Game testing researches the notion of fun. Compared with mainstream UX studies, it involves many more users and relies more on biometrics and custom software. The most striking findings from the Games User Research Summit were the drastic age and gender differences in motivation research.
User testing works best if you don’t direct participants too much, but sometimes you need users to go straight to a target page. How to get them there?
测量人们对用户界面的态度by a controlled vocabulary test: give users the list of product reaction words and asks them to select those that best describe the design.
Qualitative user studies benefit from using participants’ personal information, but asking for sensitive information requires preparation and consideration.
What happens when people reach the web page that contains the information they seek? Don’t let the user experience fall apart on the content page. Use modified user-testing techniques to evaluate whether your content meets users’ needs and expectations.
Modern day UX research methods answer a wide range of questions. To know when to use which method, each of 20 methods is mapped across 3 dimensions and over time within a typical product-development process.
The total customer journey and user experience quality will benefit from considering market research and user research to be highly related, and to integrate the two, instead of keeping different kinds of research teams from collaborating.
Usability studies with children and teenagers are as valuable as any other user research, but require special attention to both participant recruiting and study facilitation. You can't act the same with kids as you would with adults.
Remote usability studies can be run completely by software (unmoderated), or a human UX researcher can facilitate the study, even if the test participant is remote (at home or their own office, rather than yours).
At the first Virtual UX Conference, Jakob Nielsen answered participant questions about topics ranging from user-experience careers and skill development to foldable smartphones and the future of user interfaces.
Qualitative and quantitative methods both have their place in user research, but they address different issues in the UX design process. Understand the differences to pick the right method to learn what you need.
How to conduct user research for systems with confidential or otherwise sensitive data, for example in domains like healthcare or financial services, where it can be problematic to record screens or otherwise share the user's information.
The number of test participants for qualitative usability testing that optimizes return-on-investment is determined by 2 parameters: the facilitator's observational skills and the design team's speed when generating the next design iteration.
Formative usability testing is best done with a small number of study participants, so that you have time and budget to test more design iterations of the user interface.
Sometimes you should intentionally overrecruit test participants for one-on-one user-research studies. Backup participants must be recruited according to the same screening criteria and paid at least as much as regular participants.
Many platforms for unmoderated usability testing have similar features; to choose the best tool for your needs, focus on the type of data that you need to collect for your goals.
Even if your target demographics are very broad, you should still identify specific groups of users within that audience to use for UX research and design.
Keeping quiet is a powerful moderation technique for user interviews, usability testing, and workshop facilitation. Well-timed, deliberate periods of silence elicit thoughtful, accurate responses and insights, and build trust with participants.
To guarantee an effective study with users under 18-years old, recruit extra participants, design a child-friendly lab, prepare a plethora of age-appropriate tasks, and avoid being too authoritative.
Affinity diagramming has long been used in business to organize large sets of ideas into clusters. In UX, the method is used to organize research findings or to sort design ideas in ideation workshops.
