9 UX research methods you should know | Maze
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Hilary, the Education Lead at Maze, introduces the top nine UX research methods to help designers and researchers understand user behavior and improve product experiences. The methods discussed include user interviews, field studies, card sorting, tree testing, usability testing, diary research, surveys, focus groups, and five-second testing. Each method serves different purposes depending on the project stage and research goals. The video highlights the importance of selecting the right method to gather actionable insights and enhance user experience, offering further resources for deeper exploration.
Takeaways
- 😀 UX research methods help generate insights about users, their behavior, and needs to improve product experiences.
- 💬 User interviews provide qualitative insights by delving into user pain points, opinions, and feelings, allowing researchers to adapt in real time.
- 🏞️ Field studies take place in the user's natural environment, offering a deeper understanding of how a product is used in real-world settings.
- 🃏 Card sorting helps uncover users' mental models by organizing content and is useful for designing information architecture.
- 🌳 Tree testing assesses usability and findability by navigating text-only versions of information architecture to test content structure.
- 🧪 Usability testing is essential to evaluate a product’s intuitiveness and identify any issues or bugs through task-based user testing.
- 📔 Diary studies provide long-term, real-time insights as participants self-report their thoughts and behaviors over an extended period.
- 📊 Surveys are a versatile method for gathering both quantitative and qualitative data from a wide pool of users remotely.
- 👥 Focus groups involve moderated discussions with a small group to gather feedback on specific features or product concepts.
- ⏳ Five-second testing measures first impressions by showing participants a design briefly to gauge the immediate impact and clarity of messaging.
Q & A
What is the primary goal of UX research according to the video?
-The primary goal of UX research is to identify challenges and opportunities for improvement within a product's user experience, by gathering insights about users, their behavior, and their needs.
Why are user interviews considered a go-to technique for UX researchers?
-User interviews allow researchers to gather in-depth qualitative data by exploring users' pain points, opinions, and feelings. They are flexible and allow interviewers to adapt questions based on user responses in real-time, leading to richer insights.
When might a field study be more appropriate than other UX research methods?
-A field study is ideal when context is crucial, such as when testing a product in its natural environment. For example, if you're developing software for doctors, it's important to see how it operates in a real hospital setting.
What is the key advantage of using card sorting in UX research?
-Card sorting helps researchers understand users' mental models and how they group or organize information. This makes it useful for improving information architecture, content categorization, and naming conventions.
How do tree testing and card sorting complement each other in UX research?
-Tree testing assesses how users navigate a text-only version of a product's information architecture, while card sorting helps define and structure it. Tree testing helps review usability, and card sorting helps organize content. Both methods can be used at different stages of product development.
What is the main goal of usability testing?
-The main goal of usability testing is to determine whether a product is intuitive and easy to use. It helps identify issues, bugs, or areas for improvement in the user experience.
What insights can diary research provide?
-Diary research offers real-time, organic insights into how users interact with a product over an extended period. Participants record their thoughts, behaviors, and feelings, providing valuable context around how products fit into their daily lives.
What are the benefits of using surveys in UX research?
-Surveys are versatile and can collect both qualitative and quantitative data. They are relatively simple and inexpensive to administer and can be conducted remotely, allowing for a larger participant pool.
In what situations are focus groups typically used in UX research?
-Focus groups are often used in market research to gather user opinions, beliefs, and feedback on products or concepts. They are useful when researching how users perceive new features or concepts for existing or new products.
What is the purpose of five-second testing, and when might you use it?
-Five-second testing helps gauge users' first impressions of a design or webpage by showing it for five seconds and asking for feedback. It is useful for assessing the clarity and effectiveness of messaging and design, particularly during early development or branding efforts.
Outlines
📊 Introduction to UX Research Methods
The video introduces the main topic of UX research methods. The goal is to explain various user research methods that are essential for improving user experience in products. Hilary, the Education Lead at Maze, introduces the first method, user interviews, highlighting their flexibility in gathering in-depth qualitative data. She emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions to get valuable insights. Then, field studies are discussed as a method conducted in the user's environment to gather contextual data about product usage. These methods are compared with lab-based approaches, noting the depth of insights possible in real-life settings, despite potential high costs.
🗂️ Card Sorting and Tree Testing in UX Research
This section focuses on card sorting and tree testing as crucial techniques in UX research for organizing information architecture. Card sorting involves participants grouping cards with different content, revealing users' mental models and their expectations for content placement. Tree testing provides a text-only version of a product’s information architecture, allowing researchers to assess usability based on how easily users navigate the structure. The sequence of these methods depends on whether the product is new or undergoing a redesign. Card sorting is ideal for planning new information architectures, while tree testing is best suited for evaluating existing structures.
🧪 Usability Testing and Other Research Methods
The third part of the script dives into usability testing, which is vital for evaluating whether a product is intuitive and user-friendly. This method can be qualitative or quantitative, moderated or unmoderated, and helps identify design flaws or bugs. Diary research is then explained as a self-reporting method that allows users to document their experiences over time, providing authentic, contextual insights into their interactions with the product. Surveys are presented as a versatile method for collecting quantitative and qualitative data, offering ease of setup and broad reach. Lastly, focus groups are discussed as a way to gather user perceptions in a moderated setting, ideal for exploring users' feelings, beliefs, and challenges related to a product. The section closes with five-second testing, a rapid method for evaluating first impressions of a design or webpage.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡UX Research Methods
💡User Interviews
💡Field Study
💡Card Sorting
💡Tree Testing
💡Usability Testing
💡Diary Research
💡Surveys
💡Focus Groups
💡Five-second Testing
Highlights
Introduction to top UX research methods, highlighting their importance in gathering user insights and improving product experiences.
User interviews are a go-to method for gathering qualitative data, providing deep insights into user pain points and opinions.
Field studies allow researchers to observe user behavior in a natural environment, offering valuable context and authentic insights.
Card sorting helps understand users' mental models by categorizing information, useful for developing information architecture and content categorization.
Tree testing evaluates the usability and findability of a product's information architecture using a text-only version.
Usability testing assesses whether a product is intuitive and easy to use, crucial for identifying bugs and development issues.
Diary studies provide longitudinal insights by having participants log their experiences over time, offering a deeper understanding of user behaviors.
Surveys are versatile tools for collecting both qualitative and quantitative data, ideal for remote research and large participant pools.
Focus groups allow for in-depth discussions on user perceptions and preferences, typically involving 5-10 participants over a two-hour session.
Five-second testing gauges first impressions of a design or webpage, useful for assessing initial reactions and design effectiveness.
User interviews are flexible, allowing researchers to ask follow-up questions in real-time to gain richer insights.
Field studies are particularly beneficial when developing software for specific environments, such as hospitals or specialized work settings.
Tree testing and card sorting are complementary methods that provide a holistic view of information architecture usability and design.
Usability testing should be conducted early and often in the development process to catch issues as the product evolves.
Diary studies reveal how products fit into users' daily routines, capturing context-specific insights that are hard to obtain otherwise.
Transcripts
(bright cheerful music)
- Hey, everyone.
For today's video, we're talking
about the top UX research methods.
So by the end of the video,
you'll know all about the most important
user research methods and be ready to get started
on your next research project.
I'm Hilary, Education Lead at Maze.
Okay, let's get started.
UX research methods are ways of generating
and gathering insights about your users,
their behavior and needs.
The ultimate goal of research is to identify
challenges and opportunities for improvement
within your product's user experience.
That might be through gathering user feedback,
testing usability, generating ideas,
or evaluating a product.
There's a lot of different UX research methods,
and the method you'll wanna go with depends on your project,
what stage of development you're in,
and what goals and resources you have on hand.
So what UX research methods are there?
In this video, we'll go over nine key methods
you should know about when developing a new product
or improving an existing one.
In no particular order, let's take a look.
First off, let's talk about user interviews.
User interviews allow you to gather insights
through conversation,
and it's one of the go-to techniques for UX researchers.
They're ideal for gathering qualitative data,
as they get into the depths of pain points,
opinions, and feelings.
But you can also gather quantitative data,
depending on what questions you ask
and how you format your interview.
One of the perks of user interviews is their flexibility,
and the fact that you can react in the moment,
according to what your interviewees say.
Unlike some other methods,
where follow-up questions happen later,
you can adjust your interview and dig deeper
into topics right then and there,
giving you a chance to get richer insights
within an answer's original context.
As with all research, the value of your data
really depends on the value of your questions.
So it's worth spending time ahead of your interviews
and getting confident with what you want to ask
and how you want to ask it.
The next research method is field study.
The standout point here is that this method takes place
in the test participants' own environment.
While other methods may happen
in a lab or office-based setting,
the field studies take place, unsurprisingly, in the field.
This makes them a great way to uncover insights
around how your product is used,
and learn about the user experience
in an authentic environment.
By observing your user and product on site,
you can get a broader picture of your user,
and see the context within which your product operates.
This allows you to to gather more useful,
actionable insights to take away.
You might opt for a field study when context is crucial.
Like, if you're building software
that doctors use in a hospital.
In that case, you need to see how that software works
when it's being used in a realistic environment
with real users.
So a field study is ideal.
The downside of field studies is that they can be pricey,
as you may need to cover costs for travel or accommodations.
However, they're well worth the investment
if you're looking to garner a deeper glimpse
into your user's lives,
and see the context around how your product operates.
Next, we have one of the most versatile research techniques
on this list, card sorting.
In a card sort, participants are given cards
with different information, topics or ideas on them,
and they have to group them together
into different categories based on what makes sense to them.
You can use physical index cards, pieces of paper,
or an online card sorting tool.
Ultimately, by studying how users organize
and group the cards presented to them,
you can uncover things like users' mental models,
how people approach your product,
how they feel about different concepts or ideas,
and where they'd expect to find certain content.
This makes card sorting a great UX research method
for gathering ideas on how to structure
information architecture or simply to get inspiration
for things like content categorization
or naming conventions.
If you're looking to learn more about card sorting,
check out our guide, which has more in-depth info,
like, the types of card sorting, how to conduct your study
and how to analyze the results.
We'll link it in the description below.
Number four on our list is tree testing,
a UX research method where users are given
a text-only version of a product's information architecture,
and are asked to complete tasks
which require them to navigate this.
Seeing how easily and efficiently users can do this
allows you to assess things like findability,
labeling, content grouping and hierarchy,
and the overall usability of the information architecture.
While both tree testing and card sorting
are methods that help categorize content
and assess information architecture,
they do offer different angles of insight,
and can both be used at different stages
in product development.
The two methods work best in tandem.
But what you want to do first
depends on your project and goals.
For example, if you're looking to redesign
existing information architecture,
then you should tree test first
to assess what currently works
and how usable the existing navigation is.
Then you can use card sorting
to structure the new navigation
and learn what information your users
want kept together or reorganized.
However, if you're building a new product from scratch,
you might want to use a card sort first
to define and plan the information architecture,
followed by tree testing to review the usability
of your navigation design.
So while they might seem
like similar methods at first glance,
it's a good idea to factor in time to do both
to maximize your evaluation.
Coming in at number five, we have usability testing.
It's safe to say that usability testing
is invaluable when it comes to UX research.
During the test, participants are asked
to complete a set of tasks using the product in question,
allowing you to then review if they were able to navigate
and use the product easily.
AKA, its usability.
The overall goal of usability testing is to understand
whether you're building an intuitive product
that's easily understood.
But it can also be a crucial technique
in uncovering issues, flaws, and development bugs.
For example, if you're designing an online retail site
and want to assess how easily users
can add something to their cart and navigate to checkout,
usability testing would be the method to go with.
Usability testing can be moderated or unmoderated,
qualitative or quantitative,
and there's multiple techniques you can choose from,
depending on what data you hope to gather,
or if there's a specific part
of the product you're focusing on.
Understanding whether your product is usable and intuitive
is a crucial part of any product development.
So it's important to conduct usability testing
early and often, as so much can change
between different iterations and design stages.
Our next method is diary research.
Diary studies are a self-reporting longitudinal method,
which take place over an extended period of time
and work by tasking participants with keeping a diary
to record their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
while using a product.
Normally used to collect qualitative data,
users will log specific information about activities
and their experience using the product being studied.
Diary types include physical journals, video logs,
or a variety of online tools.
You also have to choose between an open, freeform diary
where participants can record what and when they like,
or a closed, structured diary
with specific questions and timings.
Similar to field studies,
the biggest value of diary research
is its ability to give organic insights in real time.
An example of when you might use a diary study
would be if you want to know when users listen to podcasts
and what circumstances surround that activity.
Diary studies help tell the story of how products fit
into a user's daily life,
and offer a window into the reality of how, why,
and when users interact with products.
So it's a great method if you want to gather
those authentic contextual insights.
Surveys are one of the most frequently used
research methods, and it's easy to see why.
They're a great way to collect
both quantitative and qualitative data,
or do generative or evaluative research.
Plus, they're relatively simple
and inexpensive to put together.
And because of their lack of moderator,
you can set up the survey and leave it to collect data
while your focus is elsewhere.
Being a remote research method is a big perk
if you're looking to tap into a wider participant pool,
or want to connect with users who may otherwise
be left out of traditional in-person research.
An ideal time to use surveys
is after someone uses your product,
as their experience will be fresh in their mind.
So whether you're looking to gather quantitative
or qualitative data on opinions or preferences
or specific feedback on new features,
surveys are a great method to opt for.
Much like other unmoderated methods,
the thing that has the most impact is the questions you ask.
It's imperative that you're being intentional
in both what you ask and how you ask it,
so as to not impact the answers.
To maximize the insights you collect
and minimize any mistakes,
it can be worth reading up on how to construct and conduct
the ultimate user survey.
We'll link our guide to this below.
At number eight, we've got focus groups.
This is a broadly qualitative method,
but can be used for evaluative or generative research,
depending on your topics.
Focus groups consist of gathering a small group of users
who are of similar demographics,
and asking them questions in a moderated setting.
Then reviewing what they say and do.
This might include studying things like user responses,
beliefs, opinions, and feedback.
Focus groups are typically carried
out as face-to-face meetings,
but they can also be conducted remotely
through specific research tools,
or just a simple video conferencing platform.
As a UX research method,
focus groups are often used in market research,
and are a great way to understand
how users perceive or feel about your product or concept,
what they think about certain features
or preferences they have,
and any challenges they might experience.
So you might wanna use a focus group
if you're gathering user comments
on a potential new feature for an existing product,
or to get immediate feedback
on a concept for a brand new product.
The length of a session and number of participants
can vary between research projects.
But the sweet spot sits around two hours,
with a moderator speaking to about five to 10 users.
As with all qualitative research,
the data you collect is only as good as the preparation.
So it's worth thinking closely
about what you want to discuss.
Ensure you have things like clear set goals in mind
and open-ended, unbiased questions.
Last but not least, we've got five-second testing.
This method is pretty much what it sounds like.
Participants are given five seconds
to view an image of a design or webpage.
Then they're asked questions
to gauge their first impressions
and see what stuck out to them.
The five-second test was devised based on research that says
over half of visitors only spend
less than 15 seconds on a website.
So grabbing attention early on is essential.
This method is a great way to quickly determine
what information users perceive from your product or design,
and what impressions they have based on a brief look.
It's ideal for assessing things
like whether your messaging is effective,
if the design is clear,
and how users feel about that design.
One ideal way to use five-second testing
would be if you're considering a rebrand
and want to test the reactions of users
seeing your newly designed homepage or logo.
But ultimately, five-second tests are a perfect method
to sprinkle throughout your development process,
as they can be a good benchmark
as you iterate through designs,
work on different prototypes or trial new messaging.
Right. That is the end of our top nine UX research methods.
We hope you found the video helpful
and have been inspired to try out a new method
for your next research project.
If you're interested in learning more
about any of the methods mentioned,
take a look at the description below for further reading
and links to all the resources mentioned in the video.
See you again soon.
(bright cheerful music)
Browse More Related Video
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)