MY APPROACH TO RESEARCH

Research is the keystone of the User Experience discipline. It was through research that the existing knowledge base was built and it is through it that the future knowledge will develop from.

Purpose

Questions are the reason we research and research should always be done to answer specific questions. The questions being asked will drive the experimental design, stimulii and choice of participants used in the research. 

Research Methods

There is no one size fits all research, there are methods and best practices which a researcher must follow. Ultimately each research exercise should be thought of as a separate case and the research should be tailored to answer the questions needed given the timeframes and conditions available.

Facilitation

This is the hardest and most often overlooked part of researching. Improper facilitation will ultimately result in biased behaviours and responses which can misdirect product design. 

Reporting

A research is only as good as the insights it provides to the project teams. Research recommendations need to go beyond what the eye can see. They must solve the problem for the user in a clever way, be actionable and achievable.