UX Research

Recency Bias

Occurs when it's easiest to remember the last thing you've heard from a participant. This bias is overcome by taking detailed notes and recordings and interviewing each participant in the same, consistent way

Confirmation Bias

Occurs when looking for evidence to prove a hypothesis you have. This bias can be overcome by asking open-ended questions and actively listening. Also by including a large sample of users with diverse perspectives.

False Consensus Bias

Occurs when overestimating the number of people who will agree with our idea or design. This bias is overcome by identifying and articulating your assumptions, assuming some kind of miscommunication will occur, and being prepared to intentionally find common Truth

Primacy Bias

Occurs when we remember the comments of our first participant most strongly. This bias is overcome by taking detailed notes and recordings and interviewing each participant in the same, consistent way

Key Insights

answer the 'so what' of your research - these shouldn't be pure observations, but opportunities. A key insight is a nugget of information that describes a gap within the current design/process/system

Pain Points

any UX issue or friction that frustrates the user and blocks them from getting what they need. They fall into four categories: Financial, Product, Process, and Support

Six Principles of Lean UX

1. Move forward 2. Stay curious 3. Test ideas in the real world. 4. Externalize your ideas. 5. Reframe deliverables as outcomes. 6. Embrace radical transparency.

Parts of a UX Research Plan

1. Project Background 2. Research Goals 3. Research Questions 4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) 5. Methodology 6. Participants 7. Script

How Might We

A creativity-enhancing technique that uses statements designed to help teams explore all of the possible solution directions, even if some of those directions are not feasible.

Close-up storyboard

A series of visually rendered panels that focus on the product

Big picture storyboard

A series of visually rendered panels that focus on the user's experience

User Flow

A user flow is the path taken by a typical user on an app or website so they can complete a task from start to finish.

Value Proposition

A value proposition is the reason why a consumer should use, be interested in, or engage with a product or a service as opposed to a competitor.

Urgency

Attempting to convince users to purchase an item before they run out of time and miss today's "amazing" price.

Implicit Bias

Describes the collection of attitudes and stereotypes we associate to people without our conscious knowledge. For example, this can show up in UXR by only interviewing folks within a limited set of identity profiles (i.e. race, gender, socioeconomic status). This bias is overcome by reflecting on our behaviors and asking others to call out our implicit biases.

Bias

Favoring or having prejudice against something based on limited info. This bias is often unconscious, and is always present. The goal in UX design is to be aware of them, as they get in the way of truly understanding the user's needs

User Persona

Fictional users whose goals and characteristics represent the needs of a larger group of users.

Hidden Costs

Hidden or unexpected charges in the user's cart that are not revealed until the end of the checkout process.

Lean UX

Inspired by Lean and Agile development theories, Lean UX focuses on reducing wasted time and resources, and producing a workable product as soon as possible (to speed product launches up for capitalism :)) Steps: Think, Make, Check

Product Development Lifecycle

Stages a product goes through from concept and use to eventual withdrawal from the market place. This cycle has five stages: brainstorm, define, design, test, and launch.

Sunk Cost Fallacy

States that the deeper we get into a project we've invested in, the harder it becomes to rethink or change course. This bias is overcome by breaking a project down into smaller phases, and outlining designated points to decide whether to continue or stop.

Five Elements of UX Design

Steps a designer takes to turn an idea into a working product. The five elements are strategy, scope, structure, skeleton, and surface, where each element refers to a specific layer involved in creating the user experience

Forced Continuity

The practice of charging a user for a membership without a warning or a reminder

User Journey

The series of experiences a user has as they achieve a specific goal and interact with a product. These are beneficial because they help UX designers create obstacle-free paths for users, reduce the impact of designer bias, highlight new pain points, and identifies improvement opportunities

Empathy Map

an easily understood chart that explains everything designers have learned about a type of user. It considers user behavior in for main motivations: what did they say? what did they do? what might they be thinking? what emotions (feels) do you think they are experiencing?

Hick's Law

The time it takes to make a decision increases as the number of alternatives increases

Project Background

This element summarizes the situation leading to the needs for this research. It's a brief explanation you can give to anyone who asks why you're doing this research. This element: gets the team on the same page at the beginning of the study, shows you understand why you're doing this research, and promotes confidence in the overall quality of your analysis and insights

Deceptive Patterns

UX methods that trick users into doing or buying something they wouldn't otherwise have done or bought.

Competitive Analysis/Audit

an overview of your competitors' strengths and weaknesses

Sneak into Basket

When a user has to remove an item from their cart if they don't want to buy it, which is an extra step that could be easily missed.

Scarcity

When a website makes users very aware of the limited number of items in stock.

Confirmshaming

When users are made to feel guilty when they opt out of something.

Wireframe

a basic outline of a digital experience, like an app or a website. They establish the basic structure of a page. before any visual considerations, like color or images, are added and serve as an outline to get the team on the same page early in the project. Q: How do I organize information on the page in a way that makes sense for users?

Problem Statement

a clear description of a user's needs that our design should address. Format: [user name] is a [user characteristics] who needs [user needs] to hire a dog walker because [insight].

Crazy Eights

a design ideation exercise intended to help you think of several ideas in record time. A group is prompted to fold a piece of paper into eight sections and sketch eight different ideas over the span of eight minutes. The group can vote on their favorite sketches from across the team and the best ideas are typically elaborated on through more detailed sketches.

Common human factors that inform design

a few of the most common ones include but are not limited to: impatience, limited memory, needing analogies, limited concentration, changes in need, needing motivation, prejudices, fears, making errors, and misjudgment

Double Diamond Method

a more traditional UX process, which breaks down UX design into two main phases (or "diamonds"): research and design. Each phase has two steps. When combined, these are the four steps: 1. Discover the problem. 2. Define the problem. 3. Develop solutions for the problem. 4. Deliver the product.

High Fidelity Prototype

a prototype that closely matches the look-and-feel of the final product and is more refined or polished overall. Used when we want to test a design that looks like a real product and get more specific feedback from users.

Low Fidelity Prototype

a prototype that has a lower amount of complexity and is less refined or polished. Used when we want to get ideas out quickly and leave room for exploration.

Storyboard

a series of panels or frames that visually describe and explore a user's experience with a product. It is a tool to visualize potential solutions to problems the user is facing. Elements: character, scene, plot, narrative

Design Thinking

a user-centered approach to problem-solving. It helps designers create solutions that address a real user problem and are functional and affordable. There are five phases in the design process: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test.

Call-to-action

a visual prompt that urges people to action or promotes change

Design Research Stage

aka Generative, Tactical Research Stage; This research answers the question: How should we build it?

Evaluative Research Stage

aka Iteration, Validation, Testing Stage, Post-Launch Research; This research answers the question: How did we do? Did we succeed?

Foundational Research Stage

aka Preliminary, Exploratory, Strategic, Discovery, Early Research Stage; This research answers the questions: What should we build? Why should we build it? What are user problems? How can we solve them?

Interviews

are a research method used to collect in-depth information on people's opinions, thoughts, experiences, and feelings. Interviews can be performed one-on-one or in a group setting, like a focus group. They can be qualitative (open-ended questions) or quantitative (close-ended questions; yes/no questions; multiple choice questions)

Mental Models

are internal maps that allow humans to predict how something will work.

Von Restorff effect (isolation effect)

better memory for information that is distinct from the information around it

The Four C's of Cross-Platform Design

consistency, continuity, context, and complementary

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

critical measures of progress toward an end goal

Gestalt Principles

describe how humans group similar elements, recognize patterns, and simplify complex images when we perceive objects. Used to organize content in UX design so it's aesthetically pleasing

The Curb-Cut Effect

describes how products and policies designed for people with disabilities often end up helping everyone

Human Factors

describes the range of variables humans bring to their product interactions.

Indirect Competitors

either have a similar set of offerings, but focus on a different audience than you, or they have a different set of offerings and focus on the same audience as you.

G's Principle of Common Region

elements located within the same area are perceived to be grouped together; ex: borders

G's Principle of Proximity

elements that are close together appear to be more related than things that are spaced farther apart; ex photo spacing

G's Principle of Similarity

elements that look similar in shape, size, or color, are perceived to have the same function; ex: menu icon shapes sizes colors

Design Process

empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test

Quantitative Research

focuses on data that can be gathered by counting or measuring. It uses one or more metrics (such as task completion rates or task times) that reflect whether the tasks were easy to perform, and is often comparative. Quantitative research is based on numerical data that's often collected from large-scale surveys (e.g. 30+ participants). This type of research aims to answer questions like "how many?" and "how much?"

Task Completion

happens when users successfully complete their goal

Direct Competitiors

have offerings, meaning products, services, or features, that are similar to your product and focus on the same audience. Essentially, you're both trying to solve the same problem

Fidelity

how closely a design matches the look-and-feel of the final product

IA Organization

how different pieces of information connect in a product.

User Story

is a fictional one-sentence story told from the persona's point of view to inspire and inform design decisions. Format: As a [type of user/who?], I want to [action/what?], so that [benefit/why?].

Usability Testing/Usability Study

is a method used to evaluate how easy a product is to use by asking participants to complete core tasks. They help demonstrate if a product is on the right track or if the design needs to be adjusted. can be moderated, unmoderated, in-person, or remote

Edge Case Users

is a rare situation or unexpected problem that interrupts a standard user experience.

Surveys

is an activity where many people are asked the same questions in order to understand what most people think about a product. Surveys are a great way to measure the success of your product, during development and after it's launched. For example, sending surveys after a product is released can help you measure the effectiveness of your product and provide a foundation for future improvements. They can be qualitative (open-ended questions) or quantitative (close-ended questions)

Qualitative Research

is primarily collected through observations and conversations. Qualitative research typically involves a smaller group of users (5-8), and is based on understanding users' needs. It aims to identify design features that are easy or hard to use and aims to answer questions like "why" or "how did this happen?"

Attitudinal Research

is research that asks about attitudes or opinions about a given topic. The purpose of this research is to understand or measure user beliefs by collecting information about what they say (used heavily in marketing)

Behavioral Research

is research that studies what users do in a given scenario with a product or design. The purpose of this research is to understand or measure user behavior by collecting (typically observational) information about how they interact with a system.

Secondary Research

is research that uses information someone else has put together. For example, using information from sources like books, articles, or journals is considered secondary research.

Accessibility

is the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. Designing for accessibility is about considering all users' journeys, keeping their permanent, temporary, or situational disabilities in mind. (5 Senses!)

A good user experience

is usable, equitable, enjoyable, and useful. It focuses on how a person, the user, feels about interacting with, or experiencing, a product

IA Hierarchy

often called the "tree structure" and is where a larger category is placed at the top and specific categories related to the overall category are placed underneath. Peer information is placed side by side (or on the same level as each other).

Product Goal Statement

one or two sentences that describe a product and its benefits for the user. Format: Our [product] will let users [perform specific actions] which will affect [describe who the action will affect] by [describe how the action will positively affect them]. We will measure effectiveness by [describe how you will measure the impact].

Information Architecture

organizes content to help users understand where they are in a product and where the information they want is. Made up of organization, hierarchy, and sequence.

Serial Position Effect

our tendency to recall best the last (a recency effect) and first items (a primacy effect) in a list

User-Centered Design Process

puts the user front and center by considering user stories, emotions, and insights. This process has four steps: understand, specify, design, and evaluate. - Understand how the user experiences the product or similar products (Contextual inquiry and analysis) - Specify the user's needs (Requirement extraction and design-informing models) - Design solutions to those user problems (Conceptual and detailed design) - Evaluate the solutions (Iterative prototyping and evaluation)

Feedback Loops

refer to the outcome a user gets at the end of a process.

IA Sequence

sequence enables users to move through an app via certain orders or steps.

Next Billion Users

the name for the billion global individuals who are just starting to use the internet. Issues include cost, digital literacy, connectivity, and overall literacy

Design Ideation

the process of generating a broad set of ideas on a given topic with no attempt to judge or evaluate them

Primary Research

what is research you conduct yourself where information from direct interactions with users, like interviews, surveys, or usability studies, are considered?

Hypothesis Statement

writes out our best educated guess on what we think the solution to a user's/audience's design problem might be. Format(s): 'if [action]/ then [result]' or 'we believe that [solution] for [user] will [result]'