May 2019

May the Research Guide You

May 17, 2019

May the Research Guide You

Over the last year, we've facilitated several research sprints with different clients. And each time, the research delivered insights that shifted the project focus, gave clarity to ideas, or revealed a whole new opportunity to delight product users! It's such an important part of the product development cycle, we've dedicated this whole newsletter to research.

Here's a summary of what you'll find in the three articles below: 

  • You are not your user! To maximize learnings, test your product with people who are actually going to use it in an environment where they feel free to be honest and unswayed by other's opinions. 

  • Never choose a research method before articulating the study goals. Decide what you want to learn and set up metrics to measure success before the test begins. Identifying assumptions that have been made throughout the development process is a great place to start. 

  • If you need to validate ideas, motivations, or complex hierarchies, content, and workflows, use qualitative research methods. Quantitative research methods work best when you need to validate a hypothesis, make small tweaks, adjust layouts or test copy. 

  Our Writing 

by Erik Johnson via Human Friendly

"If you want the best results, you want your testing environment to be close to your real environment."

I’ll always remember watching over a user’s shoulder as she switched between about five different screens and four different shared drive directories, only to piece all the information together in her email client. This was a huge usability issue that never surfaced in all of the requirements meetings, interviews, and previous exploratory work that had been done over a year-long internal redesign effort. 

Product Development Research Overview

by Tiffany Eaton via UX Planet

If done early and often, research with people who actually use (or will use) your product can save precious time, energy, and money. This article explains how to conduct research to get accurate, actionable results. It is aimed at designers, but it's great instruction for project managers, developers, and anyone concerned about the success of the product. 

  Choosing the Right Method for Your Research 

by Christian Rohrer via Nielsen Norman Group

There's a lot of methods to choose from when it comes to product research and your success largely depends on picking the right one. This article details the benefits of each method and explains when to use what - after all the outcome of research is only as good as the input!

Upcoming Events

UX Y'all is back for a second year. Join us in Durham, NC on October 4th for wonderful speakers, networking, and all things UX. 

We'd love to hear what you're up to!

Want to collaborate, talk shop, or solve a technical problem?Shoot us an email and let's make it happen.