Researching UX: User Research

Table of contents

1. Researching UX: User Research
2. Notice of Rights
3. Notice of Liability
4. Trademark Notice
5. About James Lang
6. About Emma Howell
7. About SitePoint
8. Preface
   1. Foreword
   2. If You Feel Unsure, Then Read On
   3. What We’ll Cover in this Book
   4. The Gist of the Book
   5. Acknowledgments
   6. Conventions Used
      1. Tips, Notes, and Warnings
   7. Supplementary Materials
9. Chapter 1: Begin the Project
   1. Get Started
      1. 1. Define Your Research
      2. 2. Define Hypotheses
      3. 3. Timeline & Resources
      4. 4. Engage Stakeholders
      5. 5. Identify Risks
   2. Tools You Can Use
      1. Use Desk Research to Generate Hypotheses
      2. Hold a Kickoff Workshop
      3. Talk to Your Stakeholders
      4. Create a Research Canvas
      5. Project Plan
      6. Make a Plan to Engage People
      7. 4. Decide How You Will Communicate With Your Team
      8. Work Through Risks to the Project
   3. Summary
10. Chapter 2: Choose an Approach
    1. The Core Concepts
       1. What is Data?
       2. Qualitative vs. Quantitative
       3. Discovery vs. Validation
       4. Insight, Evidence and Ideas
       5. Validity
       6. Scaling Your Investment
       7. Multi-Method Approaches
       8. In-The-Moment Research
       9. Taking Care
       10. Research as a Team Sport
    2. Research Methods
       1. Depth Interviews
       2. User Testing
       3. Guerrilla Interviews
       4. Contextual Research
       5. Web Analytics
       6. Co-design
       7. Card Sorting
       8. Tree Testing
       9. Surveys
       10. A/B testing
       11. Eyetracking
       12. Diary Studies
       13. Focus Groups
       14. Necessary Skills
    3. How to Choose Research Methods
       1. How Many People?
    4. Summary
11. Chapter 3: Finding Participants
    1. Who To Recruit
       1. Defining Your Sample
       2. Creating a Recruitment Brief
    2. Getting The Right People
       1. Creating a Screener
    3. Methods of Accessing People
       1. 1. Recruitment Agencies
       2. 2. Guerilla Recruitment
       3. Finding Participants for Guerrilla Testing
       4. 3. DIY Recruitment
       5. 4. Gatekeepers
    4. Persuading People to Take Part
       1. Why Offer an Incentive?
       2. Offering an Appropriate Incentive
    5. Arranging Sessions
       1. Running Order
       2. Avoiding No-shows
    6. Data Protection
       1. Informed Consent
    7. Summary
12. Chapter 4: Writing a Discussion Guide
    1. What’s the Discussion Guide For?
       1. What’s a Discussion Guide Not For?
    2. Elements of a Discussion Guide
       1. Different Kinds of Session
    3. Questions, Tasks, and Activities
       1. Types of Content
    4. How to Write a Discussion Guide
       1. Use Your Imagination
    5. Summary
13. Chapter 5: Set Up Your Sessions
    1. Getting Prepared for Research in the Lab
       1. Monday: Three Days Before Your Session
       2. Tuesday: Two Days before your session
       3. Wednesday: The Day Before Your Session
       4. Thursday: The Day of Your Session
    2. Getting Prepared for Research in the Field
       1. Tuesday: Two Days Before Your Session
       2. Wednesday: The Day Before Your Session
       3. Thursday: The Day of Your Session
    3. Getting Prepared For Remote Research
       1. Monday: Three Days Before Your Session
       2. Tuesday: Two Days Before Your Session
       3. Wednesday: The Day Before Your Session
       4. Thursday: The Day of Your Session
    4. Summary
14. Chapter 6: Running Your Sessions
    1. Roles
       1. The Interviewer
       2. The Host
       3. Note-taker
    2. Taking Notes
       1. Post-It Notes
       2. Taking Notes in a Spreadsheet or Trello
       3. Taking Typed or Written Notes
       4. Taking Notes in Guerrilla/Field Research
       5. Taking Notes after the Interview
    3. Tools For Recording
       1. Top Tips For Recording Your Sessions
    4. The Practicalities of Using Different Devices
       1. Remote Testing When Using Different Devices
       2. Guerrilla Testing With Different Devices
    5. Summary
15. Chapter 7: Interviewing
    1. Show Participants How to Help You
    2. Observing vs. Asking
    3. Paying Deep Attention
    4. Starting the Session
       1. Make Sure You Get Consent
       2. Starting Guerrilla Testing Sessions
    5. How to Ask a Question
    6. How To Get Out Of Trouble
    7. Summary
16. Chapter 8: Analyzing Your Data
    1. Why Bother?
    2. Phases of Analysis
    3. Cherry-picking Analysis Activities
    4. How Much Time Do I Need?
    5. Phase 1: Make a Plan
       1. Activities
    6. Phase 2: Absorb the Data
       1. Create a Space
       2. Collate Sources
       3. Reformat
       4. Rejecting Bad Data
       5. Prioritize
       6. Review Recordings
       7. Transcribe
       8. What to Watch Out For
    7. Phase 3: Finding Patterns
       1. Review Objectives or Rolling Hypotheses
       2. Brain Dump
       3. Who Were the People?
       4. Conceptual Diagrams
       5. Maps & Sketches
       6. Tablecloth
       7. Affinity Sort
       8. What to Watch Out For
    8. Phase 4: Working With Patterns
       1. Thought Experiments
       2. Extension
       3. Think By Making
       4. Metaphor
       5. What to Watch Out For
    9. Phase 5: Creating a Narrative
17. Chapter 9: Turning Research Into Action
    1. Making Your Research Relevant
    2. Engaging Stakeholders Throughout the Project
       1. Attending Research Sessions
       2. Show and Tell (AKA Pizza Sessions)
       3. Topline Findings
       4. Project Blog / Websites
    3. Documenting What You’ve Learned
       1. Report Deck
       2. List Reporting
       3. Journey Map
       4. Experience Map
       5. Personas
       6. Showreel
    4. Debrief Session
    5. Summary