User Research Techniques

We do not recommend conducting user research without users. However, owing to budget and
timescale constraints, it is quite common for service organizations to perform user research without
involving users. The following techniques are adopted:
#With Users
 Requirements Capture Workshops
 Contextual Interview
 Usability Testing
#Without Users
 Stakeholder Interview
 First-click Testing
 Benchmarking
 Expert Review

Requirements Capture Workshops

Requirements gathering is an important step before commencing with the design. Prioritizing needs
and wants is key here. The following steps are involved:

1. Gather data from users: Do not restrict your definition of users to the actual users of your
product. Instead, widen the scope to include a sample that represents each stakeholder.

2. Analyze data to understand user needs: Use statistical techniques to optimize your data
into manageable chunks. This will make it easier to analyze and derive insights.

3. Convert user needs into requirements: Once you complete the steps mentioned, it is pretty
straightforward to elicit requirements from the hierarchical task analysis. You can then make
a list of functional and non-functional requirements.

Contextual Interview
In a contextual interview, you observe and listen as the user works. You don't usually offer the tasks
or scenarios.
Contextual interviews combine observations with interviews. By involving the user, you understand
the user's environment and the actual technology the user works with. As opposed to usability
testing, you watch people’s behavior in their environment doing their own tasks.

Usability Testing
Usability testing comes in many forms - casual coffee-shop studies, formal lab testing, remote online
task-based studies and more. Irrespective of how you carry out your testing, you’ll need to go
through these five phases:

Prepare the Design or Product to Test

 Prepare your product or design to test

 Find your participants
 Write a test plan
 Take on the role of moderator
 Present your findings
 Prepare a set of goals for your study.
 Be specific. You will use these goals to frame study tasks.
 You will need to figure a way to illustrate your designs for the study. For initial design ideas,
you can use a paper 'prototype' from pencil sketches or design it through software such as
PowerPoint.

Find your Participants

 Identify potential users for your product and find how you can reach them.
 Test with relevant users, make improvements, test again and make further improvements.
 Appreciat0e the participants' time by offering incentives either in the form of cash or gift
cards. The going rate may vary in different parts of the world.

Write a Test Plan

  A test plan will enable smoother communication with stakeholders and design team members
who may want input into the usability test and, of course, keep yourself on track during the
actual study days.
 This is a place for you to keep a record of all the details of the study.

Take on the Role of Moderator

 As a moderator, make sure the sessions go well and the team gets the information they need
to enhance their designs.
 Participants should be made comfortable while they proceed through the tasks. You must
look forward to minimizing or managing any technical difficulties and observer issues.
Always stay neutral.

Present your Findings

 Jot down themes you notice, especially if they’re related to the study’s goals.
 It's a good idea to talk to observers after each session to get a sense of their main learnings.
 Once the sessions are over, look for more answers to the study’s stated goals, and count how
many participants acted differently or made certain types of comments.
 Determine the best way to communicate this information to help stakeholders.

Stakeholders Interview

 A stakeholder is anyone with an interest in the project's output. They can be anyone from
customers, bosses, subordinates to peers both within and outside the organization. The
conversations are conducted with any of the mentioned stakeholders.
 These interviews allow you to step into the shoes of your interviewees and understand their
perspective.
  A useful way to get the business’ input into your project is through a UX Stakeholder
interview.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking studies measure your baseline. It also helps to track how the design and functional
changes impact the user experience. Two main ways to benchmark - Stand-alone benchmarking and
Competitive Analysis.

 Stand-alone benchmarking: Also known as Usability benchmarking, it helps to establish

the starting point to track how the user experience is impacted by your design iterations.

 Competitive analysis: It helps generate ideas. Assessing multiple websites gives you insights
on what works and what doesn’t, to make sound design decisions.

Expert Review

An expert review is where usability experts use their knowledge and experience to walk through a
product in the shoes of a typical user. Experts will spot problems and recommend changes to improve
usability. We prefer expert reviews when budgets and timescales don’t allow for user research.

Global and Cross-Cultural Research Techniques

Cross-cultural research techniques have been gaining prominence. Offering a product translated in 10
to 20 different languages is no longer sufficient. Users also want a product that acknowledges their
unique cultural characteristics and business practices.

Power Distance (PDI)

According to Geert Hofstede, Power Distance Index (PDI) measures the extent to which the less
powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the family) accept and expect that power is
distributed unequally. It suggests the degree of society’s level of inequality endorsed by the followers
as much as by the leaders.

 People who come from societies with a small power distance do not prefer to be controlled.
Communication with this group can be kept informal, direct, and in a participative way to
 gain their trust and to engage them. Meet your website visitors on eye-level, respect them,
and take an interest in their needs.

 People from societies with a big power distance are used to authorities and solid structures.
People consider you as an expert and trust you as an authority figure. Ensure you provide
facts and clear statements upfront and don’t load your visitors with a lot of responsibility.
People who visit your website from this group are slightly less critical and less driven to
search for detailed information to make up their mind.

Individualism versus Collectivism

 People from societies with a high score on individualism are those who take the initiative to
act on their needs and desires and make their own decisions. They visit your site out of
interest, to realize their own goals and make their own decisions. You need to focus on these
individual requirements to convert them into loyal customers.

 On the other hand, people who belong to a collectivist culture consider the interest of the
group first, rather than their own interest. Consider this on your web portal and offer enough
reference points, such as testimonials, 'popular' categories, or social media sharing options to
gather feedback from peers.

Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI)



o People from societies with a high Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI), prefer deductive
rather than inductive approaches. They think over, make decisions and take actions
based on a systematic evaluation of all available and relevant aspects.
o People from societies with a low Uncertainty Avoidance are more open to new ideas,
they are willing to try something different, and have a good risk-taking appetite. They
are more tolerant of new ideas and opinions even if the ideas differ from their own.

Long-Term versus Short-Term Orientation (LTO)

 o People with short-term orientation focus more on the past and present than on the
future. They prefer quick results that are in line with known values and traditions.
o People with long-term orientation make accurate decisions for the future. These
users have to be offered detailed information and advantages that truly convince them
of your product's value.

Task Analysis

 When specifying or designing a feature, it is essential that you understand the tasks which the
users must perform, including the situation in which they carry out the tasks.
 In task analysis, we interview end users and observe them while they perform their work in
context.
 During final analysis, each task supported by the product is listed along with the associated
steps needed for completing the task, step inputs and outputs, and the surrounding context in
which the task is performed.

Surveys and Questionnaires

 These are quantitative modes of research and offers a quick way to collect information from a
large number of users.
 The obvious limitation here is lack of any interaction between the researcher and the users.

Card Sorts

The primary goal of a card sort test is to understand how users perceive relationships and hierarchies
between various content, categories and other information. This is typically used to generate
information architecture or site maps.
Tree Tests

Tree testing is a usability technique to evaluate the findability of topics in a website. It is also known
as reverse card sorting or card-based classification.
Similar to card sort, the primary goal here is to test whether the product has the appropriate level of
information hierarchy designed within the product.

A/B Tests

 A/B testing, also known as split testing, compares two versions of a web page to see which
one performs better.
 It focuses on providing similar users with two or more options and documenting the user’s
preferences amongst the options.
 There are also focused A/B tests on specific aspects of the product such as the design
elements, information hierarchy, navigation and so on.

Storyboard

Storyboards are illustrations that represent shots which ultimately represent a story. It’s a sequential
art where we array the images together to visualize the story. This method came from the motion
picture production

User Persona

It is a fictitious representation of a group of users who exhibit a similar pattern regarding the
behavior of using the application regardless of age, gender, location, education, and profession.
A wireframeis a screen blueprint/model of your application/website without any design and coding.
It is a crucial element of the interaction design process.

 It is used to test ideas before you use high-priced design and development resources for your
UX project.
 It allows designers and developers to present proposed functions, graphic elements, structure,
and content with simple line drawings.
 It is easier to adapt than a concept design.

What is Wireframing?
Wireframing is a process to design an application at the structural level using wireframes.
# Wireframing happens early in the project lifecycle.

Who Uses Wireframes?

Anyone who is involved in the product can use wireframes. Wireframes are typically used by

 Interaction designers
 Programmers
 Graphic designers
 User experience designers
 Product managers
 Information architects
 Business analysts

Wireframes are considered to be the blueprint for design.

Wireframes are intended to connect the information architecture (or conceptual structure) to
the visual design (surface) of a mobile app or website.

They are also the visual representations of an interface, which are used to convey the application
details to everyone evenly.

Why Must You Use Wireframes?

Ahead of the application development, wireframes provide clarity on the following:

 Structure – How will the different parts of the application be put together?
  Content – What content will be shown on the application?
 Informational hierarchy – How is this content displayed and organized?
 Functionality – How will the application's interface work?
 Behavior – How will the application behave and interact with the user?

Wireframes are not intended to represent the graphic elements, visual design, or communicate the
identity or brand.

Advantages of Wireframing
 Offers an early visual that is useful for reviewing with the client.
 Can be reviewed as an initial feedback mechanism for prototype usability testing.
 Ensures the functionality and page content are positioned rightly based on business and
user requirements.
 Can be changed easily than concept designs.
 Offers confidence to the UI designer, once users and the client approve the wireframes.


Associated Inconveniences
 Some times, clients may find it difficult to understand the concept of the application from
wireframes, as the wireframes do not include any account or design for technical
implications.
 A designer has to translate the wireframes into a design. Communication is required to
support the wireframe, explaining why page elements are placed there.
 When content is added initially, it might not appear to fit in the wireframe layout properly.
Because of this, the copywriter and designer may have to work jointly to make this fit
suitably.
Nevertheless, wireframes are ideally an essential and 'must' to create step in the design process.

Flowchart Explained
From the flowchart seen in the previous card, you can notice the following traits.

 Prototypes are
 o dynamic
o clickable
o interactive
 Wireframes are
o static,
o exhibit low-fidelity
 Mockups are
o static,
o exhibit high-fidelity
 Wireframes addresses problem-solving aspects.
 They do not focus on looks such as how it functions in various scenarios, or what it can
provide users.
 Visual elements must be as minimal as possible.
 The most used colors are gray, white, and black.
 For product managers and designers, wireframes:
o are a mode of communication,
o visualize the product concept,
o make it easy to comprehend the concept by team members,
o drive and progress the discussion,
o gather helpful feedback instantly.
 Wireframes can be,
o drawn by hand
o doodled on whiteboard
o built using a digital tool.

Mockups render the visual imitation of a product design.

 In contrast to wireframes, mockups include richer visual elements such as color, visual style,
add typography.
 Mockups are not clickable and static.
 They are pixel perfect.
 They resemble the look and feel of the final design.
 Mockups target a product's outlook and incorporate high-fidelity visual representation with
vibrant visual elements.
 Mockups allow designers to gather the feedback on the visual look of a product instantly.

# High-Fidelity Prototype When numerous mockup pages are made as clickable, these mockups
can be converted as a prototype. This is known as a high-fidelity prototype.

# Low-Fidelity Prototype
When numerous pages of wireframes are made as clickable, these wireframes can be converted as a
prototype. This is termed as a low-fidelity prototype.

Here the most commonly used analog/non-digital tools and mediums used for wireframing.

 Sketching
 Blackboarding and Whiteboarding
 Stenciling
 Paper Cutouts/Paper Prototyping

Here the most commonly used digital tools and mediums used for wireframing.

 Word Processing Software - Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Apple Pages

 Presentation Software - PowerPoint, Google Slides, Prezi, Keynote
 Graphics Editing Software - Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Sketch
 Wireframing and Prototyping Software - Proto.io, Axure, Balsamiq, UXPin, Sketch

Fidelity Levels
Apart from the mediums and tools in wireframing, you must explore other levels of details that are
based on the purpose of a wireframe and the product design process. These are the following fidelity
levels that you must consider.

 Block Diagrams
 Grey Boxes
 High-Fidelity Text
 High-Fidelity Color
 High-Fidelity Media
 High-Fidelity Interactions

Use the following standalone libraries for choosing your preferred product design patterns.

Web and Mobile

 I Love Wireframes
 Wireframe Showcase
 Web Without Words
  Wireframes Magazine
 Patterntap by Zurb
 UX Archive
 Behance
 Dribbble
 Google Image Search
 Pinterest

When you place content in a straight line, or with relative indentations to denote hierarchy in a
screen, this arrangement of content is known as Alignment. Relative indentations must be followed
consistently in all screens.

Why is Alignment Important?

 Your eyes are always looking to hinge on to a visual guide while scanning content. The
following things can be achieved by aligning content appropriately:

o Better readability.
o Understanding information hierarchy clearly by just scanning the content.
o A pleasant, finished look and feel.

 Most of us are conditioned to read from Left to Right, Top to Bottom, resulting in an F
shaped curve.

o When text is aligned to the left, it becomes easier for the eye to move along the F curve.
o Any indentations automatically convey hierarchy.
 Misaligned text distorts readability as well as negates any visual cues that could be
used to communicate hierarchy.

Where do you use Alignment?

Adherence to alignment must be followed as a consistent standard in all pages of an application.