UX Research Method
Crash Course
Research Methods
Gathers user insights through interviews, tests, and surveys in controlled or remote settings.
Field Methods
Observe people using products in their real-life environments.
Usability Research
Usability research does more than locate broken buttons or awkward labels
Reduce risk by catching issues before launch.
Align around real user needs instead of internal opinions.
Build trust and shared understanding inside the team, because decisions are grounded in observed behavior.
Develop empathy for users, which improves future design decisions.
AI Research Assistant
Helping you author a moderation guide with clear tasks and neutral prompts.
Generating transcripts or summaries from audio or video recordings, provided you have explicit consent.
5 Users (Qualitative) is all you need
Talking to 5 users reveals ~85% of major usability issues, because the most serious problems appear repeatedly across different people. After a point, you see the same patterns again, which is a sign of diminishing returns.*
*Based on Jakob Nielsen’s analysis of problem discovery curves in small-sample usability tests, as described in “Why You Only Need to Test with 5 Users” (Nielsen Norman Group, 2000).
Interview etiquette and trust
Be kind and curious. Share realistic scope and time estimates. You may need to sign NDAs or consent forms.
Do not correct or educate them. Ask permission before writing anything very personal in the form.
“If you ever want to skip a question, you can simply say so.”
Good user research builds trust. The goal is to understand people’s reality, not to push them toward a particular answer.
System Usability Score (SUS)
Qualitative insights tell you what to fix; the SUS score shows how much you have improved and how usable your product is relative to industry benchmarks.
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User Interviews
Uncover motivations, expectations, and mental models that analytics alone cannot show.
Clarify how people understand the problem space.
Explore decision making, workarounds, and constraints.
Identify what you should later validate through usability testing.
1:1 Interviews & Focus Groups
Avoid loaded questions such as “You like this, right” or “That was confusing, correct”.
Use neutral prompts: “What were you expecting to happen here”, “How did you decide what to do next”, “What stood out to you on this screen”.
Allow silence. A quiet few seconds often encourages participants to add more detail and deeper reflection.
Research Methods
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Usability Testing
Usability testing identifies points of confusion, friction, inefficiency, and breakdown in an experience.
Use this method to evaluate how well a design supports the intended task and whether users can complete workflows with clarity and confidence.
Small samples are effective because the goal is to observe patterns in behavior, not to generalize statistically. -
Surveys
Surveys gather structured, scalable feedback that can help validate themes emerging from qualitative work.
Use this method to understand broad sentiment, preferences, or perceived value, especially when reaching a wider audience.
Surveys must be carefully written to avoid bias and misinterpretation, since self-reported behavior is not always reliable. -
Card Sorting
Card sorting reveals how users organize and categorize information in their minds.
Use this method when developing or revising an information architecture so your structure reflects natural mental models.
Open sorts help you discover new groupings, while closed sorts help you test the structure you already have. -
A/B Testing
A/B tests compare two or more variants to determine which one performs more effectively based on quantitative metrics.
Use this method when optimizing at scale or refining a specific interaction.
Meaningful results require adequate traffic, clearly defined metrics, and controlled variables. -
Contextual Inquiry
Field studies allow you to observe behavior in real-world environments, providing rich insight into context, workflow, and constraints.
Use this method to understand tasks that are influenced by physical space, social dynamics, or environmental conditions.
The researcher observes and occasionally probes, allowing users to demonstrate their authentic practices. -
Ethnography
Ethnographic research involves extended immersion to understand culture, values, routines, and underlying social dynamics.
Use this method for complex problems where behavior is deeply shaped by context or when studying communities with unique practices.
It is time-intensive but produces powerful insights into why people act the way they do.
Participatory Design
Participatory design brings users directly into the generative phase, allowing them to contribute ideas, sketches, scenarios, or prototypes.
Use this method when you aim to co-create with participants, especially in domains where users hold specialized knowledge.
This approach builds shared ownership and often uncovers solutions that experts alone would overlook.
We’re Designing a Carry-on!
10-min interview with a partner (5mins per person)
Dig past the surface by asking “why” five times until you reach the root frustration.
Contribute to the class “hive mind” that will power two AI-generated suitcase concepts for an A/B test.
Moderation Guide
Results
A
This suitcase is a compact, overhead-safe carry-on meant to remove two specific anxieties: “will it fit?” and “where does my laptop go?” It is sized a little under typical maximum carry-on limits so it reliably fits overhead, even when planes get smaller or airlines are strict. The shell is a calm, rounded rectangle in a matte warm grey or taupe, with four small but sturdy spinner wheels and low-profile handles on the top and side. There are no external gimmicks or obvious expansion zippers to mislead you; visually, it reads as one quiet, self-contained object that you do not have to second-guess in the boarding line.
Inside, it opens like a front door while standing upright, instead of a full clamshell spread on the bed. The door panel holds a padded laptop sleeve at the top and a mid-sized pocket for flat items like documents or a tablet, so the suitcase no longer “chooses clothes over my laptop.” A lower mesh pocket and one soft packing cube are intended for small items or dirty clothes, making it easier to avoid the “keeping clean/dirty organization for the duration of the vacation” problem. Behind the door, the main cavity is a single, simple space sized for folded clothes and another cube, with a light internal strap to stop things from collapsing. Zippers are deliberately separated and visually distinct so it is always obvious which one opens the case and, if present, which one gives a small, clearly-marked extra depth; that choice is about eliminating the moment where “the suitcase was expanded via expansion zipper but didn’t fit in the overhead compartment” and the flight attendant makes a stink.
B
This suitcase is a medium-sized, checked or trunk-style case designed for heavier loads, stairs, and longer trips where the bag acts like a rolling closet. It uses the same calm, matte shell language as A but scaled up, with thicker sidewalls and four larger-diameter spinner wheels set on a slightly wider stance so it feels stable rather than like “a drunk shopping cart.” The telescoping handle extends high enough for taller people so it does not “hit your heels when you drag it,” and the geometry is firm so it does not feel like “the handle is starting to fall out.” Top and side grab handles are generous and slightly padded, making it easier to shift the bag up steps or into a car when the ground is too rough for wheels, addressing those moments when people had to carry 50-pound suitcases or lift them because wheels failed.
Internally, B is built around the idea that longer trips need structure and separation. It opens with a front door-style panel like A, but behind that the main cavity is vertically zoned: a deep central section for folded clothes, a removable shoe “garage” at the bottom with wipeable lining, and a hanging laundry pouch that clips near the top so dirty clothes do not sprawl everywhere. The inside of the door carries a set of soft, flat pockets for underwear, cables, and toiletries, so the case does not turn into “a mess of the space I have to inhabit” by day three. The wheels are overbuilt and attached with visible fasteners so they can be replaced instead of turning the whole suitcase into a carry-only burden when one breaks, nodding to requests for wheel repair kits and more durable constructions. Zippers are robust, with simplified paths and subtle markings so “always grabbing the wrong zipper” is less likely, and there is no expansion zipper at all; instead, the interior volume and straps are tuned so the bag feels honest about how much it can hold without needing to be forced shut or worrying that it might burst or be out of spec.