My User Research Toolkit
Based on the Double Diamond process, here are some of the technics and processes I use as part of my research generative and evaluative tasks.
Discover & Define
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Interviews
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Diary study
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Ethnography
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Surveys
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Focus groups
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Competitor analysis
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Observatory research
Why
These provide insights regarding the problems/ pain points that might affect on Product’s decisions. Methods allow seeing how representative the issues are and prioritize them.
To answer the following:
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What are your users trying to do?
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Why do they?
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What is currently hard for them?
Develop & Deliver
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Usability testing
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Concept testing
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Card sorting
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Analytics
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Moderated tests
Why
Creates a deep understanding of why the solution works, to inform iteration. Inform the future updates post-launch with qualitative and quantitative insights.
To answer the following:
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Does this fix the user's problems?
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Do all users understand this & can use this solution?
When do I use each
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Generative - at the beginning of the project in the Discovery phase to define pain points and ideas of the product.
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Evaluative 1 - as feedback on how something works and performs: a prototype, a closed dev. environment, beta test version, etc.
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Evaluative 2 - after launch: a new feature was released.
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A major change was done in an existing solution.
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A developed feature for validation of a hypothesis.
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Before a major change in strategy.