How to carry out User Research?

A six step process on carrying out user research.

Oscar de la Hera Gomez
Written by Oscar de la Hera Gomez
First published on 01/16/2024 at 12:27
Last Updated on 01/17/2024 at 18:40
<p>A flower that represents Strategy with the text "User Research" beneath it.</p>

A six step process on carrying out user research.

SubscribeWhat is User Research?

Step One: Write a Hypothesis

In order to not waste time, you must define the problem that you are trying to solve or the idea that you want to validate.

What is a Hypothesis?How to write a Hypothesis

Step Two: Define the target audience

User research is intended to help you gather an in depth understanding on a cohort.

This cohort could also be seen as a collective within your target audience, which must be defined in order to make sure you carry out user research on the right people.

What is a Target Audience?How to define a Target Audience

Please note that steps three and four can be carried out in parallel.

Step Three: Design the study

With the target audience defined, you must next design the longitudinal studies, in-depth interviews (IDI), surveys or usability tests that you will carry out on a small group of users from the target audience.

What are Longitudinal Studies?What are In-Depth Interviews (IDI's) and how do I conduct them?What are Surveys?What is Usability Testing?

Step Four: Find the candidates

Find the individuals that you are going to perform the study on.

Cohorts range from 10 individuals to 5000+.

Step Five: Carry out the study/studies

Carry out the study or studies that you have designed on your cohort and make sure that guarantee that the analysis is continuous and that the accuracy of the results is consistently of a high standard.

You can carry out the research on a one-to-one basis or in groups (i.e. focus groups).

Step Six: Evaluate the Results

Carry out qualitative and statistical analysis on the results, draw conclusions and evaluate the outcome.

To learn more about statistical analysis consult this link.

How to create a User Persona

Always remember, the work is never done

A visual that demonstrates a circular iterative process that goes from define, which is symbolized as a document, to clarify, which is symbolized as a geometric alignment, through creation which is symbolized as a nucleus.

delasign's process

As a product, service or experience (i.e. the creation) evolves it is strongly recommended that you continuously test the creation with a consistant user or user group as well as a series of sporadic users or user groups (i.e. infrequently test or test just once with an individual or group); in order to clarify and validate that the creation:

  • Meets its intended utility.
  • Has value that converts to return on investment (ROI)
  • Is clearly understood by all audiences (i.e. those that have used it and those that are new).

In the event that the validation is not achieved, it is recommended that you use the learnings to either adapt the definition and proceed with further clarification or abandon the project instead of continuing down a path that does not promise an ROI.

Learn more about our process

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We are actively looking for feedback on how to improve this resource. Please send us a note to inquiries@delasign.com with any thoughts or feedback you may have.
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