Analyzing User Experience Research
David Travis, Philip Hodgson · 2019
Evidence supporting a design or marketing decision might be in the form of results from a market research study, a usability test, or observational field research; or it might be an account manager’s record of customer requests for a certain product or feature, or a pattern of customer helpline questions. User Experience (UX) research is about observing what people do. In UX research, strong data come from task-based studies, from studies that focus on observable user behaviors where the data are objective and unbiased—data that catch the user “red-handed” in the act. Some researchers asked people to examine products available on Amazon. In one experiment, the researchers asked participants to choose which of two phone cases they would buy. Most researchers are aware of the importance of asking the right questions. Strong evidence invariably involves target users doing tasks or engaging in some activity that is relevant to the concept being designed or the issue being investigated.