User Research: How to gather, analyse and deliver findings that make a difference eBook

Ivanka Majic’s eBook ‘User Research’ is a practical guide to:

• learning about the people and communities who use design
• applying that knowledge to make informed design decisions

Drawing on 3 decades of experience in technology and research, Ivanka describes how to:

• understand the project
• design and plan the research
• gather and analyse the data
• deliver the research
• develop as a user researcher

‘User Research’ is for experienced researchers as well as those new to the profession, or people who want to begin gathering evidence.

About the author

Ivanka Majic works in technology. She was head of design for Ubuntu, service managed Digital Marketplace through to beta, and was acting director of digital for the Labour Party. She has been doing user research for over 25 years. She lives in Brighton, where she collaborates with the University of Brighton on sustainability research for hospitality, and runs restaurantsbrighton.co.uk and the BRAVOs with her husband and a small but mighty team.

Read a sample from the eBook

User research is not a democracy. We aren’t asking people to vote or express a preference. We are always aiming to understand the intended users and their needs and behaviours.

Even in large-scale quantitative surveys, knowing how many people prefer something isn’t helpful unless you also understand why they prefer it and what motivates that preference.

For example, we might do usability testing on a form that uncovers some unclear questions. When I’m presenting the findings I can lead with a statement, such as “All participants struggled with the form.” That is true of what happened. It tells everyone there is something that needs work. It represents some kind of consensus. But it isn’t presented as a design problem that can be fixed.

Sometimes a statement like that is useful to get people’s attention, but it only becomes a useful finding when it is explained. User research findings are most useful when it is clear how you can act on them.

What did people struggle with? Was it the size of the buttons? The wording of the questions? Were we asking them for some information they didn’t have to hand?

The answers to any of those will help us improve the form and better meet the user needs.