Observing the User Experience, 2nd Edition

Preface

Why This Book?

Many people in digital product and service development never do user research. We often hear people say things like: “Putting a product in front of consumers will be expensive—and besides, we need to ship next month!” Or: “Usability research limits design creativity.” And: “It’s not even necessary because the developers are themselves part of the community of users and thus instinctively empathetic to what those other users find useful or usable.” Finally: “And besides, [insert the name of famous company here] doesn’t do it!”

You, clearly, think otherwise. You think it’s important to know who is using the products you’re making. And, you know, you’re right. Finding out who your customers are, what they want, and what they ...