 When you film or record someone without their permission, you are essentially evading their privacy and simply put, it’s illegal and unethical.  
- Respect your participant’s privacy. You want them to trust you. 
- If they aren’t okay with being filmed, DON’T FILM THEM. 
- Focus your time on listening and observing while taking notes on the important things (mannerisms, behavior, etc.) vs purely relying on a recording. 
- In general, you want to be able to gather as much data as possible during the interview and not do that after the interview to save time and focus on more synthesizing data/redefining data. 

Always Ask if it is Okay to Film/Record

You don’t want to lead users on because it affects the validity of your study. Did they answer on their own or did you prompt them to answer in a certain way? 

It’s okay to push them to talk more. Whether it’s saying 
- Can you tell me more?
- Why did x?

Do not ask leading questions

Make sure participants feel comfortable before the actual interview begins. 

It’s okay to say whatever they want or do something as though you are not in the room with them. 

Reassure Your Interviewees

If something happens where your participant begins to do something unrelated to the study... it is okay to nudge them and help them get back on track. 

This could be 
- Directing them to the task they need to do
- Repeating instructions. 


Observe Then Intervene if Necessary 

- Don’t rush your users.
- Listen to whatever they say or do.

The time in which a user takes to do something can reveal a lot about the efficiency of something which plays a big part in making a good product. Even the smallest action they do can speak volumes than the things they say. 

Be Patient 

We need to tell them as concisely as possible what they need to do. 

Whether this is:
- Speaking out loud when evaluating a web-page.
- Performing tasks as thought we weren’t there to moderate them. 
- For the participant, this gives them clarity for what they need to do and for us, it gives us more “accurate” results in context to the goals of the study. 

Be Clear With Your Directions

Sometimes technical issues may affect the fluidity of a study which wastes time for both you and the participant. You want to test your study (i.e. pilot studies) before the actual study happens in order to alleviate any issues that may happen during the study in order to focus your time on the participant and gather valuable data.  Technical issues which happen during the study affect your focus and skew your results. 

Troubleshoot Before not During

- Always ask if it's okay to film/record.
- Do not ask leading questions.
- Reassure your interviewees.
- Observe, then intervene if necessary.
- Be patient.
- Be clear with your directions.
- Troubleshoot before session.

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University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

UX research methods can be used to generate insights about users’ behaviors, motivations, attitudes, and needs. You can use different UX research methods to assess pain points and highlight opportunities to improve the user experience of a product.

UX Research Methods

"User research is the methodic study of target users—including their needs and pain points—so designers have the sharpest possible insights to work with to make the best designs. User researchers use various methods to expose problems and design opportunities, and find crucial information to use in their design process."

User Research

Eaton, T. (2018, February 2). Valuable tips for conducting user research no one really talks about. Medium. Retrieved September 21, 2021, from https://uxplanet.org/valuable-tips-for-conducting-user-research-no-one-really-talks-about-fd956d92fbe0. 

Valuable Tips for  Conducting User and UX Research

- Field Study - we can see them do the task and get them to do what we want them to do, see what people do and how they work, including their living and work space and general home environment. The goal of Field Study is to observe people in their natural environment. 
- Ethnographic studies - A form of Field Study where you embed yourself in someone's life and see how they behave. This is rare to do as it is usually done over a long period of time, such as a month or a year. 
- Contextual inquiry -A form of Field Study where while observing you are asking questions, whether it's a set list of questions or clarifying questions.


Field Studies vs. Ethnographic Studies vs Contextual Inquiry

Methods used by UX researchers to analyze and interpret data that is collected.

Data analysis and interpretation methods in UX research

Research methods used by researchers to collect qualitative or quantitative data in studies.

Data collection methods in UX research

User Research employs a variety of methods to assess, test, and evaluate users and products.  Most studies would benefit from using a variety of methods but most people don't know what to use when. This article aims to help with this.

Dimensions of User-Experience (UX) Research Methods

Field studies/ lab studies are technically considered a UX research methods because we can use multiple data collection methods within them. Node topics can repeat but:  
- nodes in UX Research methods: focus on how to conduct method
- nodes in Data Collection methods: focus on how to extract Data 

Organization of Data Collection Methods inside UX Research Methods 

A research method where a researcher in a structured setting asks an individual questions about any given topic for the purpose of collecting data about that topic.  From a UX perspective, interviews are valued insofar as they solicit the real opinions and experiences that users have when interacting with any given site or system, and the information collected can help improve that system. 

User Interviews

Valuable Tips for Conducting User and UX Research

User research methods can be divided into two subsets: 
- Quantitative 
- Qualitative

User Research Methods

Having the appropriate participant pool is the foundation of conducting successful user research. The researchers need to recruit users who can represent the target group/end users in order to improve the products based on results and feedback.

User Research Participants

Can this be made simpler through paraphrasing rather than direct quoting from a source?

Paraphrase This

Usability testing is a method of testing the functionality of a website, app, or other digital product by observing real users as they attempt to complete tasks on it. The users are usually observed by researchers working for a business.
User Testing is the best way to discover flaws in 1Cademy. It can discover various problems users deal with whther in design, functionality, usability, or structure.

User Testing

The practice of studying user interactions and their experiences to design human-centered products that address their needs through quantitative and/or qualitative research with either an attitudinal and/or behavioral approach. UX Research reveals valuable information for the product at any point in an iterative design process.

User experience (UX) research

- 1 - Define user groups
- 2 - Plan for user involvement
- 3 - Conduct user research
- 4 - Validate the user group definitions
- 5 - Generate user requirements

User Research Process

In the context of user research, stakeholders are individuals or groups who can facilitate the research by providing relevant information and support, or who will be impacted by the project's outcome. Involving them is essential as they can offer practical suggestions for product development. Key stakeholder categories include business (e.g., product managers), engineering (e.g., technical support), and UX (e.g., other designers and researchers).

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