When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods
When to Use Which UserExperience Research Methods
When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods
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The field of user experience has a wide range of research methods available, ranging from tried-and-true methods such as lab-based usability studies to those that have been more recently developed, such as unmoderated online UX assessments.
While it’s not realistic to use the full set of methods on a given project, nearly all projects would benefit from multiple research methods and from combining insights. Unfortunately many design teams only use one or two methods that they are familiar with. The key question is what to do when. To better understand when to use which method, it is helpful to view them along a 3-dimensional framework with the following axes:
For mobile apps, it's usually a good idea to have an "application home" that users can return to as a safe base after exploring the apps various areas. This is particularly important for content-rich apps, such as magazines or newspapers. Used this way, the "home" button serves as a generic
The problem with WYSIWYG is that it is usually equivalent to WYSIATI (What You See Is All There Is). A document has a rich semantic structure that is often poorly captured by its appearance on a screen or printed page. For example, a word may be printed in italic font for emphasis, as part of a
While most usability studies should rely more on behavior, methods that use self-reported information can still be quite useful to designers. For example, card sorting provides insights about users' mental model of an information space, and can help determine the best information architecture
5G and Blockchain: What to Expect
These make it possible for even the tiniest IoT devices to get connected to the ecosystem cost-effectively. 5G networks will allow for the interconnection of a lot more devices simultaneously. It is estimated that there could be up to 100 billion IoT connections by 2025. The rise of 5G networks
Cross-Platform Scaling: The Way Forward for Businesses on Blockchain
Over the past 18 months, we have witnessed a significant shift in the state of the financial markets. Cryptocurrencies, once a niche fascination, have exploded in value. At the start of 2017, digital currencies held collective market cap of less than a $20 billion. They entered 2018 with a
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Finally, Hathaway sees this as a unique opportunity for the United States to work with countries around the world, and with organizations on an extremely local level. “We cannot succeed if our government works in isolation,” she added. It requires “leading from the top” from
Website Logo Placement for Maximum Brand Recall
A left-aligned logo is comfortable for users, but because it’s such a longstanding tradition, this standard is a tempting target to anyone wanting to appear unconventional. Violating this convention seems like an easy way of immediately distinguishing a design from its competitors, and standing
when to use which user-experience research methods
Usability Testing with Minors: 16 Tips
In addition to no-shows, working with youths may also result in more interruptions throughout the study. More interruptions mean less time working on tasks and perhaps fewer research findings in the long run. Interruptions can be due to environmental distractions (discussed later), water or
Contextual Menus: Delivering Relevant Tools for Tasks
Don’t make users scan through a long list of disorganized commands. To help users focus on the most relevant options, place the ones used most often at the top. Because people scan lists from top to bottom, place seldomly used commands low down in the menu. Let users decide which option best
Optimizing for Context in the Omnichannel User Experience
After making several large purchases in a single, day, one study participant had her Chase credit card denied when she tried another purchase. While at the register, she received a Chase fraud-alert text message, asking her to approve or decline the charges. She said, “It was awesome, I felt my
Dot Voting: A Simple Decision-Making and Prioritizing Technique in UX
To prevent skewed voting from the HIPPO effect (or other strongly opinionated team members), dictate the order each person places their votes. Have junior participants place their votes first, while saving stakeholders or subject-matter experts for last. This approach protects the votes (and
Ecommerce UX Trends: User Research Update
Though sites may make using discounts difficult in order to increase sales totals, preventing users from being able to use or take advantage of discounts erodes trust and may frustrate users to the point that they no longer want to shop on the site. Further, making it easy to qualify for discounts
StudioPress Theme Spotlight: Generate Pro
In an effort to help the WordPress community grow and prosper as well as expand and add value to the WP Engine Digital Experience platform, WP Engine recently acquired StudioPress. For our customers, this means, in addition to the Genesis framework, they’ll have access to 35 premium themes. All
when to use which user-experience research methods
Genesis Framework and StudioPress Themes Now Available for WP Engine Customers .
If you’re looking to run a lifestyle or health and wellness blog, look no further than the Essence Pro Theme. This simple theme eliminates clutter allowing your blog posts and products to shine. Draw the eye right to what’s important with a beautiful photo and headline at the top. Then display
Bringing Array Themes into the WP Engine Family
Sifting through the thousands of themes in existence today is a daunting task, and finding the right one for your website is just part of the challenge. No one wants to trust their portfolio, online magazine, or e-commerce site to just any formulaic theme. Making sure it’s well designed, well
Storyboards Help Visualize UX Ideas
Use sketches to quickly draw a sequence or communicate a scene to your team during a brainstorming meeting. In such ideation meetings, you can even create storyboards collaboratively with sticky notes, to get each team member’s perspective. Start by having a discussion of the timeline and steps
Design Thinking Builds Strong Teams
The inability to communicate efficiently is at the core of many teaming issues. Individuals often have different interpretations for the same concept or idea, due to their varied backgrounds and experiences. For example, team members who are experts in different disciplines may bring clashing
Design Critiques: Encourage a Positive Culture to Improve Products
Design critiques should be a key part of the iterative creative process, but incorporating feedback into your team’s existing process is likely to hit obstacles. It is a given that you will experience people and scenarios that make critiques difficult and frustrating. Often the critique goes
The future of tokenization and blockchain is not just ICOs
For those who continue to see “ICO”, but have no firm understanding of the definition, here’s an over simplified version. An ICO is a way a company can raise funding through using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. This works by the company creating its own coin, perhaps the
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Melissa Hathaway came across our radar recently when President Obama tasked the former Bush administration aide with leading a 60-day review of Bush’s Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative; a largely classified, purported $30 billion, multi phase plan to address cybersecurity issues
7 Companies Poised to Disrupt the Mobile Enterprise
The Disruptathon series came to San Diego this week for CTIA Enterprise and Apps to show off seven companies that could be poised to disrupt enterprise mobility. The last time we ran into Disrupathon the series was looking for startups that could disrupt the news industry at the USA Today building
Your Pitch to VCs is More Than a Deck
There is a difference between your pitch, a distillation of your vision, and the deck, a tool that facilitates your pitch. There’s also a difference between the presenter, the person who communicates the most important points, and the presentation, the cumulative experience that includes
when to use which user-experience research methods
How to Get into Tech Without a Tech Background
If you look at the greatest recent tech companies there are plenty of newcomers that aren’t even considered tech, let alone, high tech. Uber and Airbnb, are less about tech and more about their concept. You can run a tech company without a tech background but find the best tech you can when
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Melissa Hathaway came across our radar recently when President Obama tasked the former Bush administration aide with leading a 60-day review of Bush’s Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative; a largely classified, purported $30 billion, multi phase plan to address cybersecurity issues
When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods | Back-to-Top Button Design Guidelines
Back-to-Top Button Design Guidelines
The popularity of responsive web design has led to a proliferation of single-column, long-page designs both on mobile and desktop. A consequence of these designs has been the Back to Top button, which is a shortcut that allows users to quickly navigate to the top of the page. When users get at the
Website Forms Usability: Top 10 Recommendations
The usability of web forms is by no means a new topic. It has been covered in general usability references (including several NN/g books of both general usability guidelines, eyetracking usability research, and mobile usability). Many of the 114 UX guidelines for e-commerce shopping carts are
Mastery, Mystery, and Misery: The Ideologies of Web Design
User research with children shows that they often have problems using websites if links and buttons don't look clickable. At the same time, using a virtual environment as a main navigation interface does work well with kids, even though it's rarely appreciated by adults (outside of games). Also
