Post on 21-Apr-2017
Amsterdam Meetup, 16-3-2016
Miel de Zwart
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Bad UX Research
But Were Afraid to Ask
Miel de Zwart
8 years @ Valsplat
Loves
Judith
Hates
Checking in and out
But first ...
What would you REALLY like to know about your users?
Please write down those burning questions. On a Post-it. In the
next 5 minutes.
Inspiration
Validation
Opinions& feelings Behavior
Moderated user testing
Remote unmoderated user testing
Diary studies
Personas
User interviews
Focus groups
Card sorting
Sitemap testing
Eye tracking analysis
Structured feedback tools (Usabilla etc.) Web analytics
A/B testing
Questionnaires
Inspiration
Validation
Opinions& feelings Behavior
Usability research
So now you got your research method of choice
But how to get in the head of your users?
Time for some BadThe Worst Interview in History
Last Friday the band Sigur Rós showed up promptly at 11am and commenced to give what is possibly the worst interview in the history of
electronic media. Seriously. It was that bad.We’re not sure if they were tired, or if it was a
language thing, or what … but wow. And to repeat, we love this band.
Just never invite them on your radio show.Luke Burbank
Radio Host of The Bryant Park Project, National Public Radio
The Blame Game Was it the band?
Was it the interviewer?
And how does this compare to user research?
To what extent do you like this website?
What do you miss in this check out flow?
What’s your first impression of this website?
Do you think you’ll use this website in the future?
Did you understand the content on the page?
To what extent do you find this form easy to use?
Why didn’t you click this button?
This has not yet been developed, but how would you like it
if the site did this …
The Good ModeratorWhile interviewing people as they use your website or app,
pose probing questions and get the answers you need,
without leading them to a particular answer.
The Ugly What it feels like to watch a user
test of your product
Where’s Wally?
The Good ObserverWhile observing people as they
use your website or app, focus on what they do or don’t do. What
users say has a role only in determining the satisfaction
element of usability.
The Good ObserverNote any difficulties users have
during the process, regarding noticing, using, understanding
and valuing all important content, interactive or design
elements.
How to convert user insights into actionable design decisions?
We don't know how to approach to converting insights into design decisions.
I try to make "action points". I divide insights by things that are easy to change
and things that are more for future releases. I just discuss this with the designer and then
he applies it.
How to convince stakeholders to make use of these insights?
Make the findings visible to the team. People do care in the end and everyone wants to
have impact. To convince people, show raw data, allow people to talk back and ask
questions about your method and findings.
At current client we mostly look into analytical data to see how users behave and interact with the website and products. This
usually answers mostly ‘what’ users are doing, but not ‘why’. The numbers do often
help to convince stakeholders however.
UX researcher
Design team
Design team
Design team
Avoid big reports
Focus at tiny changes that will make a massive difference
How to shift from reactive research to UX research that actually
driveschanges in design and organization?
Every monthIn depth UX tests with real users
Every monthIn depth UX tests with real users
Every monthIn depth UX tests with real users
Insights for nest iteration
Every sprintFast, quick guerilla / online tests with real users
ContinuousUX support
Continuousmonitoring of usage
(Helpdesk calls, community, social media)
The perfect scoreUX research developed into a change agent
A shift from reactive research to UX research that actually
driveschanges in design and organization
Vertical campfire @ PostNL
Insights from withinthe team, not some external UX expert
Thank you!
Miel de ZwartSend your e-mail to miel@valsplat.nl