User Research Strategies
Design Library Resources
These books are available in the Design Library.
Design Kit from IDEO has a number of strategies that can be used to gain insights into users and their needs:
"Human-centered design is a practical, repeatable approach to arriving at innovative solutions. Think of these Methods as a step-by-step guide to unleashing your creativity, putting the people you serve at the center of your design process to come up with new answers to difficult problems."
Tips for running a design interview from Medium and Matt Cooper-Wright
"The in-depth and quantitative approach to research is all about getting to know individuals in detail, finding nuance and ultimately getting inspired to design better things for people. "
UCD Questions
Questions start thinking about design context and user's needs
When beginning an inquiry, designers need to understand the scope of the problem and begin to empathize with the user and their needs.
They might begin their research by trying to find answers to some of these questions. These are not the only questions that need to be asked - but they can serve as a guide for developing the scope of the design inquiry.
Who are the users of the product?
What are the users’ tasks and goals?
What are the users’ experiences and expertise with the product and products like it?
What functionality do the users require of the product?
What other stakeholders will be impacted by the product?
Why is the product being developed?
What are the overall objectives?
How will the product be used?
How will it be judged a success?
What are the technical and environmental constraints?
What functionality is needed by users?
What are the typical scenarios of how and why users will use the product?
What are the usability goals?
How important is ease of use and ease of learning?
How long should it take users to complete their tasks?
Is it important to minimize user errors?
Are there any initial design concepts?