Next up in our SlideShare series is "User Research." It will give you an insight into what user research is, types of approaches, why you need to do research in your users and much more.

1. user experience agency

2. Research
What is User Research?

3. “It’s a reality check. It tells you what
really happens when people use
computers. You can speculate on what
customers want, or you can find out...
Research offers an understanding of
how users behave online, and is a solid
foundation on which to build a design. "
- Jakob Nielsen
User Research

4. Research
When is User Research done?

5. • It’s important to get user
feedback during the critical parts
of the project.
1. Research
• Talk to users: Who they are,
What they do and experiences
with current solution.
• Positive &/or negative points
about current solution.
• End product: Personas.
1. Research Phase

6. • Useful information to know at this stage:
1. User Information:
• Age, gender, education, skills & employment etc. will help put the users in
perspective.
2. Thoughts on current solution:
• Positive or negative experiences with the current solution.
3. Their wants & needs:
• Get users to express about the solution from the user. This will help refine
the solution so that it meets users needs.
1.1 Information during Research

7. • At the end of the Research stage you should have a
set of user profiles called Personas!
• Details on a persona may vary depending on a
project. Can cover:
1. Personal information
2. Personality traits : Experience, conscientiousness,
extraversion etc.
3. Criteria to architect around: Internet literacy etc.
4. Motivations: Mastery, Enjoyment, Self confidence,
Recognition, etc.
5. Content to implement: Videos, images, tool etc.
1.2 Create Personas

8. 2. Evaluation
• Feedback from users on the
proposed solution.
• Let users interact with solution and
give their thoughts.
• From my experience, 2 reviews is
ideal. Allows you to get feedback on
changes.
2. Evaluation Phase

9. • Useful information needed:
1. User Information:
• Get an idea of the users‘ skill levels in internet literacy, technology as well
information on age, gender, education & employment.
2. Solution Feedback:
• Users explore the solution or conduct tasks. Encourage users to talk freely
about their interactions and expectations.
2.1 Information during Evaluation

10. Research
Types of Research

11. Interviews Focus Group Card Sorting
Questionnaires User Testing Other
Ways to Research your users

12. • Interviewing is a qualitative approach.
• Allows users to state their opinions and
go in-depth.
• It’s good to use open-ended questions
to allow users to express their
experiences.
• Having a series of questions you want to
ask beforehand.
Interviews – What is it?

13. • Gives you rich information.
• Breakdown complex subjects.
• Insight into a persons reasoning
• Opportunity to get user’s
perspective, into their psyche & own
experiences.
• Form tangents. Able to respond to
user’s answers and ask more Example of an one to one interview
questions. Methods like
Questionnaires don’t allow you to do
this effectively.
Interviews - Why use it?

14. • Mainly use close-ended questions,
but open-ended questions can be
useful to add depth.
• Use Likert scale. It is an effective way
to measure positive & negative
responses.
• Split questions into sections. Easier
to be filled out.
Example of an online survey we used for
HeartMatters • Limit the number of questions.
• Don’t want a lot of open-ended
questions.
• Close-ended questions can be answered
quickly.
Questionnaire – What is it?

15. • Allows users to be more objective.
• Can be a quick response, which
people can do in their own time.
• Data to be collected from a large
group easily.
• Capturing user feedback in
measurable way.
• To get best results you should use it
with other methods such as user
testing.
Example of a questionnaire/online survey we
have used.
Questionnaire – Why use it?

16. • Keywords &/or nav items on cards.
• Two types:
1. Open: Users told to organise cards with
site contents into groups they define.
2. Closed: Users told to organise cards into
particular groups.
Example of card sorting • Ideally you want to perform the
exercise multiple times with small
groups. This allows you to see if
there are any common patterns.
Card Sorting - What is it?

17. • Inexpensive and insightful method.
• Help restructure the site’s navigation
& improve findability.
• Interesting exercise to get users
actively engaged.
• “Provide insight into users’ mental
models, illuminating the way that
they often tacitly group, sort and
label tasks and content within their
own heads.” - Information Architecture for Example of card sorting we did for BHF
the World Wide Web
Card Sorting - Why use it?

18. • Getting real-life users to interact
with the site and get their feedback.
• Two types of testing:
1. Online testing: Users explore a
web link and fill a survey at the
end.
2. Lab testing: Can have user to either
Example of In-Lab user testing we did for IET think out loud or complete
Using Morae as the software . scenarios.
• Jakob Nielsen identified that with 15
users you can pick up 100%
problems. Ideally, groups of small
users works better.
User Testing – What is it?

19. • Perfect opportunity to see users in
action and identify real problems.
• Getting users responses.
• Use of statistics: Look at completion
& error rates.
• Leads to quick wins such as improve
users experience and completion Example of In-Lab user testing we conducted.
rate.
User Testing – Why test?

20. • Group of users discuss certain topics. It can
last up to 2-3hours.
• Identify a clear objective for your focus
group. What are you aiming to achieve?
• Have a services of questions & topics to talk
around. Open-ended questions are ideal.
• Have a variety of users, which represent the
Example of a focus group we did for Barclays audience.
• Encourage everyone to participate and talk
by asking their opinions.
• Try not to lead users, but follow up on what
they say.
• For more on focus groups . It is worth
reading this
Focus Groups – What is it?

21. • Good approach to use at the start of
the project to get an idea of what
users are thinking about the current
or new solution.
• Create insightful debates. See what
people agree or disagree with.
• Users can share their own
experiences. This can give further Example of a focus group we did for BHF
insight into the users’ mind set.
Focus Groups – Why use it?

22. • In-lab eye tracking study involves users
interacting with a site, whilst you track
eye movement.
• The following two are more stats based
rather than reasons from users:
• CrazyEgg allows the tracking of on-
page clicks and other on-page
movement.
• Google Analytics allows you to analyse
web traffic. View onsite usage,
conversion rate, bounce rate etc. Gives
you a lot of interesting statistics.
Example of a Heat Map
Other Useful Approaches

23. Research
When to use each approach?

24. • Research phase. The ideal • Evaluation phase. The ideal
approaches to get information: approaches to get feedback:
1. Focus Groups 1. User Testing
2. Interviews 2. Questionnaires/Online Surveys
3. Questionnaires/Online Surveys 3. Eye Tracking
4. Card Sorting 4. Web Traffic
5. Web Traffic
When to use each approach?

25. Evaluate
Last Word

26. USERS FIRST
• All in all, user involvement is very important. It’s essential for you to engage with
the users as much as you can. Their thoughts are important and will help you
create the perfect solution for them and the client.
Last Word

27. Thanks ^ _ ^
Shean Malik
shean@zabisco.com
0203 1511 330