User Research – Design and Code

User Research

The Best User Research Happens in Silence

“I don’t want to waste time doing user research because that will only give us something trivial.” That was one of the many reasons I heard from other designers about why we shouldn’t do user research.

“Research” seems to be a dry word, something in stark contrast with the beautiful colors, the nice-looking visuals that some of us are so obsessed with. Combined with the fact that poorly planned and conducted research reveals only answers that we already kind of knew, no wonder some of us embrace the kind of misconception that doing research is not helpful at all.

Knowing the right way to research is hugely important in product design. To have deep and meaningful insights, it’s best to shut up, observe and analyze. That’s, in my opinion, how the best research happens.

5 Examples of Clever Use of Cognitive Biases in Product Design

How can we go beyond visuals when designing digital products?

So far in my blog, I’ve covered two ways to do that: One is to understand the user mental model. Another is to be more cognizant of the relationship between design and metrics. There’s a third way, which is to leverage cognitive biases.

According to verywellmind.com, cognitive biases are systematic errors in our thinking. They are the attempts of our brains to simplify information processing. They serve as heuristics, or rules of thumb, that can help us make decisions faster.

If you’re new to cognitive biases, here are five real-life examples I’ve collected that beautifully illustrate how they can be used in product design. Definitions of the biases below are pulled from Wikipedia.

UX Nuggets: User Mental Model

In user experience design, if you want to go beyond visuals and move to the next level, a critical concept you’ll need to know is the user mental model, because it can help you create smooth interactions.

User Research

I Tried usertesting.com, and It Was a Breeze

Two weeks ago, I tried usertesting.com for the first time because I needed to conduct a usability test. It was a tool recommended by a coworker, and I found it really helpful. If you’re a UX researcher or designer out there who need to conduct interviews or user studies, give it a try and you could be happily surprised.

3 Ways to Get Survey Respondents for User Research

Surveys are a great way for us to understand our target users during the discovery phase of a UX project. Using just a Google form or Microsoft form, we can reach out to potential users, asking them questions without being constrained by time or location. Oftentimes, the hard part of conducting a survey is getting respondents. Below are 3 ways to do that.