The first step in creating effective designs is to understand people. Learn how to define a problem and form a research question, how to choose between user research methods during the early stages of the design process, how to start planning out your research, and how to go about sharing your research results.

Understanding the User

_Quantitative research_ methods are those that collect numerically measurable data. These methods allow UX professionals to discover broad patterns, compare different designs and their trade-offs, and tie their work back to company goals and [key performance indicators (KPIs)](https://monday.com/blog/project-management/kpi-meaning/). 

Compared to qualitative research, which we'll cover in the next exercise, quantitative research generally provides high level data about a larger number of participants. 

Some popular quantitative research methods include:

* **[Surveys or questionnaires](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/surveys)**: A broad range of users are sent the same set of questions to collect broad insights and trends about a given topic or market.
* **[Card sorting](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/card-sorting-definition/)**: Participants organize topics into groups to help uncover an information architecture that aligns with users' mental models.
* **[Web analytics](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/web-analytics)**: Web analytics, including A/B testing and heat maps, are usually used in the later evaluative stages of user research but can also feed into discovery in an iterative design process.

Quantitative methods can be used at any stage of the design process, but are often used at the beginning and end, first to gain an understanding of the market or ecosystem, and later to evaluate the performance of a product or design. 

Quantitative Research

Imagine you want to learn about the pain points of commuting to work through a survey. If you only survey people living in major cities, the results might be "subway and buses are packed." If you only survey people living in suburbs, the results might be related to traffic jams. In conducting user research, you should be intentional about who is included, and who might be left out. Considering diversity and inclusion early in the research process will lead to more inclusive designs and products down the line. 

Consider various users who may use the product and how and when they can be involved in the design process. In some cases, this may mean being humble and admitting that it may be best to empower communities or groups to solve their own problems, rather than designing on their behalf. 

User research can help give the people you are designing for more agency, and there are many different ways of thinking about how and when to involve users:

**Accessibility:** 
_[Accessibility](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/accessibility)_ refers to designing devices, products, and environments such that individuals with disabilities or sensory impairments can successfully use them. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) break down accessibility into [four main principles](https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/glance/): perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.

**Inclusive Design:** 
_[Inclusive design](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/inclusive-design)_ is a discipline of design that emphasizes designing products and services that work for people of all demographics, perspectives, and abilities, with a focus on those who may have been historically marginalized or excluded.

**Universal Design:** 
_[Universal design](https://disabilityandmultimodality.wordpress.ncsu.edu/universal-design-ud/)_ focuses on creating one experience that can include as many people as possible. The principles of universal design consider how designs can be useful to people of diverse abilities, or adapt flexibly to users of different preferences and abilities.

**User-Centered Design (UCD):** 
_[User-centered design](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/user-centered-design)_ is a design methodology consisting of an iterative process that puts users at the center of product development and involves them in the design from the beginning. UCD processes generally involve the following activities: understand, specify, design, and evaluate.

**Further Examples:**

Some further examples of inclusive design methodologies include:

* **[Design justice](https://designjustice.org/read-the-principles)**: This approach "rethinks design processes, centers people who are normally marginalized by design, and uses collaborative, creative practices to address the deepest challenges our communities face."
* **[Value-sensitive design](https://uxdesign.cc/human-values-matter-why-value-sensitive-design-should-be-part-of-every-ux-designers-toolkit-e53ffe7ec436)**: This approach to design aims to center human values and ethics in the design process and acknowledges the potential trade-offs and potential unintentional results tied to our design choices.
* **[Participatory design](https://uxmag.com/articles/participatory-design-in-practice)**: Also known as _co-design_, this design approach aims to involve users or stakeholders in actively designing solutions for themselves.

An illustration of people of various backgrounds and abilities.

Considering Diversity and Inclusion

Imagine you're a designer on a team starting the design process for a new product in the travel space. You have decided to focus on building a platform for young adults.

As we mentioned in the last exercise, you'll often find yourself designing a product for users who aren't just like you. Even if you're designing to solve a problem you've experienced, it's useful to examine the broader landscape and explore how others think about it. 

For example, some of us might be young adults right now. Others were young adults at some point in our lives, or maybe some of us are parents of young adults. From any of those perspectives, we might assume that we already understand what young adults would seek in a travel product and what challenges they face when traveling. But before you embark on designing a solution, you need to get to know your actual users and figure out what their real motivations and pain points are. 

_Generative user research_, also known as _exploratory_, _discovery_, or _foundational_ research, occurs during the earlier stages of product development and focuses on discovering the motivations and pain points experienced by users. These types of user research work best during the early stages of product development, when you're trying to get to know your user base.

Some types of generative user research include:

* **[Interviews](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/interviews)**: A researcher asks each participant a series of questions about a topic.
* **[Surveys](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/surveys)**: A broad range of users are sent the same set of questions to collect broad insights and trends about a given topic or market.
* **[Diary studies](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/diary-study)**: Longitudinal, or longer-term, qualitative data is collected from participants by asking them to complete entries in a diary which may include a series of prompts.
* **[Ethnography and field studies](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/ethnography-field-studies)**: These methods observe behavior in a natural setting and often occur over time, offering more long-term or continuous insight into participant behavior.

In contrast to generative user research,  _evaluative user research_, such as user testing, evaluates or assesses an existing design or prototype so the design team can improve and iterate.


Generative User Research

An example of a research report slide deck, with slides with headings such as Executive Summary, Overview, Method, Participants, and Findings and Recommendations.

You've completed a round of rigorous research. Now, how do you get the rest of your team on board? In UX design and research roles, part of your responsibility is to advocate for the user and share research findings across your organization.

Once you've analyzed your research, you're ready to share it in a _research report_ of your findings and recommendations.

Sharing your research is a process of storytelling. You can apply a design mindset to your research report and your methods for sharing your findings: think about the audience you're presenting to and what kind of format and messaging is likely to resonate with them.

For busy C-suite types, a brief executive summary of key takeaways might be all they have a chance to read. You might consider pulling the most relevant takeaways for different teams: different points might be relevant to your colleagues in engineering and product compared to your colleagues in marketing and sales.

You might consider including other teammates in the analysis process to make them feel like part of the process, make research results memorable, and actively build empathy for the user on the team. For example, you might organize an affinity mapping session with sticky notes or an online whiteboarding tool. We suggest [Miro](https://miro.com/?utm_source=codecademy) for this, given it's wide array of features and ease-of-use, but some other tools include [FigJam](https://www.figma.com/figjam/) and [Jamboard](https://jamboard.google.com/).

Consider using multiple formats to make your research more memorable and get it across to people with different learning styles. For example, you might present at a team meeting, create a written report, send a summary email, or even make a video. Get creative and think about how you can best advocate for the user. Make sure that research findings are well-organized and documented so your team can easily reference them in the future and continue building on existing research.

Based on research findings, researchers can also create personas, user journey maps, and storyboards to share within an organization:

* **[Personas](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/persona)**: Fictional archetypes of the target users of a product or design, created as composites of user research or market research.
* **[User journey maps](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/journey-mapping-101/)**: A timeline of user actions related to accomplishing a particular goal related to a product or design.
* **[Storyboards](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/storyboards-visualize-ideas/)**: A sequence of panels (often resembling a comic book) depicting a user journey chronologically.

Sharing Your Research

That's a wrap! In this lesson, we got an overview of the user research process, from defining your problem space and research goals, to sharing your results in a research report. We covered a sampling of different research methods and when and why you might want to mix different methods. 

Here's a summary of what we've covered:

* _Generative user research_, also known as _exploratory_, _discovery_, or _foundational_ research, occurs during the earlier stages of product development and focuses on discovering the motivations and pain points experienced by users. These methods include interviews, surveys, diary studies, and ethnography and field studies.
* One of the first steps of product development is defining the problem space. When selecting a topic for user research, consider what you're trying to learn, your research goal and research questions, which methods might help you answer your questions, and who you want to study or include.
* _Quantitative research_ methods are those that collect numerically measurable data. These methods, including _surveys_, _card sorting_, and _web analytics_, allow UX professionals to discover broad patterns, compare different designs and their trade-offs, and tie their work back to company goals and key performance indicators (KPIs). 
* _Qualitative research_ methods, such as _interviews_, _focus groups_, _diary studies_, _ethnography and field studies_, and _contextual inquiry_, examine why users behave the way they do in depth, and focus on the motivations and thought processes behind a user's experience. 
* _Attitudinal research_ methods focus on self-reported thoughts, beliefs, and needs from users, or put simply, what users say, rather than what they do, and include interviews, focus groups, diary studies, and surveys.
* _Behavioral research_ methods directly observe user behavior, and include ethnography and field studies, web analytics, tree testing, and user testing.
* Good user research works with _mixed methods_ to collect insights about both the bigger picture and the details. Consider combining qualitative methods with quantitative methods, and attitudinal methods with behavioral methods.
* The first step in the research process is always to write a _research plan_, which should include background information, your research goal and questions, research methods and protocols, target participants, recruitment strategies, timeline, any ethical considerations, and research materials to be created.
* Considering diversity and inclusion early in the research process will lead to more inclusive designs and products down the line. Consider various users who may use the product and how and when they can be involved in the design process.
* Once you've analyzed your research, you're ready to share it in a _research report_ of your findings and recommendations. Think about the audience you're presenting to and what kind of format and messaging is likely to resonate with them.

Next, we'll be exploring several user research methods&mdash;user interviews, user surveys, and card sorting&mdash;in more depth.

An illustration of several user research methods: interviews, observation and field studies, surveys, and card sorting.

Let's Review

_Qualitative research_ methods examine why users behave the way they do in depth, and focus on the motivations and thought processes behind a user's experience. 

Compared to quantitative research, covered in the previous exercise, qualitative research generally provides richer data about a smaller number of participants. Quantitative research can help build empathy with users and provide illustrative anecdotes.

Some popular qualitative research methods include:

* **[Interviews](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/interviews)**: A researcher asks each participant a structured, unstructured, or semi-structured series of questions about a topic. 
* **[Focus groups](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/focus-groups)**: A researcher guides a group of 3–10 participants through a series of questions about a topic, product, or design. 
* **[Diary studies](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/diary-study)**: Longitudinal qualitative data is collected from participants by asking them to complete entries in a diary which may include a series of prompts.
* **[Ethnography and field studies](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/ethnography-field-studies)**: These methods observe user behavior in a natural setting and often occur over time, offering more long-term or continuous insight into participant behavior.
* **[Contextual inquiry](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/contextual-inquiry/)**: Researchers conduct an interview in context as participants complete tasks.

Qualitative methods can be used at any stage of the design process, but may provide especially useful insights during the discovery and ideation stages, when teams are trying to get to know target users in-depth.

Qualitative Research

Fundamentally, every product or design is intended for a user: to address challenges, to make tasks easier, to improve their lives. The first step in creating effective designs is to understand people.

Well-executed user research helps designers see past our assumptions and find creative solutions. In many cases, you'll be designing products for users who are different from yourself. Even if you are among your product's intended users, user research can help broaden your perspective. 

Design methodologies like [design thinking](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/design-thinking), [user-centered design](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/user-centered-design), the [double diamond diagram](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/double-diamond-diagram), and the [product development life cycle](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/product-development-life-cycle) may have different terms for the discovery phase of the design process, but they all emphasize understanding and empathizing with the user.

Engaging in user research helps designers and companies:

* Develop products people actually need
* Learn what users care about and what motivates them
* Find gaps and pain points in the market or competitive landscape
* Define exactly which problem to solve
* Hone in on target users to determine who is most likely to benefit from a solution
* Decide whether a product idea is actually adding anything useful

In this lesson, we'll walk through how to get started with defining a problem and forming a research question, how to choose between user research methods during the early stages of the design process, and how to start planning out your research. Later on, we'll dive even deeper into specific methods and sharing your research results.

Introduction to Understanding the User

Good user research works with a mixture of methods to collect insights about both the bigger picture and the details. While some designers or researchers eventually specialize in particular methods, you'll still want to be familiar with a mixture of [qualitative](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/qualitative-research), [quantitative](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/quantitative-research), [behavioral](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/behavioral-research), and [attitudinal](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/attitudinal-research) research methods. 

Combining qualitative methods with quantitative methods can help explain _why_ users are behaving in a particular way. Combining quantitative methods with qualitative methods can help explain the broad patterns behind user behavior. For example, interviewing users (qualitative) after a survey (quantitative) can offer an understanding of the motivations behind trends or why outliers answered differently.

It's also important to combine attitudinal research with behavioral research for a full understanding of user behavior. 

_Attitudinal research_ methods focus on self-reported thoughts, beliefs, and needs from users, or put simply, what users say, rather than what they do. These methods include:

* [Interviews](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/interviews)
* [Focus groups](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/focus-groups)
* [Diary studies](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/diary-study)
* [Surveys](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/surveys)

_Behavioral research_ methods, on the other hand, directly observe user behavior.

* [Ethnography and field studies](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/ethnography-field-studies)
* [Web analytics](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/web-analytics)
* [Tree testing](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/tree-testing/)
* [User testing](https://www.nngroup.com/topic/user-testing/)

Anthropologist [Margaret Mead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Mead) once said, “What people say, what people do, and what people say they do are entirely different things.” Combining these methods helps us understand both what users believe and how they act in practice. You might consider combining diary studies or interviews (attitudinal) with field studies or observation (behavioral) to get a sense for how users report their own behavior, as opposed to what they do in practice.

Mixing research methods doesn't just apply to collecting your research data, but also how you might analyze it. Sometimes this is referred to as [triangulation](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/triangulation-better-research-results-using-multiple-ux-methods/), "the practice of using multiple sources of data or multiple approaches to analyzing data, to enhance the credibility of a research study."

Working With Mixed Methods

Once you've chosen the methods you want to use for your user research, you can begin preparing and executing your research. The first step in the process is always to write a _research plan_. If you're working with a team, this ensures everyone is on the same page. If you're working solo, it gives you a document to return to and adds intentionality to the research process.

A research plan should cover:

**Background:** 
Why are you embarking on this research?

**Research goal:** 
What are you hoping to uncover with this research?

**Research question(s):** 
What question or questions will help you find answers that help you achieve your research goal?

**Research method(s) and protocols:** 
What research method or methods will you use? How will you specifically execute them?

For example, if you're conducting interviews, consider how many interviews you'd like to conduct, whether you'll conduct them in-person or remotely, the target duration of the interviews, and how you'll structure them. For a survey, you might consider how many participants you'd like to include, what survey platform you'll be using, and how long the survey will run. You may also want to include plans for how you will analyze your results.

**Target participants:** 
Who would you ideally like to talk to or include in your research?

* Do you have existing customers you can reach out to? Is it better if you speak with people unfamiliar with your product? Or a mix of both?
* What demographics are you hoping to reach?
* Is there anywhere that they gather online or offline that you can recruit them? 

In many cases, you will create a _[participant screener](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/screening-questions-select-research-participants/)_, a short survey or to qualify participants.

**Recruitment strategies:** 
Where will you seek out participants? For example, you might consider using an existing customer list or reaching out in online communities. Consider whether you will offer any compensation or incentives to participants. Be upfront with participants about time and effort required and how they will be compensated.

**Timeline and due dates:** 
How long will each stage of the research take and when do you expect the project to be completed? A realistic timeline and scope will help you set appropriate expectations and plan your work.

**Any ethical considerations:** 
How will you protect your participants and what can you realistically promise to them? 

For sensitive topics, you may want to take participant privacy into special consideration. Consider _[informed consent](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/user-research-ethics/)_, and let participants know ahead of participation what risks the research may entail and how their contributions will be used.

**Research materials to be created:** 
Think about what research, recruitment, and reporting collateral your team will need to create. This could include any informed consent forms or explanatory materials, interview scripts, survey questions, or anything else you might want to create in advance.

It can be useful to pre-write e-mail communication and plan for what communication will look like from start to finish, to ensure quick follow-ups and consistency across participants.

Creating a Research Plan

Often when we think about product development, we think about designing the best solution or product. Early-stage user research is also about figuring out exactly which problem needs to be solved.

When you're starting the product development process, consider the problem space and the scope of the problem you're trying to address. For example, for our travel product, the goal of "transforming the travel industry" would be too broad of a scope for a single project. "Helping young adults plan a trip" would be a more reasonable scope and help you form tangible research questions to find problems you can help solve.

When selecting a topic for user research, consider the following:

* What are you trying to learn?
* What is your focused research goal?
* What are some research question(s) to help achieve your goal?
* Which research method(s) will help answer your research question(s)? (More on this later.)
* Who do you want to study or include in your research? (More on this later.)

Thinking about our travel example, you might ask, "How are young adults planning travel today?" and explore the motivations behind how they are putting together an itinerary and which parts of the process feel most difficult. The results of your research can help you identify a real problem, develop a solution that is actually useful, and deliver it to the right audience. 

You might discover through user research that the problem you suspected is not actually the core issue. For example, the users you speak to may have no trouble planning a solo travel itinerary, but struggle to coordinate or share with friends and family. Or you might discover that users visiting urban destinations do not seem to have a particular problem, but users visiting more rural destinations do.

In planning your research, consider what stage you are at in the design process through a methodology like the [double diamond diagram](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/double-diamond-diagram). During the convergent strategy phase of this methodology, broader generative research is analyzed and the team moves forward toward problem definition. 

As we walk through more research methods in this lesson, consider how we might eventually move from [divergent thinking](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/divergent-thinking) to [convergent thinking](https://www.codecademy.com/resources/docs/uiux/convergent-thinking) about the problem to be solved, and which methods would best help define the problem for a given research project.

Four steps of defining the problem space: 1) Decide what you're trying to learn; 2) Form a focused research question; 3) Decide who you want to study; and 4) Choose research method(s).