How can you get to know your users?
A healthy curiosity, about your user's wants and needs, is imperative to moving forward in the process of improving a system or product for them.
There are a few ways you can turn this curiosity into a move towards actioning specific and meaningful change. So here are some UX Research tips to help with exactly that.
Asking the right questions!
An important thing to remember when conducting UX research is to steer clear of leading questions. You want your users to tell you how they experienced the process through their lens, without any input or additional information. Remembering that when the final design is launched users will experience it exactly the way it is in front of them.
Rephrasing questions from “Did this process make them feel relaxed?” to “ How did this process make them feel?” drastically improves the quality of data you can get back from your UX Research. Users are encouraged to share their experience in more detail rather than providing a simple yes or no answer, and as a designer you are able to see a more holistic view.
Quantitative or qualitative?
Both quantitative and qualitative data are important in the process of understanding your users. What’s more important is knowing when and how to use both to your specific advantage.
Quantitative data is important for alerting us to certain areas we may need to address statistically, or even for gauging the importance or success of others. The way we interpret this information (Qualitative) is how designers move forward to implement change. I like to think of qualitative as the humanistic part of data collecting.
Understanding and interpreting humanistic aspects such as cultural and environmental impacts, or even psychology help you to understand why people react or use systems the way they do. Therefore helping us to make changes for the better. What better way to understand this than to immerse yourself in researching the people around you, or even different cultures and timelines?
Knowing how and when to interpret your findings.
Separating information that may be helpful from all of the collected data, and extracting important information can be daunting.
Grouping information has proven to be extremely helpful in finding themes within data. These themes help to identify important key points such as cultural factors and anomalies, or even draw your attention to specific areas where change can be implemented.
There are plenty of resources available that help with ways of interpreting data and patterns in UX Research. I’ve included two of my favourite podcasts that help to keep me inspired as a designer. The best part of the design process is figuring out what you as the designer feel would work best for your specific user. So remember to have fun with it!
User Defenders Podcast; https://userdefenders.com/podcast/
99% Invisible Podcast; https://99percentinvisible.org/episodes/