User Research

User Research Patterns

Research Method Selection

Method Matrix

Method Selection by Phase

Discover → Interviews, diary studies, ethnography
Define → Affinity mapping, synthesis, personas
Design → Card sorting, prototype testing
Validate → Usability testing, A/B tests
Post-launch → Surveys, analytics, retention analysis

User Interviews

Recruiting

• Sample size: 5 users per distinct segment (Nielsen's rule for usability)
• Recruiting channels: Existing users, user panel (Respondent.io, UserTesting), LinkedIn, Reddit
• Screening criteria: Write a screener with 5-8 questions to qualify participants

Interview Guide Template

Study: [Name]  Duration: 60 min  Moderator: ___

INTRO (5 min)
"Thanks for joining. I'm [name] from [company]. We're doing research to 
understand how people [problem area]. There are no right or wrong answers—
we want to understand your actual experience. This session will be recorded. 
Any questions before we start?"

WARM-UP (5 min)
- "Tell me about your role"
- "What does a typical day look like?"

CURRENT BEHAVIOR (20 min)
- "Tell me about the last time you [task related to problem]"
- "Walk me through exactly what you did, step by step"
- "What tools did you use?"
- "What was hard about that?"
- "What did you do when [specific friction point]?"

PROBE DEEPER (15 min)
- "Why did you do it that way?"
- "What would ideal look like?"
- "How often does this happen?"
- "Who else is involved?"

CONCEPT TESTING (10 min) [optional]
- "Here's something we're considering. What's your first reaction?"
- "What would you expect to happen when you [action]?"
- "Who would use this?"

WRAP-UP (5 min)
- "Is there anything else you think I should know?"
- "Is there anyone else you think I should talk to?"

Interview Best Practices

• Silence is ok — let it breathe, don't fill it
• Ask about past behavior, not hypothetical ("would you")
• Avoid leading: NOT "Would you say the checkout is confusing?" → "Walk me through what happened in checkout"
• 5 Whys: keep asking "why" to get to root motivation
• One question at a time — don't bundle multiple questions

Usability Testing

Moderated Usability Test Plan

Objective: Evaluate [specific design / flow] for [user goal]

Tasks:
1. "You just signed up. Show me how you'd [first task]."
   Success criteria: [what counts as success]
   Metrics: Time on task, errors, completion rate

2. "Now, [second task]."
   Success criteria: ___

Observation notes:
- Verbal think-aloud
- Body language / hesitation
- Errors and recovery attempts
- Exact quotes

Metrics to capture per task:
[ ] Completion rate (%)
[ ] Time on task (seconds)
[ ] Error count
[ ] Satisfaction (1-7 scale after each task)

SUS (System Usability Scale)

10-item survey, 5-point Likert, scored 0-100:

• 80.3: Excellent (A)

• 68-80.3: Good (B/C)
• 51-68: OK (D)
• < 51: Poor (F)

Questions alternate positive/negative phrasing to detect satisficing.

Card Sorting

Open Card Sort (Discovery)

Participants group cards and name categories themselves.

• Use: Information architecture discovery, navigation labels
• Tool: Optimal Workshop, Maze, physical index cards
• Cards: 30-40 items max, 15-20 participants

Closed Card Sort (Validation)

Participants sort cards into predefined categories.

• Use: Validate proposed structure, find misfits
• Cards: Same items, categories you've designed

Analysis

Dendogram: Shows clusters of items frequently sorted together
Similarity matrix: % of participants who grouped items together
Most common category labels → use as navigation terms

Affinity Mapping

Process

1. Collect raw observations — quotes, behaviors, pain points on sticky notes (one per note)
2. Silent sort — team members group similar notes without talking
3. Label clusters — write a label that captures the theme
4. Find meta-themes — group clusters into higher-level themes
5. Prioritize — vote on most important or most frequent themes

Note Format

[What happened]: "The user spent 3 minutes looking for the settings icon"
[Quote]: "I had no idea where to find my account info"
[Inference]: Users expect account controls in top-right corner

Diary Studies

Diary Study Protocol

• Duration: 1-4 weeks of participant self-logging
• Frequency: Daily or event-triggered entries
• Prompts:
  • "Describe what you just did related to [topic]"
  • "Take a screenshot and explain what you're seeing"
  • "Rate your frustration right now (1-10) and explain"
• Tools: WhatsApp group, Google Form, dscout, Notion form

Personas

Evidence-Based Persona Template

Name: [Fictional but realistic]
Photo: [Stock photo]
Role: [Job title]
Age: [Range]
Location: [Where they work/live]

Quote: "[Verbatim quote that captures their worldview]"

Goals:
• [Primary goal]
• [Secondary goal]

Frustrations:
• [Pain point 1 — backed by research]
• [Pain point 2]

Behaviors:
• Uses [tools] for [tasks]
• Checks [channels] for [information]

Decision process:
• Who influences their decisions?
• What criteria matter most?

How we help:
• [How your product maps to their goal]

Anti-pattern: Demographic Persona

Avoid personas based only on age/gender/income without behavioral grounding. A 45-year-old CFO and a 45-year-old nurse have very different jobs to be done.

Research Synthesis

Insight Statement Format

[User group] needs a way to [achieve goal] 
because [underlying motivation or barrier].

Example:
"Senior engineers need a way to communicate architecture decisions
to junior teammates because context switching to explain slows
down their deep work and creates repeated questions."

Opportunity → HMW Framing

Convert insights to "How Might We" questions:

• Insight: Users abandon checkout when asked for account creation
• HMW: "How might we let users complete purchase without creating an account?"