized or guerrilla-style, following some core principles will help you get the information you need on any project.<\/p>\n
In my previous career I was a librarian, which means I spent most of my time helping people plan and do research with secondary sources. Now in UX design, I apply the same approach to planning and conducting primary research directly with users<\/a>. If you\u2019re just starting out in UX research, I really recommend checking out this set of seven introductory UX research tutorials<\/a>, as well as the following two guides for beginners.<\/p>\n This article gives you five principles you can use to structure and conduct any research project, regardless of how formal or quick-and-dirty it is.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n Don\u2019t just do research, do research into something<\/strong>. This might sound obvious, but before you start, you need to be clear on the research question(s) you want to answer. A research question is the unanswered question that\u2019s driving you to do research in the first place. It\u2019s not the questions you ask research participants on a survey or in an interview, though those should all help you gather information that answers the larger research question. Depending on what stage of your project you\u2019re in, your research question might be really general or very specific.<\/p>\n So how do you write a strong research question? Good question. Research typically seeks to understand a problem, either something people struggle with in life or a difficulty they experience when using your product. So start by defining the problem<\/a> you want to explore. Then ask questions about the problem\u2014maybe why it exists, how users feel about it, or how widespread it is. Any of these might be good research questions to guide your project.<\/p>\n Once you figure out what questions you want to explore, you can think about how you\u2019ll find your answers. It\u2019s important to choose a research method<\/a> that will get the right kind of data to answer your research question. Using the wrong research method is like bringing cotton candy to a gunfight, which sounds delicious but unwise.<\/p>\n A great starting point is deciding whether you need qualitative or quantitative data. Qualitative methods, like research and observation, are great for exploratory research early on, when you want to understand the basic problem. They\u2019re open-ended and help you gather a wide range of information, so they tend to be great for answering questions like why<\/em> the problem exists or what<\/em> it looks like. Quantitative methods, like surveys and analytics, are close-ended and specific. They\u2019re really good for answering questions of scale, like how common<\/em> a problem is or how large<\/em> its effects are.<\/p>\n Another thing to think about is whether you\u2019re trying to understand users\u2019 behavior or their attitudes and preferences. If you\u2019ve ever watched a cop show and thought \u201cI have no idea where I was on the night of April 9!\u201d you know that self-reporting your behavior is tricky. As a general rule, it\u2019s better to observe behavior and ask about preferences. For more on choosing the most appropriate approach, check out the video below in which Korina, our Student Team Lead, talks you through some of the most common research methods<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
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1. Figure Out What You\u2019re Doing And Why<\/h3>\n
2. Look Into It The Right Way<\/h3>\n