what is primary research and secondary research in ux design

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Secondary research in ux.

February 20, 2022 2022-02-20

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You don’t have to do all the user-research work yourself. If somebody else already ran a study (and published it), grab it!

Have you ever completed a project only to find out that something very similar has already been done in your organization a couple of years ago? That situation is common, especially with rising employee-churn rates, and fueled the popularity of research repositories (e.g., Microsoft Human Insights System) and the growth of the  research-operations community . It should also inspire practitioners to do more secondary research.

Secondary research,  also known as desk research or, in academic contexts, literature review, refers to the act of gathering prior research findings and other relevant information related to a new project. It is a foundational part of any emerging research project and provides the project with background and context. Secondary research allows us to stand on the shoulders of giants and not to reinvent the wheel every time we initiate a new program or plan a study.

This article provides a step-by-step guide on how to conduct secondary research in UX. The key takeaway is that this type of research is not solely an intellectual exercise, but a way to minimize research costs, win internal stakeholders and get scaffolding for your own projects.

Academic publications include a literature review at the beginning to showcase context or known gaps and to justify the motivation for the research questions. However, the task of incorporating previous results is becoming more and more challenging with a growing number of publications in all fields. Therefore, practitioners across disciplines (for instance in eHealth, business, education, and technology) develop method guidelines for secondary research.  

In This Article:

When to conduct secondary research, types of secondary research, how to conduct secondary research.

Secondary research should be a standard first step in any rigorous research practice, but it’s also often cost-effective in more casual settings. Whether you are just starting a new project, joining an existing one, or planning a primary research effort for your team, it is always good to start with a broad overview of the field and existent resources. That would allow you to synthesize findings and uncover areas where more research is needed. 

Secondary research shows which topics are particularly popular or important for your organization and what problems other researchers are trying to solve. This research method is widely discussed in library and information sciences but is often neglected in UX. Nonetheless, secondary research can be useful to uncover industry trends and to inspire further studies. For example, Jessica Pater and her colleagues looked at the foundational question of participant compensation in user studies. They could have opted for user interviews or a costly large-scale survey, yet through secondary research, they were able to review 2250 unique user studies across 1662 manuscripts published in 2018-2019. They found inconsistencies in participant compensation and suggested changes to the current practices and further research opportunities.

Secondary research can be divided into two main types:  internal  and  external research.

Internal secondary research  involves gathering all relevant research findings already available in your organization. These might include artifacts from the past primary research projects, maps (e.g.,  customer-journey map ,  service blueprint ), deliverables from external consultants, or results from different kinds of  workshops  (e.g., discovery, design thinking, etc.). Hopefully, these will be available in a  research repository . 

External secondary research  is focused on sources outside of your organization, such as academic journals, public libraries, open data repositories, internet searches, and white papers published by reputable organizations. For example, external resources for the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) can be found at the  Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) digital library ,  Journal of Usability Studies (JUS ), or research websites like  ours . University libraries and labs like  UCSD Geisel Library ,  Carnegie Mellon University Libraries ,  MIT D-Lab ,  Stanford d.school , and specialized portals like  Google Scholar  offer another avenue for directed search. 

Our goal is to have the necessary depth, rigor, and usefulness for practitioners. Here are the 4 steps for conducting secondary research:

• Choose the topic of research & write a  problem statement . 

Write a concise description of the problem to be solved. For example, if you are doing a website redesign, you might want to both learn the current standards and look at all the previous design iterations to avoid issues that your team already identified.

• Identi fy external and internal resources.

Peer-reviewed publications (such as those published in academic journals and conferences) are a fairly reliable source. They always include a section describing methods, data-collection techniques, and study limitations. If a study you plan to use does not include such information, that might be a red flag and a reason to further scrutinize that source. Public datasets also often present some challenges because of errors and inclusion criteria, especially if they were collected for another purpose. 

One should be cautious of the seemingly reputable “research” findings published across different websites in a form of blog posts, which could be opinion pieces, not backed up by primary research. If you encounter such a piece, ask yourself — is the conclusion of the writeup based on a real study? If the study was quantitative, was it properly analyzed (e.g., at the very least, are  confidence intervals  reported, and was  statistical significance  evaluated?). For all studies, was the method sound and nonbiased (e.g., did the study have  internal and external validity )?

A more nuanced challenge involves evaluating findings based on a different audience, which might not be always generalizable to your situation, but may form hypotheses worthy of investigating. For example, if a design pattern is found okay to use by young adults, you may still want to know if this finding will also be valid for older generations.

• Collect and analyze data from external and internal resources.

Remember that secondary research involves both the existing data and existing research. Both of those categories become helpful resources when they are critically evaluated for any inherent biases, omissions, and limitations. If you already have some secondary data in your organization, such as customer service logs or search logs, you should include them in secondary research alongside any existent analysis of such logs and previous reports. It is helpful to revisit previous findings, compare how they have or have not been implemented to refresh institutional memory and support future research initiatives.

• Refine your problem statement and determine what still needs to be investigated.

Once you collected the relevant information, write a summary of findings, and discuss them with your team. You might need to refine your problem statement to determine what information you still need to answer your research questions. Next time your team is planning to adopt a trendy new design pattern, it may be a good idea to go back and search the web or an academic database for any evaluations of that pattern.

It is important to note that secondary research is not a substitute for primary research. It is always better to do both. Although secondary research is often cost-effective and quick, its quality depends to a large extent on the quality of your sources. Therefore, before using any secondary sources, you need to identify their validity and limitations. 

Secondary (or desk) research involves gathering existing data from inside and outside of your organization. A literature review should be done more frequently in UX because it is a viable option even for researchers with limited time and budget. The most challenging part is to persuade yourself and your team that the existing data is worth being summarized, compared, and collated to increase the overall effectiveness of your primary research. 

Jessica Pater, Amanda Coupe, Rachel Pfafman, Chanda Phelan, Tammy Toscos, and Maia Jacobs. 2021. Standardizing Reporting of Participant Compensation in HCI: A Systematic Literature Review and Recommendations for the Field. In  Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.  Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 141, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445734

Hannah Snyder. 2019. Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines.  Journal of business research  104, 333-339. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039. 

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The 4 types of research methods in ui/ux design (and when to use them).

• User Experience
• 4 minute read
• by Rich Staats

Design research is a necessary part of creating a user-centered product. When done right, you’re able to gather data that helps you:

• Identify and solve relevant design problems.
• Better understand the product’s end users.
• Improve your designs based on data-driven research.

Though there are many different ways to collect data and do design research, they can broadly be categorized as either primary, secondary, exploratory, or evaluative research. In this article, we’ll explain these four types of research methods in the context of UI/UX design and when you should use them in your design process.

Primary research

Primary research is the simplest (and perhaps most effective) way to come up with data to get a better understanding of the audience for which you’re designing. The purpose of primary research is to validate design ideas and concepts early on in the design process. The data you collect from primary research allows you to design meaningful, user-centered solutions.

Let’s take a look at some examples of primary research:

Conducting interviews with individuals or in small groups is a great starting point, and there are many ways to go about it. Depending on your project, you might conduct direct interviews or indirect interviews. Direct interviews are simple question-answer format interviews whereas indirect interviews are set up in a more conversational style. You’ll also have to decide whether you’ll interview people in-person or remotely.

Focus groups

Focus groups are structured, group interviews in which a moderator guides the discussion. As a UI/UX designer, you might consider using this research method when you need to gather user insight quickly.

Usability testing

Once you develop a prototype, you can recruit test participants and conduct usability tests  to uncover foundational issues with the product’s user experience and gather user feedback. The idea is to define user goals and turn them into realistic task scenarios  that the test participants would have to complete using your prototype.

Secondary research

Secondary research is when you use existing books, articles, or research material to validate your design ideas and concepts or support your primary research. For example, you might want to use the material you gather from secondary research to:

• Explain the context behind your UI design.
• Build a case for your design decisions.
• Reinforce the data you gathered from primary research.

Generally speaking, secondary research is much easier (and faster) to do than primary research. You’ll be able to find most of the information you need on the internet, in the library, or your company’s archives. Here are some places you can collect secondary research from:

• Your company’s internal data, which may include information contained in your company’s files, databases and project reports.
• Client’s research department, e.g. the data your client has regarding user behavior with previous versions of the website/application, user interests, etc.
• Industry statistics, i.e. the industry’s general consensus, standards and conventions.
• Relevant books, articles, case studies and magazines.

Websites have evolved a great deal over the last two decades, and so has the way users interact with them. This is why one of the most common challenges with secondary research in UI/UX design is outdated data. In such cases, UI/UX designers resort to other research methods (such as primary research or exploratory research) to gather the data they need.

Exploratory research

Exploratory research is usually conducted at the start of the design process with a purpose to help designers understand the problem they’re trying to solve. As such, it focuses on gathering a thorough understanding of the end user’s needs and goals.

In the Define the Problem stage of the design thinking process , you can use exploratory research techniques to develop a design hypothesis and validate it with the product’s intended user base. By doing so, you’ll be in a better position to make hypothesis-driven design decisions throughout the design process.

You can validate your hypothesis by running experiments. Here are some of the ways you can validate your assumptions depending on where you are in the design process:

• Conducting interviews and surveys
• Organizing focus groups
• Conducting usability tests
• Running various A/B tests

Essentially, you’re combining exploratory research and primary research techniques to define the problem accurately. You can do this by asking questions that encourage interview participants to explore different design concepts and think outside the box.

Before you begin collecting data, remember to write down the experiment you’re running and define the outcomes that validate your design hypothesis. After doing exploratory research, you should have enough data to begin designing a solution.

Evaluative research

Exploratory research gives you enough data to begin designing a solution. Once you have a prototype on hand, you can use evaluative research to test that solution with real users. The goal of evaluative research is to help designers gather feedback that allows them to improve  their product’s design.

There are two main functions of evaluative research: summative and formative .

• Summative evaluation is all about making a judgment regarding the efficacy of the product once it’s complete.
• Formative evaluation, on the other hand, focuses on evaluating the product and making improvements (i.e., detecting and eliminating usability problems) during the development process.

For example, you can conduct usability tests in which you ask test participants to use the product to perform a set of tasks. Keep in mind that the purpose of evaluative research is to gather feedback from users regarding your product’s design. In case you’re short on time or low on budget, you can choose to conduct usability studies that fit in your time and budget constraints (such as guerrilla usability testing ).

Deciding which research method to use depends on what data you’re trying to gather and where you are in the design process. The information you collect through your design research will enable you to make informed design decisions and create better user-centered products.

Let’s quickly recap the four types of research methods UI/UX designers can use in the design process:

• Primary research  is used to generate data by conducting interviews, surveys, and usability tests and/or organizing focus group sessions.
• With secondary research,  you’re able to use existing research material to validate your design ideas and support your primary research.
• Exploratory research  is when you come up with a design hypothesis and run experiments to validate it.
• Once you have a prototype, you can use evaluative research  to see if there’s any room for improvement.

Which of these research methods do you use in your design process and how? Let us know in the comments section below.

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The Complete Guide To UX Research (User Research)

UX Research is a term that has been trending in the past few years. There's no surprise why it's so popular - User Experience Research is all about understanding your customer and their needs, which can help you greatly improve your conversion rate and user experience on your website. In this article, we're going to provide a complete guide to UX research as well as how to start implementing it in your organisation.Throughout this article we will give you a complete high-level overview of the entire UX Research meaning, supported by more in-depth articles for each topic.

Introduction to UX Research

Wether you're a grizzled UX Researcher who's been in the field for decades or a UX Novice who's just getting started, UX Research is an integral aspect of the UX Design process. Before diving into this article on UX research methods and tools, let's first take some time to break down what UX research actually entails.

Each of these UX Research Methods has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it's important to understand your goals for the UX Research activities you want to complete.

What is UX Research?

UX research begins with UX designers and UX researchers studying the real world needs of users. User Experience Research is a process --it's not just one thing-- that involves collecting data, conducting interviews, usability testing prototypes or website designs with human participants in order to deeply understand what people are looking for when they interact with a product or service.

By using different sorts of user-research techniques you can better understand not only people desires from their product of service, but a deeper human need which can serve as an incredibly powerful opportunity.

There's an incredible amount of different sorts of research methods. Most of them can be divided in two camps: Qualitative and Quantitative Research.

Qualitative research - Understanding needs can be accomplished through observation, in depth interviews and ethnographic studies. Quantitative Research focusses more on the numbers, analysing data and collecting measurable statistics.

Within these two groups there's an incredible amount of research activities such as Card Sorting, Competitive Analysis, User Interviews, Usability Tests, Personas & Customer Journeys and many more. We've created our The Curated List of Research Techniques to always give you an up-to-date overview.

Why is UX Research so important?

When I started my career as a digital designer over 15 years ago, I felt like I was always hired to design the client's idea. Simply translate what they had in their head into a UI without even thinking about changing the user experience. Needless to say: This is a recipe for disaster. An no, this isn't a "Client's don't know anything" story. Nobody knows! At least in the beginning. The client had "the perfect idea" for a new digital feature. The launch date was already set and the development process had to start as soon as possible.

When the feature launched, we expected support might get a few questions or even receive a few thank-you emails. We surely must've affected the user experience somehow!

But that didn't happen. Nothing happened. The feature wasn't used.

Because nobody needed it.

This is exactly what happens when you skip user experience research because you think you're solving a problem that "everybody" has, but nobody really does.

Conducting User Experience research can help you to have a better understanding of your stakeholders and what they need. This is incredibly valuable information from which you can create personas and customer journeys. It doesn't matter if you're creating a new product or service or are improving an existing once.

Five Steps for conducting User Research

Created by Eric Sanders , the Research Learning Spiral provides five main steps for your user research.

• Objectives: What are the knowledge gaps we need to fill?
• Hypotheses: What do we think we understand about our users?
• Methods: Based on time and manpower, what methods should we select?
• Conduct: Gather data through the selected methods.
• Synthesize: Fill in the knowledge gaps, prove or disprove our hypotheses, and discover opportunities for our design efforts.

1: Objectives: Define the Problem Statement

A problem statement is a concise description of an issue to be addressed or a condition to be improved upon. It identifies the gap between the current (problem) state and desired (goal) state of a process or product.

Problem statements are the first steps in your research because they help you to understand what's wrong or needs improving. For example, if your product is a mobile app and the problem statement says that customers are having difficulty paying for items within the application, then UX research will lead you (hopefully) down that path. Most likely it will involve some form of usability testing.

Check out this article if you'd like to learn more about Problem Statements.

2: Hypotheses: What we think we know about our user groups

After getting your Problem Statement right, there's one more thing to do before doing any research. Make sure you have created a clear research goal for yourself. How do you identify Research Objectives? By asking questions:

• Who are we doing this for? The starting point for your personas!
• What are we doing? What's happening right now? What do our user want? What does the company need?
• Think about When. If you're creating a project plan, you'll need a timeline. It also helps to keep in mind when people are using your products or service.
• Where is the logical next step. Where do people use your product? Why there? What limitations are there to that location? Where can you perform research? Where do your users live?
• Why are we doing this? Why should or shouldn't we be doing this? Why teaches you all about motivations from people and for the project.
• Last but not least: How? Besides thinking about the research activities itself, think about how people will test a product or feature. How will the user insights (outcome of the research) work be used in the  User Centered Design - and development process?

3: Methods: Choose the right research method

UX research is about exploration, and you want to make sure that your method fits the needs of what you're trying to explore. There are many different methods. In a later chapter we'll go over the most common UX research methods .

For now, all you need to keep in mind that that there are a lot of different ways of doing research.

You definitely don't need to do every type of activity but it would be useful to have a decent understanding of the options you have available, so you pick the right tools for the job.

4. Conduct: Putting in the work

Apply your chosen user research methods to your Hypotheses and Objectives! The various techniques used by the senior product designer in the BTNG Design Process can definitely be overwhelming. The product development process is not a straight line from A to B. UX Researchers often discover new qualitative insights in the user experience due to uncovering new (or incorrect) user needs. So please do understand that UX Design is a lot more than simply creating a design.

5. Synthesise: Evaluating Research Outcome

So you started with your Problem Statement (Objectives), you drafted your hypotheses, chose the top research methods, conducted your research as stated in the research process and now "YOU ARE HERE".

The last step is to Synthesise what you've learned. Start by filling in the knowledge gaps. What unknowns are you now able to answer?

Which of your hypotheses are proven (or disproven)?

And lastly, which new exciting new opportunities did you discover!

Evaluating the outcome of the User Experience Research is an essential part of the work.

Make sure to keep them brief and to-the-point. A good rule of thumb is to include the top three positive comments and the top three problems.

UX Research Methods

Choosing the right ux research method.

Making sure you use the right types of user experience research in any project is essential. Since time and money is always limited, we need to make sure we always get the most bang-for-our-buck. This means we need to pick the UX research method that will give us the most insights as possible for a project.

Three things to keep in mind when making a choice among research methodologies:

• Stages of the product life cycle - Is it a new or existing product?
• Quantitative vs. Qualitative - In depth talk directly with people or data?
• Attitudinal vs. Behavioural - What people say vs what people do

Image from Nielsen Norman Group

Most frequently used methods of UX Research

• Card Sorting: Way before UX Research even was a "thing", psychological research originally used Card Sorting.  With Card Sorting, you try to find out how people group things and what sort of hierarchies they use. The BTNG Research Team is specialised in remote research. So our modern Card Sorting user experience research have a few modern surprises.
• Usability Testing: Before launching a new feature or product it is important to do user testing. Give them tasks to complete and see how well the prototype works and learn more about user behaviours.
• Remote Usability Testing: During the COVID-19 lockdown, finding the appropriate ux research methods haven't always been that easy. Luckily, we've adopted plenty of modern solutions that help us with collecting customer feedback even with a remote usability test.
• Research-Based User Personas: A profile of a fictional character representing a specific stakeholder relevant to your product or service. Combine goals and objections with attitude and personality. The BTNG Research Team creates these personas for the target users after conducing both quantitative and qualitative user research.
• Field Studies: Yes, we actually like to go outside. What if your product isn't a B2B desktop application which is being used behind a computer during office hours? At BTNG we have different types of Field Studies which all help you gain valuable insights into human behaviour and the user experience.
• The Expert Interview: Combine your talent with that of one of BTNG's senior researcher. Conducting ux research without talking to the experts on your team would be a waste of time. In every organisation there are people who know a lot about their product or service and have unique insights. We always like to include them in the UX Research!
• Eye Movement Tracking: If you have an existing digital experience up and running - Eye Movement Tracking can help you to identify user experience challenges in your funnel. The outcome shows a heatmap of where the user looks (and doesn't).

Check out this article for a in-depth guide on UX Research Methods.

Qualitative vs. Quantitative UX research methods

Since this is a topic that we can on about for hours, we decided to split this section up in a few parts. First let's start with the difference.

Qualitative UX Research is based on an in-depth understanding of the human behaviour and needs. Qualitative user research includes interviews, observations (in natural settings), usability tests or contextual inquiry. More than often you'll obtain unexpected, valuable insights through this from of user experience research methods.

Quantitative UX Research relies on statistical analysis to make sense out of data (quantitative data) gathered from UX measurements: A/B Tests - Surveys etc. Quantitative UX Research is as you might have guessed, a lot more data-orientated.

If you'd like to learn more about these two types of research, check out these articles:

Get the most out of your User Research with Qualitative Research

Quantitative Research: The Science of Mining Data for Insights

Balancing qualitative and quantitative UX research

Both types of research have amazing benefits but also challenges. Depending on the research goal, it would be wise to have a good understanding which types of research you would like to be part of the ux design and would make the most impact.

The BTNG Research Team loves to start with Qualitative Research to first get a better understanding of the WHY and gain new insights. To validate these new learning they use Quantitative Research in your user experience research.

A handful of helpful UX Research Tools

The landscape of UX research tools has been growing rapidly. The BTNG Research team use a variety of UX research tools to help with well, almost everything. From running usability tests, creating prototypes and even for recruiting participants.

In the not-too-distant future, we'll create a Curated UX Research Tool article. For now, a handful of helpful UX Research Tools should do the trick.

• For surveys : Typeform
• For UX Research Recruitment: Dscout
• For analytics and heatmaps: VWO
• For documenting research: Notion & Airtable
• For Customer Journey Management : TheyDo
• For transcriptions: Descript
• For remote user testing: Maze
• For Calls : Zoom

Surveys: Typeform

What does it do? Survey Forms can be boring. Typeform is one of those ux research tools that helps you to create beautiful surveys with customisable templates and an online editor. For example, you can add videos to your survey or even let people draw their answers instead of typing them in a text box. Who is this for? Startup teams that want to quickly create engaging and modern looking surveys but don't know how to code it themselves.

Highlights: Amazing UX, looks and feel very modern, create forms with ease that match your branding, great reports and automation.

Why is it our top pick? Stop wasting time on ux research tools with too many buttons. Always keep the goal of your ux research methods in mind. Keep things lean, fast and simple with a product with amazing UX.

https://www.typeform.com/

UX Research Recruitment: Dscout

What does it do? Dscout is a remote research platform that helps you recruit participants for your ux research (the right ones). With a pool of +100.000 real users, our user researchers can hop on video calls and collect data for your qualitative user research. So test out those mobile apps user experience and collect all the data! Isn't remote research amazing?

Highlights: User Research Participant Recruitment, Live Sessions,Prototype feedback, competitive analysis, in-the-wild product discovery, field work supplementations, shopalongs.

Why is it our top pick? Finding the right people is more important than finding people fast. BTNG helps corporate clients in all types of industries which require a unique set of users, each time. Dscout helps us to quickly find the right people and make sure our user research is delivered on time and our research process stays in tact.

https://dscout.com/

Analytics and heatmaps: VWO

What does it do? When we were helping the Financial Times, our BTNG Research Team collaborated with FT Marketing Team who were already running experiments with VWO. 50% of the traffic would see one version of a certain page while 50% saw a different version. Which performed best? Perhaps you'd take a look at time-on-page. But more importantly: Which converts better!

Hotjar provides Product Experience Insights that show how users behave and what they feel strongly about, so product teams can deliver real value to them.

Highlights: VWO is an amazing suite that does it all:Automated Feedback, Heatmaps, EyeTracking, User Session Recordings (Participant Tracking) and one thing that Hotjar doesn't do: A/B Testing.

Why is it our top pick? Even tho it's an expensive product, it does give you value for money. Especially the reports with very black and white outcomes are great for presenting the results you've made.

https://vwo.com/

Documenting research: Notion

What does it do? Notion is our command center, where we store and constantly update our studio's aggregate wisdom. It is a super-flexible tool that helps to organise project documentation, prepare for interviews with either clients or their product users, accumulate feedback, or simply take notes.

Highlights: A very clean, structured way to write and share information with your team in a beautiful designed app with an amazing user experience.

Why is it our top pick? There's no better, more structured way to share information.

https://www.notion.so/

Customer Journey Management: TheyDo

What does it do? TheyDo is a modern Journey Management Platform. It centralises your journeys in an easy to manage system, where everyone has access to a single source of truth of the customer experience. It’s like a CMS for journeys.

Highlights: Customer Journey Map designer, Personas and 2x2 Persona Matrix, Opportunity & Solution Management & Prioritisation.

Why is it our top pick? TheyDo fits perfectly with BTNG's way of helping companies become more customer-centric. It helps to visualise the current experience of stakeholders. With those insight which we capture from interviews or usability testing, we discover new opportunities. A perfect starting point for creating solutions!

https://www.theydo.io/

Transcriptions: Descript

What does it do? Descript is an all-in-one solution for audio & video recording, editing and transcription. The editing is as easy as a doc. Imagine you’ve interviewed 20 different people about a new flavor of soda or a feature for your app. You just drop all those files into a Descript Project, and they show up in different “Compositions” (documents) in the sidebar. In a couple of minutes they’ll be transcribed, with speaker labels added automatically.

Highlights: Overdub, Filler Word Removal, Collaboration, Subtitles, Remote Recording and Studio Sound.

Why is it our top pick? Descript is an absolute monster when it comes to recording, editing and transcribing videos. It truly makes digesting the work after recording fast and even fun!

https://www.descript.com/

Remote user testing: Maze

What does it do? Maze is a-mazing remote user testing platform for unmoderated usability tests. With Maze, you can create and run in-depth usability tests and share them with your testers via a link to get actionable insights. Maze also generates a usability study report instantly so that you can share it with anyone.

It’s handy that the tool integrates directly with Figma, InVision, Marvel, and Sketch, thus, you can import a working prototype directly from the design tool you use. The BTNG Design Team with their Figma skills has an amazing chemistry with the Research Team due to that Figma/Maze integration.

Highlights: Besides unmoderated usability testing, Maze can help with different UX Research Methods, like card sorting, tree testing, 5-second testing, A/B testing, and more.

Why is it our top pick? Usability testing has been a time consuming way of qualitative research. Trying to find out how users interact (Task analysis) during an Interviews combined with keeping an eye on the prototype can be... a challenge. The way that Maze allows us to run (besides our hands on usability test) now also run unmoderated usability testing is a powerful weapon in our arsenal.

https://maze.co/

Calls: Zoom

What does it do? As the other video conferencing tools you can run video calls. But what makes Zoom a great tool? We feel that the integration with conferencing equipment is huge for our bigger clients. Now that there's also a Miro integration we can make our user interviews even more fun and interactive!

Highlights: Call Recording, Collaboration tools, Screen Sharing, Free trial, connects to conferencing equipment, host up to 500 people!

Why is it our top pick? Giving the research participants of your user interviews a pleasant experience is so important. Especially when you're looking for qualitative feedback on your ux design, you want to make sure they feel comfortable. And yes, you'll have to start using a paid version - but the user interface of Zoom alone is worth it. Even the Mobile App is really solid.

https://zoom.us/

In Conclusion

No matter what research methodology you rely on if it is qualitative research methods or perhaps quantitative data - keep in mind that user research is an essential part of the Design Process. Not only your UX designer will thank you, but also your users.

In every UX project we've spoken to multiple users - no matter if it was a task analysis, attitudinal research or focus groups... They all had one thing in common:

People thanked us for taking the time to listen to them.

So please, stop thinking about the potential UX research methods you might use in your design process and consider what it REALLY is about:

Solving the right problems for the right people.

And there's only one way to get there: Trying things out, listening, learning and improving.

Looking for help? Reach out!

See the Nielsen Norman Group’s list of user research tips: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-research-cheat-sheet/

Find an extensive range of user research considerations, discussed in Smashing Magazine: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2018/01/comprehensive-guide-ux-research/

Here’s a convenient and example-rich catalogue of user research tools: https://blog.airtable.com/43-ux-research-tools-for-optimizing-your-product/

Related Posts

How to generate UX Insights

The importance of User Research

How to recruit participants

What is ux research.

UX Research Tools

15 Most Effective UX Research Methods: Pros and Cons

Understanding UX research is just the first step. The real game-changer?

Using the right methods .

When you know how and when to apply the right UX research methods in your design projects, you'll:

• Gather relevant and appropriate data
• Gain deeper and higher quality insights into user needs, preferences, and pain points
• Maximize the use of limited resources — time, budget, and manpower included
• Make informed decisions and recommendations that make sense to your stakeholders

Let's explore why is UX research important in the first place, the common UX research methods and how you can excel with best practices.

If you're interested in learning how to make data-backed design solutions with the right planning and execution, check out our UX research course by Michael Wong, also known as Mizko. ‍

UX research: What is it?

Before we explore UX research methods, it's important to understand what is UX research . It's the process of understanding how users discover, interact, and use products to better our own as UX/UI designers.

Through user surveys, focus groups, usability testing, and A/B testing, UX research collects data to understand user behaviors, needs, and motivations.

This data is crucial for forming insights that help design and develop products and services centered around the user.

However, becoming skilled in UX research involves more than just understanding its principles. It's a skill that combines a deep understanding of user behavior and the ability to interpret data effectively.

Strong communication skills are another must-have, as presenting your findings and recommendations to your stakeholders is crucial to getting their buy-in.

Where you can learn UX research

To dive deeper into UX research, there are plenty of available resources available:

• Best UX research courses : In this list you'll find the top UX research courses suitable for beginners and seasoned professionals.
• Books and eBooks: Titles like “Think Like a UX Researcher" by David Travis & Philip Hodgson or “Just Enough Research” by Erika Hall offer foundational knowledge and insights.
• Podcasts and YouTube: Mizko's Youtube channel explores topics on UX research and product design. UXPodcast also covers various UX design and research topics.
• Community: UXDesign Subreddit and Design are online communities where UX professionals can network, share ideas, and seek advice.

Qualitative UX research methods

In UX/UI design, qualitative research methods tell the story behind the user experience.

These methods focus on gathering rich, in-depth insights about users’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In user interviews, for example, UX researchers can listen and observe their interactions in real-time.

These insights are invaluable for refining the user experience to better meet their needs and expectations.

1. User interviews

What is it: Deep-dive conversations with users about their experiences, needs, and frustrations. This UX research method provides rich and detailed insights into individual perspectives. ‍

Best to use for:

• Understanding deep user motivations and experiences
• Gathering detailed feedback on specific features or issues
• Building user personas and journey maps
• Post-launch product evaluation

Potential drawbacks:

• Subjectivity and bias: Responses in user interviews can be influenced by personal bias or the desire to provide socially acceptable answers
• Time and resource intensive: Recruiting, conducting, transcribing, and analyzing user interviews can be time-consuming and expensive. This might be challenging for smaller teams or tight timelines
• Limited representativeness: The insights gathered are often from a small sample of users, which may not accurately reflect the broader user base
• Memory limitations: Users may have difficulty recalling past experiences accurately
• Influence of interviewer: How questions are asked, or the interviewer's demeanor can influence responses

Best practices:

• Prepare open-ended questions that prompt detailed responses.
• Create a comfortable environment where participants feel safe sharing honest opinions.
• Actively listen to understand and let them fully express their thoughts before offering any input.
• Be mindful of your own biases and preconceptions, and approach each interview with an open mind
• Prepare follow-up questions to explore deeper insights based on participants' initial responses
• Use the appropriate tools to speed up your workflows, such as recording and transcribing apps (with the interviewee's consent, of course)

Learn step-by-step on how to conduct user interviews in our UX research course . It covers several topics: sample sizing, participant selection, efficient onboarding procedures, and effective note-taking techniques.

Mizko also breaks down a real user interview, sharing his thought process. This can equip you with valuable insights and preparation for your upcoming user interviews.

2. Focus groups

What is it: Real-life user review sessions where a small group openly discusses your product with a moderator. This method uncovers collective views and diverse opinions.

• Exploring initial reactions and perceptions
• Understanding user attitudes and preferences
• Generating new ideas and insights
• Validating assumptions and hypotheses
• Groupthink: Participants may conform to the dominant views within the group
• Moderator influence: The moderator's style and biases can influence the direction and nature of the discussion
• Limited depth: Focus groups can sometimes prioritize breadth over depth, leading to a surface-level understanding of issues rather than detailed insights
• Contextual limitations: The artificial setting of a focus group can affect how participants respond
• Recruit a varied group that reflects different demographics.
• Use a skilled moderator to guide discussion and stay on course.
• Prepare a focused discussion guide with key questions while allowing for spontaneous conversation.
• Foster an environment where participants freely share without judgment.
• Keep discussions on track, but explore unexpected insights as they arise.

3. Usability testing

What is it: Observing real users as they interact with your product to identify usability issues and understand user-friendly elements.

• Identifying usability issues
• Validating design decisions
• Iterative design process
• Evaluating user satisfaction and effectiveness
• Limited scope: Usability tests often focus on specific aspects or features. This can potentially overlook broader issues or the overall user experience
• Artificial environment: Testing in a controlled environment may not accurately reflect real-world usage
• Participant bias: Users knowing they are being observed can influence their behavior, a phenomenon known as the Hawthorne effect, which might not represent their natural interactions with the product
• Resource intensive: Conducting thorough usability tests requires significant time, effort, and  cost
• Interpretation of results: Analyzing and interpreting the results of usability tests can be subjective, as it depends on the expertise of the researcher

‍ Best practices:

• Establish specific goals to ensure focused and actionable results.
• Select participants who accurately represent your target audience.
• Develop testing scenarios that mimic real-world use so users can interact with your product naturally and authentically.
• Carefully observe how participants use the product – recording sessions can also be valuable for further analysis.

4. Concept testing

What is it: Presenting early-stage and high-level sketches, wireframes, or prototypes of a product or feature.

• Validating initial product concepts
• Refining and improving ideas
• Prioritizing features and functionality
• Limited feedback scope: Concept testing often focuses on initial reactions and may not provide comprehensive feedback on deeper usability or long-term engagement issues
• Risk of misinterpretation: Participants' feedback might be based on an incomplete understanding of the concept
• Influence of presentation: The way a concept is presented can heavily influence user feedback
• Early-stage bias: Users might favor familiar concepts over innovative ones due to a lack of context or understanding
• Participant diversity: If the sample of participants is not diverse or representative of the target audience, the feedback may not accurately reflect the broader user base's needs and reactions ‍ ‍
• Start with specific goals for what you want to learn from the concept testing.
• Present concepts clearly and concisely so that participants have a good understanding of what is being proposed
• Combine numerical ratings for quick, comparative insights with open-ended questions for deeper understanding and context.
• Use the feedback to refine and improve the concept.

5. Card sorting

What is it: Participants are given cards containing various topics and ideas. They are then instructed to group these cards based on their personal interpretation.

There are two types of card sorting: open cards and closed cards. In open card sorting, participants categorize cards with topics into groups they create. In closed card sorting, participants organize cards into predefined categories.

• Designing intuitive navigation
• Understanding user mental models
• Improving content findability
• Validating information architecture
• Identifying user language and terminology
• Limited to information architecture: Primarily focuses on categorization and hierarchy
• Participant subjectivity: Responses can be highly subjective and influenced by individual participants' understanding and perspectives
• May not reflect actual behavior: Theoretical categorization might not accurately mirror how users navigate real-world scenarios
• Set clear objectives to define and understand what you want to achieve
• Select participants who accurately represent your target audience
• Provide clear instructions so your participants understand the task and what each card represents
• Opt for open card sorting for exploratory insights and closed card sorting for validating existing structures.

6. Journey mapping/diary studies

What is it: Journal mapping is a user-directed form of documentation where participants record their experiences, interactions, and thoughts about a product or service over time.

Best used for:

• Understanding long-term user behavior
• Assessing how well a product fits into their daily routine
• Identifying evolving needs and issues
• Gathering in-depth user feedback

Potential drawbacks

• Time-consuming for participants: Requires a significant time commitment from users, which may lead to drop-offs or inconsistent data
• Subjectivity and bias in self-reported data: Data might be influenced by users' subjective perceptions and biases
• Potential for incomplete data: Participants may forget to record entries or certain experiences
• Resource-intensive analysis: Analyzing narrative and qualitative journal data can be time-consuming and complex
• For consistency and relevancy, provide clear guidelines and specific instructions on what and how to record.
• Design user-friendly journaling tools so that it's easy and convenient for users.
• Be mindful of participants' privacy, especially when dealing with personal or sensitive information.

Quantitative UX research methods

Quantitative UX research involves collecting and analyzing numerical data to focus on quantifiable aspects like user behavior, task completion times, click-through rates, and error frequencies.

The data you gather here is statistically significant and can be easily analyzed to spot trends, patterns, and general user behaviors.

1. User surveys

What is it: User surveys are structured questionnaires tailored to collect specific information from a broad user base efficiently. They include different types of questions, like multiple-choice, ratings, and open-ended questions, to collect a wide range of user feedback.

• Measuring user satisfaction
• Understanding user preferences
• Evaluating user needs and desires
• Market research
• Pre and post-release feedback
• Limited depth of responses: Surveys often provide surface-level insights and may miss nuanced details.
• Response bias: Users may provide socially desirable answers or may not fully engage with the survey, leading to skewed data.
• Low response rates: Getting users to complete surveys can be challenging, potentially leading to a small sample size.
• Misinterpretation of questions: Users might misunderstand questions, leading to inaccurate responses.
• Keep it short and focused to increase completion rates.
• Use clear and simple language to make questions easy to understand.
• Test your survey to identify any confusing questions or technical issues.
• Offer incentives when possible to help increase response rates and engagement.

2. A/B testing

What is it: A/B testing is a method in which two versions of a webpage or app feature are compared to see which performs better. This method tests various design, content, or functionality changes.

• Optimizing webpage layouts
• Testing the effectiveness of a feature
• Improving user experience
• Limited scope: Can only test one variable at a time, making it less effective for complex decision-making.
• Misinterpretation of results: Results can be misinterpreted if not properly set up or analyzed.
• User experience disruption: Frequent changes or tests might confuse or frustrate returning users.
• Overemphasis on short-term gains: May lead to focusing on immediate improvements rather than long-term user satisfaction.

Best practices

• Use a randomized and representative sample of your audience for testing.
• Limit variations to one main element per test to isolate its impact.
• Run both versions simultaneously to account for external factors like time of day or week.

3. Web analytics

What is it: Web analytics is about understanding how users interact with websites and tracking their actions and behavior. Collecting and analyzing this data offers valuable insights into user habits, website traffic patterns, and overall performance.

• Optimizing conversion rates
• Traffic and engagement analysis
• Data overload: Can lead to an overwhelming amount of data, making it challenging to identify actionable insights.
• Privacy concerns: Raises questions about user privacy and data security, especially with stringent privacy laws.
• Technical complexity: Requires a certain level of technical expertise to set up and interpret data correctly

‍ ‍ Best practices:

• Understand the metrics and what they represent thoroughly.
• Concentrate on metrics directly related to your business goals or key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Use insights to refine and improve your website continuously.
• Combine with other research methods for a comprehensive understanding of user behavior.

4. Usability metrics

What is it : Usability metrics turn the user experience into numbers to measure how easy, efficient, and satisfying a product is. They focus on collecting hard data over opinions and analyzing user performance and behavior.

• Evaluating user interface design: To assess how intuitive and user-friendly a website or application’s interface is.
• Improving user efficiency: Helps to understand and enhance how quickly and effectively users can complete tasks.
• Testing user satisfaction: Useful for determining users' satisfaction with their interaction experience.
• Identifying usability issues: Assists in pinpointing specific areas where users encounter difficulties or frustrations.
• Comparing design variations: Effective in comparing different design versions to see which performs better in terms of usability.
• Limited scope: Focuses mainly on usability aspects and might miss broader user experience issues.
• Contextual limitations: Data might not fully capture the context of user interactions, leading to incomplete insights.
• Reliance on test conditions: Results can be influenced by the specific conditions of the usability test, such as the test environment or task selection.
• Quantitative overemphasis: Over-reliance on numerical data might overlook qualitative feedback that provides deeper user insights.
• Define clear usability goals before conducting tests to ensure focused and relevant data collection.
• Choose metrics that best align with your usability goals and user tasks.
• Combine with qualitative methods for a comprehensive understanding of user experience.
• Use metrics as a continuous benchmark, regularly reviewing and updating them to track usability improvements.

5. Heatmaps

What is it: Heatmaps are visual tools that graphically show where users click, move, or scroll on a webpage. Color codes highlight which parts of a webpage draw the most attention and interaction

• Analyzing user engagement
• Improving website layout
• Content placement optimization
• Lacks context: Heatmaps show where users interact but don’t explain why, potentially missing the reasoning behind user behavior.
• Static data snapshot: Typically represents a snapshot in time and might not capture evolving interaction patterns.
• Over-simplification: Might oversimplify complex user behavior into basic interaction hotspots
• Device variation limitations: User interactions can vary significantly across different devices, which heatmaps might not fully capture.
• Use alongside other analytics tools for a more comprehensive understanding of user behavior.
• Continually update heatmaps and review them regularly to track changes and trends over time.
• Prioritize analyzing high-impact pages or sections of your website.
• Analyze heatmaps across various devices to understand different user experiences.
• Integrate with user feedback for deeper insights into user behavior and preferences.

What is primary and secondary research?

Primary and secondary research are two fundamental approaches to gathering information. Each serves a distinct role in the research process.

Primary research generates data through UX research methods, whether user interviews, surveys, and/or usability. Secondary research summarizes all the data and notes you've gathered in the primary research process.

Primary research

Primary research is key to gathering fresh, specific data directly related to your objectives. Both qualitative and quantitative UX research methods fall into primary research.  This method involves obtaining first-hand information, which means the data is original and tailored to your specific study needs.

For example, you are designing a music-listening app. In this stage, you can conduct the following primary UX research methods:

• Surveys : To gather information on user demographics, music preferences, and listening habits.
• User interviews : Potential users to understand their needs, frustrations, and desires on the existing music apps they use.

Secondary research

Secondary research refers to synthesizing and interpreting data collected through primary research methods. This phase is crucial for transforming raw data into actionable knowledge.

Here's a look at different types of secondary research methods in UX research: ‍

1. Affinity mapping

This method involves organizing qualitative data into groups or themes.

In the same example, you can use affinity mapping to categorize the information you've gotten from the surveys and user interviews into themes like 'Ease of Use,' 'Music Discovery,' 'Playlist Management,' and 'Social Sharing.'

2. Customer personas

Developing customer personas is a way to create representative profiles of key user types.

Based on the primary research data, you create several customer personas:

• "Casual Listener Laura" – A user who enjoys background music while working or relaxing, values ease of use, and prefers curated playlists.
• "Audiophile Alex" – A music enthusiast who values high-quality audio, diverse music libraries, and advanced search features.
• "Social Sharer Sam" – A user who enjoys sharing music with friends and discovering new tracks through social features.

These personas help the design team focus on specific features and interfaces that cater to different user types. For instance, creating simple, user-friendly interfaces for Laura while offering advanced features for Alex.

3. Customer journey mapping

This involves creating a visual or narrative representation of the user’s experience with a product or service over time.

For Laura, the journey might start with opening the app, easily finding a suitable playlist, and playing music with minimal interaction.

On the other hand, Alex's journey involves exploring different genres, searching for high-fidelity tracks, and customizing playlists.

These maps highlight critical touchpoints, such as the ease of finding music, the quality of audio streaming, and social sharing capabilities. The team identifies that a streamlined onboarding process is essential for first-time users and that personalized recommendations can significantly enhance user engagement.

Comparative research techniques

Comparative research techniques are a systematic approach used in various fields to compare two or more entities, ideas, systems, or phenomena.

This method is used to find out what is similar and different between things, understand how and why they work, or see which works better or has more impact.

Here are two examples of comparative research:

1. Heuristic evaluation

What is it: A systematic approach to reviewing a product and comparing it against established usability principles.

By comparing a product's design against recognized best practices, it helps quickly identify areas where the user experience can be improved.

Consider your music listening app being evaluated using Nielsen-Molich's Heuristic Evaluation. In this scenario, you would review the app against Nielsen's heuristics to identify potential usability issues.

Here's how it might go:

• Visibility of system status: Check if the app shows what’s playing and if it’s clear when a song is paused, playing or loading. This will determine if the user knows what's happening in the app.
• Match between the system and the real world: Assess if the app uses familiar icons and terms, like a play button or the word 'Playlist'.
• User control and freedom: Look for features like the back navigation and the ability to quickly stop or skip songs so that users don't feel stuck or frustrated.
• Consistency and standards: Check if the app follows standard conventions, such as tapping a song to play it or swiping to add it to a playlist.
• Error prevention and recognition: Review if the app has clear error messages (like when a song can't be played) and if it prevents errors (like accidentally deleting a playlist).
• Recognition rather than recall: Ensure users don’t have to remember information from one part of the app to another. For example, if they add a song to a playlist, that action should be visually confirmed.
• Flexibility and efficiency of use: Look for shortcuts and customization options, such as creating quick playlists or setting favorite songs.
• Aesthetic and minimalist design: Determine if the app's design is not cluttered and that all elements on the screen serve a purpose.
• Help and documentation: Finally, they check if the app provides easily accessible help or FAQs for new users.

2. Competitive analysis

What is it: This method compares your product's usability and features with those of competitors. A competitive analysis can help you determine where your product stands in the market, and identify opportunities to innovate and differentiate it from the others.

For example, you've been tasked to conduct a competitive analysis on a travel booking app that your team is building. This requires a deep dive into other existing listening music competitors, such as Spotify and Apple Music.

Here are some aspects to consider:

• Design & navigation: Compare how each app handles th e user interface and ease of navigation. Which takes you from login to music playing the quickest and most effortlessly?
• Feature showdown : List and contrast the features. Who leads with unique offerings like exclusive content or personalized playlists?
• Speed test : Check which app is faster and more responsive. Speed is key for a smooth experience.
• User reviews : Scan what users are saying. Identify what they love and loathe, and spot opportunities for your app.
• Value for money : Evaluate which app offers more for the price - think subscription costs versus features like ad-free listening or offline play.

How to choose the right UX research method

The right UX research method is crucial to gaining valuable insights and driving your product's success.

Here's a structured approach to choosing the best UX research method: ‍

1. Define your objectives

Are you trying to understand user behavior, test a new feature, or evaluate the usability of your product? Different objectives will require different research methods. ‍

2. Consider the stage of your product

The stage of your product development plays a crucial role. For instance, early stages may benefit more from exploratory methods like interviews or surveys to understand user needs, while later stages might require usability testing to refine the product. ‍

3. Understand your users

Tailoring your research method to your audience is key. Younger demographics might be more responsive to online surveys, while in-depth interviews could be better for engaging with professionals for a B2B product. ‍

4. Check the availability of resources

Assess your resources in terms of time, budget, and expertise. Some methods require more resources than others. For instance, usability testing might need more specialized skills and tools compared to conducting surveys. ‍

5. Plan for secondary research

Consider how you will analyze the data. The chosen method should align with your ability to effectively analyze and interpret the results. ‍

6. Stay flexible and iterative

Be prepared to adapt your approach based on initial findings. UX research is iterative, and initial results might lead you to adjust your methods.

Best practices in applying UX research methods

Every design project is unique, but there are best practices that can improve your UX research process.

Let's go through some of them: ‍

1. Start with your problems, not ideas

Focus on identifying and understanding the core problems before jumping to solutions. This approach ensures that your research is driven by genuine user needs rather than preconceived ideas. Start by asking questions like "What problems are our users facing?" rather than "How can we implement this feature?" ‍

2. Build your foundational report

Create a foundational report as a central repository for all your research findings. This report should include user personas, pain points, user needs, and behavioral patterns. This will become a great reference point for your team so that everyone clearly understands the user insights. ‍

3. Know your priorities

Assess which areas will have the most significant impact on user experience and align with your business goals. Frameworks like the Eisenhower Matrix can help you categorize research tasks based on urgency and importance. This helps allocate resources effectively and focus on research that will provide the most value. ‍

4. Apply the mixed-methods approach

Combine qualitative methods like interviews and focus groups with quantitative methods like surveys and analytics. This mixed-methods approach gives both depth and breadth to your findings. ‍

5. Regularly validate assumptions

What you assume about your users may not always be accurate. Regular validation ensures your product development is on track with user needs. ‍

6. Iterate your findings

UX research should be an iterative process. Use the findings to make improvements, then test and research again. Each cycle brings you closer to a more refined and user-friendly product. ‍

7. Involve stakeholders

Keep stakeholders involved in the UX research process. Their insights and feedback can provide additional perspectives and help align the research with business objectives. ‍

8. Consider ethics

Always conduct research ethically. Ensure user consent and privacy are maintained, especially when dealing with sensitive user data. ‍

9. Communicate clearly

Communicate your findings clearly and effectively to your team and stakeholders. Use visual aids like graphs and charts for quantitative data and storytelling for qualitative insights. ‍

10. Focus on user-centricity

Finally, always keep the user at the center of your research. Every method, analysis, and conclusion should aim to improve the user experience.

Cut through the clutter and learn how to execute UX research in just 10+ hours

Knowing how and which UX research methods to apply in your design projects requires more than theory. With so much methods to choose from, it can get lengthy and tedious.

That's why the most effective way to understanding these methods is through consistent, hands-on application.

The good news is that you don't need to review thousands of pages or sites to master UX review methods. With Mizko's Practical UX Research & Strategy Course you're not just learning theory — you're applying real-world skills in strategic thinking challenges.

By the end of the course, you'll be able to confidently plan and execute data-driven, user-centric designs that stakeholders can get on board with.

Learn straight from Mizko, a successful designer turned successful agency owner and startup advisor. You'll also get access to the same resources and templates he used to build, scale, and sell multiple online ventures.

Best of all, you'll learn more, in less at time at your own pace. There's no pressure of fixed schedules here.

This course is trusted by over 6,000 designers, including professionals from tech giants like Google, Meta, and Airbnb:

"I'm 100% more confident when talking to stakeholders about User Research & Strategy and the importance of why it needs to be included in the process. I also have gained such a beautiful new understanding of my users that greatly influences my designs. " - UX/UI Designer Alyssa Durante

"This course helped me structurize and focus my research on the things that are really important to the launch of any product. This is one of the best courses I've ever take in the UX/UI and Product Design Field. Thanks Michael Wong for all the knowledge and effort you did to bring us this incredible course!" - UX/UI Designer Luis Veloz

"The process in this course connects the dots and its easy to lead the clients through this process... + I can adapt the process based on the resources and the needs of the client. Life is now way easier to be honest because I have clear path to show to the clients even before we start the project because I can build expectations from the start." - UX/UI Designer Milosh Jakjimovski

Learn the efficient and smart end-to-end workflow of UX research:

• Master the art of formulating objective-driven questions for sharp insights.
• Conduct unbiased, structured interviews like a seasoned pro.
• Learn the secrets of choosing the right participants for quality data.
• Transform your findings into clear affinity maps.
• Perform competitor analysis with expert precision.
• Skillfully handle large data sets and user insights for meaningful conclusions.
• Simplify complex research with frameworks and automated customer journey maps.
• Effectively sort and present data to your team with compelling frameworks.
• Turn your research into a prioritized, actionable plan.
• Present key metrics and goals in a way that resonates with stakeholders.

Turn those UX research findings into impactful designs that hit the mark.

Mizko, also known as Michael Wong, brings a 14-year track record as a Founder, Educator, Investor, and Designer. His career evolved from lead designer to freelancer, and ultimately to the owner of a successful agency, generating over $10M in revenue from Product (UX/UI) Design, Web Design, and No-code Development. His leadership at the agency contributed to the strategy and design for over 50 high-growth startups, aiding them in raising a combined total of over $400M+ in venture capital.

Notable projects include: Autotrader (Acquired. by eBay), PhoneWagon (Acquired by CallRails), Spaceship ($1B in managed funds), Archistar ($15M+ raised) and many more.

Table of contents

The design pulse.

New website, course and product updates - April 2024

Using Quantitative and Qualitative Research in UX Design

A Complete Guide to Primary and Secondary Research in UX Design

10 Best Free Fonts for UI Design (2024 Edition)

The Ultimate Guide to UX/UI Design in 2024

16 Best UX Research Tools in 2024: Gather Faster & Better Insights

The Ultimate Guide to Figma for Beginners (Updated 2024)

The Ultimate Guide to UX Research (Updated 2024)

5 Reasons Why You Need UX Research in 2024

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• UX Research Methods and Techniques [2024 Guide]

UX Research Methods and Techniques

Explore 16 of the most common quantitative and qualitative methods for making informed decisions and generating actionable human insights

Introduction to UX Research Methods

What are ux research methods.

UX research methods are the family of experimental protocols design teams use to study users and test prototypes. They include everything from simple interviews to specialized scorecards, and can be either moderated (ex. interviews) or unmoderated (ex. surveys).

While conducting UX research should generally be left to experienced designers, every member of a Design Thinking team can benefit from a deeper appreciation of the established techniques and rich insights they provide.

What are the types of UX Research methods?

For the sake of simplicity, this guide categorizes common UX research methods into three types based on the data they commonly provide: Quantitative, Qualitative, or Mixed.

Quantitative UX Research Methods Best for benchmarking, prioritization and forecasting

Qualitative UX Research Methods Best for modelling user experiences and inspiring ideas

Mixed UX Research Methods Can be used to deliver both quantitative and qualitative data

The UX Research Methods Matrix

X-dimension: situation vs solution.

The X-dimension separates methods based on what they are typically used to study: Either the situation as a whole (like a literature review or diary study), or the solution being created (like concept testing or an intercept survey). UX research methods are leveraged throughout the complete project cycle — they don’t end when the interviews are over.

Y-Dimension: Qualitative vs Quantitative

The Y-dimension separates methods based on the type of data they typically output: Either more qualitative (like focus groups or concept testing), or more quantitative (like user surveys or A/B testing). Relying on only one type of data can be dangerous: Robust research projects should include a mix of both, as they provide different perspectives on the experience.

Which UX Research Methods should I use?

Typically, UX research methods are stacked together to create an overall UX research plan . That means that the selection of your methods is based on what stage of the plan you are in, and what questions you need to answer. Keep the following factors in mind as you browse the guide:

Three factors to consider when selecting a research method

• Questions: What do we need to find out specifically?
• Resources: How much time/talent/budget do we have?
• Risk tolerance: What are the risks of incorrect assumptions?

If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.

Qualitative UX Research Methods

Qualitative UX Research Methods are powerful sources of inspiration. They bring the voice of the customer directly into the design process, and answer critical questions about the goals and behaviors that solutions can support.

UX research methods in this section:

• User interviews
• Focus groups
• Diary studies
• Literature review
• Participatory design
• Remote walkthrough

User Interviews

User Interviews are the bread and butter of qualitative UX research methods. When designing user-centered solutions, there is no substitute for speaking with real users. While user interviews can take many forms and can integrate multiple methods (such as card sorting and concept testing), the quality of any interview is determined by the quality of its questions.

When planning user interviews, extreme care must be taken to develop questions that are most likely to make interviewees comfortable and actively engaged. If you have ever conducted user interviews before, you will appreciate how difficult this can be in formal settings.

User interviews help to answer

• Who are our primary and secondary personas?
• What do they think and do? Say and feel?
• What are their major pains and gains?
• Who else should we be talking to?

Focus Groups

Focus groups are like user interviews conducted with a group of 5-10 people at once. While they can help expedite the research process , they require significant planning and expert moderation to conduct effectively. Because of this, focus groups are typically conducted by research firms experienced at building group discussion guides that balance personalities and ensure all participants are able to share their feelings openly and evenly.

Focus groups help to answer

• What do teams think about a topic/solution?
• What information gaps exist in the field?
• Which disciplines should we be talking to?
• Does our messaging spark controversy? Conversation?

Diary Studies

Diary studies are an ethnographic UX research method that provide rich qualitative insights. The basic premise of a diary study is to ask potential users to record their experiences in a diary, which is then collected by researchers upon completion.

Diary studies can be recorded as guided journal entries or photo essays, and typically aim to describe a “ day in the life ” of a particular person. Diary studies add a level of realism that can’t be achieved in controlled settings, and are a great way to gain the type of detailed insights that inspire genuine innovations. Note that due to their revealing nature, protecting user privacy is especially important to consider with this method.

Diary studies help to answer

• What does a typical day look like?
• Who do our users rely on and when?
• When/where do our users engage with us?
• What other factors influence the experience?

Literature Review

Also called secondary or desk research, Literature Reviews are a method for exploring available information to gain context about a specific domain. While the rigor required varies with every solution, every design project is likely to benefit from at least a cursory review of existing research. When conducting literature reviews, it is critical to consider the credibility and bias of the source. Government statistics and peer-reviewed publications are typically the most robust sources, with surveys, articles and other sources requiring additional caution.

Literature reviews help to answer

• What cultural trends are influencing our users?
• How has our demographic evolved over time?
• What does science say about the unmet need?
• How are other related solutions experienced?
• What else do we know about our users?

Participatory Design

Participatory design is when teams integrate one or more users directly into their design process. This can be particularly helpful when designing enterprise solutions for specific roles, where deep domain knowledge is needed to appreciate the complexities of required tasks. It also helps to create external “champions” of the solution, who will then help train users and improve adoption.

While the benefit of having instant access to real user feedback can help remove bias and align teams, it is not without risks. The power of user personas is that they represent the collective goals and behaviors of target groups. Relying on n=1 comes with risks.

Participatory design helps to answer

• What would the user do/think?
• What challenges a decision cause?
• Which feature is most important?
• How do these experiences compare?

Remote Walkthrough

A remote walkthrough, also called a Touchstone Tour or simply “shadowing”, puts users in the driver seat as they walk design teams through their environment. For example, if you were designing a new video editing application, you may recruit current video editors to walk you through their daily tasks within the software. Thanks to modern video conferencing tools like Slack or Zoom, it’s easy to conduct and record remote walkthroughs alongside other ux research methods.

Remote walkthroughs help to answer

• What tasks are required to complete their goals?
• How do users complete these tasks?
• What UX challenges do they face along the way?
• Do they use any shortcuts? Customizations?
• How comfortable are users in their environment?

Quantitative UX Research Methods

Today, digital “desire lines” are everywhere — but only if you know where to look. Whether you are improving an app used by millions, or building a service for select specialists, being able to parse big data into actionable insights is a mandatory skill for all UX researchers.

• Behavioral analytics
• User surveys
• Intercept surveys
• Click tracking
• Eye tracking
• A/B testing

Behavioral Analytics

Behavioral analytics help model how users are engaging with an existing system or solution. The process of determining which metrics are the best proxy for the experience, and what the current data says about the solution, is where this UX research method shines.

Typically, the analysis is completed by a core research team and shared with the broader cross functional team during design thinking workshops to inform and inspire ideas. Common behavioral metrics include bounce rate, conversion rate, time to completion, time on task, or other digital/physical desire lines.

Behavioral analytics help to answer

• Where are our users coming from?
• Are they finding what they want?
• How long are they spending with us?
• What do they search for most?
• How often do they engage with us?

User Surveys

Surveys are an established research method adopted by myriad disciplines to collect hard data from groups of people. Data are then analyzed by statistical methods to generate “significant” insights that are unlikely to be due to chance. The power to discern signal from noise is the product of the size of the survey sample: The more people you ask, the more confident the statistics will be.

Like user interviews, the quality of a user survey relies on recruiting the right people and asking the right questions. But unlike interviews, these questions need to be formatted in a way that can be answered using a sliding scale or multiple choice — at least until natural language processing simplifies the analysis of free-text responses.

User surveys help to answer

• Who are our users?
• What challenges do they face?
• What goals and behaviors do they share?
• Where should we focus our design efforts?
• What do they think about a situation or solution?

Intercept Surveys

Intercept surveys, also called feedback surveys, are a simplified form of user survey deployed in the wild where interactions occur. Intercept surveys are commonly found on websites and in emails, and can be as simple as asking “Was this information helpful?”. In practice, intercept surveys are best when limited to only a single question that is easy to understand and effortless to answer.

Intercept surveys help to answer

• What are the biggest challenges users face?
• Where does the experience go wrong?
• Why are users dropping off at this point?
• How is our current solution being received?

Click Tracking

Click Tracking is a specialized ux research method that lets designers observe and analyze everywhere users click or tap when visiting a website. While digital marketers have been using scroll depth and CTA conversion rates for years, modern click-tracking tools like HotJar can now passively record real user visits and generate cumulative heat maps for your pages. These heat maps show where users are (and aren’t) clicking. In fact, HotJar will automatically generate three different layers of heat maps to capture all clicks, moves and scrolls. Together, these session-tracking maps help designers present findings to stakeholders and improve on-page conversions.

Click tracking helps to answer

• Is this button/content getting lost?
• Are users trying to click the wrong thing?
• How are users engaging with our pages?
• What effect did this design update have?

Eye Tracking

Eye tracking is a specialized UX research method that records where your test users are looking — not just where they scroll or click to. Unlike click tracking which can be installed on a live website, eye tracking studies require controlled settings with user opt-in. In the past, eye tracking was prohibitively expensive due to the technology required; however, accurate, webcam-based tools like Real Eye have greatly reduced the barrier to entry.

Today, eye tracking studies are frequently used as a form of unmoderated usability testing that participants can complete on their own time. This dramatically simplifies the logistics and reduces the guesswork in major decision decisions.

Eye tracking helps to answer

• Where do users look first?
• What design is more attractive?
• Is our message being missed?
• Are we confusing our users?

A/B Testing

A/B Testing is a data-driven way to determine which of two (or more) options is the most effective at achieving a specific goal. A/B testing is used in a variety of industries, especially in digital marketing, where optimizing conversion rates is of critical importance. In user experience design , A/B testing can be used to optimize specific aspects of an existing solution, or to determine which of two designs to pursue.

A/B testing helps to answer

• What experience converts best?
• How can we optimize the experience?
• What direction should we pursue?
• What do our users prefer?

Mixed UX Research Methods

Mixed UX Research methods can be used to generate human insights and hard data . They allow for both direct observation of user behaviors, while also generating data that can be subject to statistical analysis.

UX research methods described in this section:

• Heuristic evaluation
• Concept testing
• Tree testing
• Card sorting
• Usability testing

Heuristic Evaluation

Heuristic evaluation is effectively a “pragmatic review” of a user experience by design experts. When applied formally, it uses a point-based scoring system akin to those used to judge athletic performances (like gymnastics or diving). Using predefined criteria and scorecards helps to reduce bias and make scalable decisions in situations where direct usability testing is not possible or necessary.

Of course, the quality of a heuristic evaluation is determined by the experience of the reviewers, and their ability to make unbiased judgements from a user’s point of view. Having a validated set of personas helps improve the output of a heuristic evaluation, and the same interfaces can (and should) be reviewed from the perspective of multiple user personas.

Web users ultimately want to get at data quickly and easily.

Heuristic evaluation helps to answer

• Which design is more user friendly?
• How much have we improved our UX?
• Do we need to redesign this solution?
• What quick wins can we start with?

Concept Testing

Concept testing is exactly that: Testing concepts/prototypes with users to see what they say. Concept testing is common when developing marketing campaigns or other mass-market creative ideas where it is difficult or impossible to predict how people will respond. Concept testing and usability testing are quite similar in this sense; however, concept testing is concerned with deciding which concept (or “big idea”) to pursue, while usability testing is conducted with high-fidelity designs to validate decisions or make minor improvements. Concept testing is commonly integrated with other techniques to streamline the research efforts, and can use card sorting and scorecards to support data-informed decisions.

Concept testing helps to answer

• What tasks are required to complete a user’s goal?

Tree Testing

Tree testing is a specialized UX research method for assessing how intuitive an information architecture is. In its simplest form, tree testing involves watching users interact with a prototype menu within a controlled setting (i.e., no content or visuals included, only the menu itself).

By prompting users to complete specific tasks by clicking through the menu (ex: Where would you go to find X or do Y), researchers can see how their architecture relates to their user’s mental models. This allows teams to optimize critical structural elements early in the design process, avoiding more expensive updates downstream.

Tree testing helps to answer

• Is our information architecture intuitive?
• Are we using the right labels?
• Where are users getting lost?
• Which sitemap is more effective?
• How can we optimize click depth?

Card Sorting

Card sorting is a fundamental UX research method applied throughout the design process . In essence, card sorting is exactly that: Sorting a stack of cue cards that have words on them into piles that make sense to the sorter. For example, you may have a stack of 30 cards with the names of different foods on them.

If you asked someone to sort them into piles according to their most vs. least favorite items, you would learn more about their preferences than if you simply asked them their favorite foods. This basic card sorting theory can be applied to any situation, and augmenting the prompts and piles lets UX researchers answer a variety of questions about the opportunity.

Card sorting helps to answer

• How do our users think about this domain?
• What items belong together? Apart?
• What navigation will work best?
• Where will they look for this content?
• Which experiences should we prioritize?

Usability Testing

Usability testing is used to assess how user friendly a higher-fidelity prototype is with your target users. Usability tests are typically used later in the design process, before shifting to the Implementation step of the design thinking process. Usability testing is conducted similar to other ux research methods such as Tree Testing or Card Sorting, where users are asked to complete specific tasks within a controlled environment. Because usability testing is performed with fully functional prototypes (or the minimum viable product), UX researchers are able to benchmark quantitative metrics such as Time to Completion (TTC) in addition to other qualitative metrics. This makes usability testing a powerful tool for demonstrating business impact and deciding what areas to work on in future updates.

Usability testing helps to answer

• How user friendly is our solution?
• How much time/effort does our solution save?
• What impact can we expect our solution to have?
• What should we focus on in the next release?

So what are UX research methods?

UX Research methods describe the established protocols and best practices designed to help teams understand users and improve real experiences . They range from simple surveys to rich ethnographic field studies, and furnish teams with the actionable insights they need throughout the development process.

While UX research methods were once confined to specialized labs, the rise of cloud-based solutions has dramatically simplified the methodologies and reduced the overhead. Today, teams of all sizes can leverage UX Research methods to improve their solutions

UX Research Methods

• Describes set of research protocols and best practices
• Used to study both users, situations and solutions
• Output quantitative or qualitative data
• Helps develop personas and optimize prototypes
• Support end-to-end Design Thinking process
• Major methods include User Interviews, Usability Testing, Card Sorting, Surveys and Behavioral Analytics

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UX design research methods

Effective user experience design is intuitive, accessible, and engaging. But how do you design a delightful experience that meets your target audience’s needs? Conducting user experience research gives you a glimpse inside your users’ heads, so you can understand what they care about and the challenges they face.

In this article, Figma Designer Advocate Ana Boyer weighs in on:

• What user experience research is, and why your team needs it
• Different types of UX research that support product development
• UX design research methods made easier with Figma

What is user experience research?

User experience research helps design teams identify areas of opportunity to improve user interfaces and enhance the overall user experience. According to Ana, UX research can reveal insights about target users across all phases of product development—from strategy and planning to product launch and post-launch improvements. A robust UX research framework includes both quantitative and qualitative research.

Quantitative research

Using information gathered from larger sample sizes, quantitative research yields concrete numerical data that reveals what users are doing. Researchers run statistical analyses and review analytics to gain insights into user behavior. For example, Ana says, “you might try tracking the number of times users clicked a CTA button on a newly designed web page, compared to an old version."

Qualitative research

For qualitative research, researchers collect subjective and descriptive feedback directly from users, tapping into users’ personal feelings and experiences with a product or design.  "Qualitative research gives you a more thorough explanation of why someone is doing something in the context of a flow,” Ana says.

User-centered design research often covers two types of qualitative research: attitudinal and behavioral. Attitudinal research examines users’ self-reported beliefs and perceptions related to a user experience, while behavioral research focuses on observing first-hand what users do with a product.

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3 benefits of user experience research

According to Ana, with UX research you can:

• Validate your design. "You can learn whether or not your design is hitting project goals and your users are able to accomplish a task—for example, ordering an item from your platform.”
• Put your users front and center. UX research uncovers what users want and need, so you can deliver a product that delights customers.
• Save time and resources. Doing user research and testing early and often allows you to make smaller adjustments quickly and easily. That way, Ana says, “you can take a more iterative approach to design—without having to backtrack and redo your entire UX design.”

How to conduct  UX research

Most common UX research methodologies break down into these essential activities:

• Observe how users act and react . This not only includes clicks and scrolling onscreen, but also their body language and facial expressions. Careful observation helps you understand how users normally perform a task, what interactions users pick up easily or enjoy, where they get stuck in a flow, and more.
• Empathize with your users . To create a useful and usable product, you need to consider how users' context influences them as they interact with your design.
• Analyze information to surface common themes. “Tagging key user responses helps you pinpoint what needs the most work and refinement to improve the user experience," Ana advises

When to use key UX research methods—at a glance

Given all the UX research methods you can use for  product development, when is each most useful? Ana offers these pro tips.

• User personas help you understand your core users in the early stages of development. “If you don’t know who you’re building for, then the time you invest in building and creating something will be wasted,” Ana explains. FigJam’s user persona template will help you get the ball rolling.
• Interviews gather in-depth information directly from users to test your ideas, so you can lower the risk of building a product that misses the target. FigJam’s user interview template will help you lay the groundwork.
• Card sorting invites users to show you what they think is the most intuitive way to organize high-level information in your design. Try FigJam’s card-sorting tool to shape your product’s information architecture.
• Task analysis studies users as they use your site or app to complete tasks, or jobs to be done. Use it to validate your design, and ensure users can quickly and easily accomplish their goals. Get started with FigJam’s jobs to be done template .
• Eye tracking analyzes where users look, when, and how long as they interact with your product.
• Surveys indicate how useful and usable your design is. Surveys  can provide useful insights at any phase of product development, pinpointing where users are struggling with an interface, and revealing user sentiment about a product’s colors, fonts, and overall design.

Launch & post-launch

• A/B testing shows which version or iteration of a webpage, app screen, or CTA button performs better with your users.
• Analytics track KPIs like time spent on page, bounce rate, number of clicks on key CTAs, and more to see what’s working—and what isn’t. Analytics may also reveal useful insights about your users, including location, device usage, age, and gender.
• Usability bug testing identifies and helps fix usability issues that affect your product’s quality and ease of use. “Teams struggle to invest the time and process in doing this, but it can have a huge impact on quality,” Ana says.
• Diaries captured in writing or on video track users’ thoughts and impressions over a certain time period. This self-reporting approach reveals how a product fits into and enhances users’ daily lives.

Kick off user experience research with Figma

No matter where you are in the product development process, FigJam’s research plan template can help you define your research goals. Figma’s research and design templates help you conduct research with user interviews , user personas , card sorting , and Sprig study integration .

With the insights gained from your research, you're ready to design, develop, and prototype engaging user experiences. Use Figma’s UX design tool to:

• Give and receive instant feedback on designs or prototypes—and enjoy real-time collaboration with your team. Figma's Maze integration makes testing prototypes easy.
• Set up design libraries to quickly launch user research projects and improve UX design.
• Easily share assets between Figma and FigJam to help keep your projects moving forward.

To jumpstart your UX research, browse inspiring UX research resources shared by the Figma community .

Now you're ready to roll with UX research!

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[1] https://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/

[2] https://www.uxbooth.com/articles/complete-beginners-guide-to-design-research/

• User Research Designers
• UX Researchers
• Digital Designers
• UX Designers
• UX Strategists
• Product Designers
• UI Designers
• Mobile App Designers

The Complete Guide to UX Research Methods

UX research provides invaluable insight into product users and what they need and value. Not only will research reduce the risk of a miscalculated guess, it will uncover new opportunities for innovation.

By Miklos Philips

Miklos is a UX designer, product design strategist, author, and speaker with more than 18 years of experience in the design field.

PREVIOUSLY AT

“Empathy is at the heart of design. Without the understanding of what others see, feel, and experience, design is a pointless task.” —Tim Brown, CEO of the innovation and design firm IDEO

User experience (UX) design is the process of designing products that are useful, easy to use, and a pleasure to engage. It’s about enhancing the entire experience people have while interacting with a product and making sure they find value, satisfaction, and delight. If a mountain peak represents that goal, employing various types of UX research is the path UX designers use to get to the top of the mountain.

User experience research is one of the most misunderstood yet critical steps in UX design. Sometimes treated as an afterthought or an unaffordable luxury, UX research, and user testing should inform every design decision.

Every product, service, or user interface designers create in the safety and comfort of their workplaces has to survive and prosper in the real world. Countless people will engage our creations in an unpredictable environment over which designers have no control. UX research is the key to grounding ideas in reality and improving the odds of success, but research can be a scary word. It may sound like money we don’t have, time we can’t spare, and expertise we have to seek.

In order to do UX research effectively—to get a clear picture of what users think and why they do what they do—e.g., to “walk a mile in the user’s shoes” as a favorite UX maxim goes, it is essential that user experience designers and product teams conduct user research often and regularly. Contingent upon time, resources, and budget, the deeper they can dive the better.

What Is UX Research?

There is a long, comprehensive list of UX design research methods employed by user researchers , but at its center is the user and how they think and behave —their needs and motivations. Typically, UX research does this through observation techniques, task analysis, and other feedback methodologies.

There are two main types of user research: quantitative (statistics: can be calculated and computed; focuses on numbers and mathematical calculations) and qualitative (insights: concerned with descriptions, which can be observed but cannot be computed).

Quantitative research is primarily exploratory research and is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or data that can be transformed into usable statistics. Some common data collection methods include various forms of surveys – online surveys , paper surveys , mobile surveys and kiosk surveys , longitudinal studies, website interceptors, online polls, and systematic observations.

This user research method may also include analytics, such as Google Analytics .

Google Analytics is part of a suite of interconnected tools that help interpret data on your site’s visitors including Data Studio , a powerful data-visualization tool, and Google Optimize, for running and analyzing dynamic A/B testing.

Quantitative data from analytics platforms should ideally be balanced with qualitative insights gathered from other UX testing methods , such as focus groups or usability testing. The analytical data will show patterns that may be useful for deciding what assumptions to test further.

Qualitative user research is a direct assessment of behavior based on observation. It’s about understanding people’s beliefs and practices on their terms. It can involve several different methods including contextual observation, ethnographic studies, interviews, field studies, and moderated usability tests.

Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group feels that in the case of UX research, it is better to emphasize insights (qualitative research) and that although quant has some advantages, qualitative research breaks down complicated information so it’s easy to understand, and overall delivers better results more cost effectively—in other words, it is much cheaper to find and fix problems during the design phase before you start to build. Often the most important information is not quantifiable, and he goes on to suggest that “quantitative studies are often too narrow to be useful and are sometimes directly misleading.”

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. William Bruce Cameron

Design research is not typical of traditional science with ethnography being its closest equivalent—effective usability is contextual and depends on a broad understanding of human behavior if it is going to work.

Nevertheless, the types of user research you can or should perform will depend on the type of site, system or app you are developing, your timeline, and your environment.

Top UX Research Methods and When to Use Them

Here are some examples of the types of user research performed at each phase of a project.

Card Sorting : Allows users to group and sort a site’s information into a logical structure that will typically drive navigation and the site’s information architecture. This helps ensure that the site structure matches the way users think.

Contextual Interviews : Enables the observation of users in their natural environment, giving you a better understanding of the way users work.

First Click Testing : A testing method focused on navigation, which can be performed on a functioning website, a prototype, or a wireframe.

Focus Groups : Moderated discussion with a group of users, allowing insight into user attitudes, ideas, and desires.

Heuristic Evaluation/Expert Review : A group of usability experts evaluating a website against a list of established guidelines .

Interviews : One-on-one discussions with users show how a particular user works. They enable you to get detailed information about a user’s attitudes, desires, and experiences.

Parallel Design : A design methodology that involves several designers pursuing the same effort simultaneously but independently, with the intention to combine the best aspects of each for the ultimate solution.

Personas : The creation of a representative user based on available data and user interviews. Though the personal details of the persona may be fictional, the information used to create the user type is not.

Prototyping : Allows the design team to explore ideas before implementing them by creating a mock-up of the site. A prototype can range from a paper mock-up to interactive HTML pages.

Surveys : A series of questions asked to multiple users of your website that help you learn about the people who visit your site.

System Usability Scale (SUS) : SUS is a technology-independent ten-item scale for subjective evaluation of the usability.

Task Analysis : Involves learning about user goals, including what users want to do on your website, and helps you understand the tasks that users will perform on your site.

Usability Testing : Identifies user frustrations and problems with a site through one-on-one sessions where a “real-life” user performs tasks on the site being studied.

Use Cases : Provide a description of how users use a particular feature of your website. They provide a detailed look at how users interact with the site, including the steps users take to accomplish each task.

You can do user research at all stages or whatever stage you are in currently. However, the Nielsen Norman Group advises that most of it be done during the earlier phases when it will have the biggest impact. They also suggest it’s a good idea to save some of your budget for additional research that may become necessary (or helpful) later in the project.

Here is a diagram listing recommended options that can be done as a project moves through the design stages. The process will vary, and may only include a few things on the list during each phase. The most frequently used methods are shown in bold.

Reasons for Doing UX Research

Here are three great reasons for doing user research :

To create a product that is truly relevant to users

• If you don’t have a clear understanding of your users and their mental models, you have no way of knowing whether your design will be relevant. A design that is not relevant to its target audience will never be a success.

To create a product that is easy and pleasurable to use

• A favorite quote from Steve Jobs: “ If the user is having a problem, it’s our problem .” If your user experience is not optimal, chances are that people will move on to another product.

To have the return on investment (ROI) of user experience design validated and be able to show:

• An improvement in performance and credibility
• Increased exposure and sales—growth in customer base
• A reduced burden on resources—more efficient work processes

Aside from the reasons mentioned above, doing user research gives insight into which features to prioritize, and in general, helps develop clarity around a project.

What Results Can I Expect from UX Research?

In the words of Mike Kuniaysky, user research is “ the process of understanding the impact of design on an audience. ”

User research has been essential to the success of behemoths like USAA and Amazon ; Joe Gebbia, CEO of Airbnb is an enthusiastic proponent, testifying that its implementation helped turn things around for the company when it was floundering as an early startup.

Some of the results generated through UX research confirm that improving the usability of a site or app will:

• Increase conversion rates
• Increase sign-ups
• Increase NPS (net promoter score)
• Increase customer satisfaction
• Increase purchase rates
• Boost loyalty to the brand
• Reduce customer service calls

Additionally, and aside from benefiting the overall user experience, the integration of UX research into the development process can:

• Minimize development time
• Reduce production costs
• Uncover valuable insights about your audience
• Give an in-depth view into users’ mental models, pain points, and goals

User research is at the core of every exceptional user experience. As the name suggests, UX is subjective—the experience that a person goes through while using a product. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the needs and goals of potential users, the context, and their tasks which are unique for each product. By selecting appropriate UX research methods and applying them rigorously, designers can shape a product’s design and can come up with products that serve both customers and businesses more effectively.

Further Reading on the Toptal Blog:

• How to Conduct Effective UX Research: A Guide
• The Value of User Research
• UX Research Methods and the Path to User Empathy
• Design Talks: Research in Action with UX Researcher Caitria O'Neill
• Swipe Right: 3 Ways to Boost Safety in Dating App Design
• How to Avoid 5 Types of Cognitive Bias in User Research

Understanding the basics

How do you do user research in ux.

UX research includes two main types: quantitative (statistical data) and qualitative (insights that can be observed but not computed), done through observation techniques, task analysis, and other feedback methodologies. The UX research methods used depend on the type of site, system, or app being developed.

What are UX methods?

There is a long list of methods employed by user research, but at its center is the user and how they think, behave—their needs and motivations. Typically, UX research does this through observation techniques, task analysis, and other UX methodologies.

What is the best research methodology for user experience design?

The type of UX methodology depends on the type of site, system or app being developed, its timeline, and environment. There are 2 main types: quantitative (statistics) and qualitative (insights).

What does a UX researcher do?

A user researcher removes the need for false assumptions and guesswork by using observation techniques, task analysis, and other feedback methodologies to understand a user’s motivation, behavior, and needs.

Why is UX research important?

UX research will help create a product that is relevant to users and is easy and pleasurable to use while boosting a product’s ROI. Aside from these reasons, user research gives insight into which features to prioritize, and in general, helps develop clarity around a project.

• UserResearch

Miklos Philips

London, United Kingdom

Member since May 20, 2016

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The different approaches to ux research, 7 ui ux design principles for mobile app development, the ethics of design: navigating dark patterns in ux.

What is UX research?

In an industry where the user is key to the brand’s success, research is of immeasurable importance. UX research methods envelop an assortment of analytical techniques used to add context and build understanding around users and their experiences with products. To design experiences with users in mind, we need to conduct research that tells us who the person is, in what context they would use a product or a service, and what they need from a product or a service.

To help you understand the different types of User Experience Research approaches we will take the help of a fictional scenario and use it as an example. Let’s look at the scenario below.  

Mr. X is a chef, who is looking to expand the menu at his cafe, Burger Base, located near the Winderberg University campus in Pune. He has been serving the University students for a decade now but has not been making profits like he used to. Despite the business being the same, his accountant is unable to justify why the losses are increasing exponentially. He resorts to spending some time to understand his customers and tries taking up different approaches to get answers to his questions.

Before beginning with deciding what approach you should take with the UX research, you need to understand the direction that you are headed in. To understand this, you need to be clear of the constraints and your resources; The first three questions explained below are the formative questions. Once you have understood what they are and what you require, the next set of questions will help you ponder on the application of the data obtained.

Let’s explain each question that you would ask yourselves:

What is the Duration of the Research?

The duration of the research, along with an understanding of what the business aims to achieve, helps pick between a longitudinal or a cross-sectional study.

Longitudinal Research:

A longitudinal study involves the repeated observations or examination of a group of users over time, at regular intervals. Longitudinal studies are mainly done in order to follow changes in perception, behaviors, attitudes, and motivation of use. One of the important aspects here is that longitudinal study extends beyond a single frame in time. As a result, they can establish a proper sequence of the events occurred.

Longitudinal studies can employ a range of methods including diaries, participant observation, and repeated interviews/surveys.

Taking the above scenario into consideration, Mr. X wants to understand the satisfaction level of his customers for the new burger he has introduced. He decides to request his customers to fill feedback forms after every meal, and review them monthly. The insights he gathers over this period could help him identify the motivation or USP of his Burger, and channelize that when marketing it next.

Cross-sectional Research:

Cross-sectional research is an approach where data is collected as a whole to study a population under study at a single point in time. It involves assessing people with differences in one key factor, at the specified point in time. Participants are usually categorized into groups called cohorts. Cross-sectional studies help in determining if differences between people can be attributed to the group they are a part of or not. So if two groups of people were separated on the basis of their age groups, characteristics observed uniformly within a group of 20-year-olds, and those observed uniformly within a group of 30-year-olds would mean that there is a higher likelihood of a 20-year-old individual being different from a 30-year-old, purely because of the age.

In this case, Mr. X from BurgerBase wants to understand how his newly added vegetarian burger is perceived by teenagers who flock to his cafe every evening. To understand this, he sends out a flyer and invites 30 students from a nearby college to attend a free tasting session. He also invites a group of corporates for the same. He asks the diners to fill in a questionnaire before and after eating the burger and analyses the feedback he gets on that day. He collates the feedback that was listed by the tasters and tweaks his recipe accordingly the next day, to suit the preference of the teenagers.

What is the Nature of the Data?

It is important to ascertain if you require numbers and statistical data, or opinions, thoughts, and other subjective data. This helps you choose between quantitative and qualitative research.

Quantitative Research:

Quantitative research in UX typically includes anything that you can count: time on page, percent of users engagement, page views, user flows, time to task completion. Beyond analytics methods such as surveys, polls and A/B testing also generate quantitative insights. A point to note is that quantitative research thrives with large data sets, and therefore is more often used in Market research studies.

Mr. X has already created the new vegetarian burger, now. If he wishes to know how many customers prefer mustard sauce over tomato sauce, or a definite number on how many orders are placed per day, he needs to employ quantitative research.

Qualitative Research:

Qualitative methods are typically anything that falls on the other side of the fence. This involves researchers engaging users and digging into their behaviors, feelings, attitudes, and emotions. The insights gathered can be observations, thoughts, ‘user quotes’ and other aspects that are cannot be justified or captured in numbers alone. Because UX research primarily focuses on gathering insights from the users directly, qualitative research fits best as an approach. If Mr. X from our previous example wants to know about what people like or dislike about the new burger, he would conduct qualitative research to understand what are the factors that influence a customers’ decision to order the burger, the experience of eating it and the impacts it creates – by either speaking to them in person or asking them to complete a descriptive questionnaire.

What is the Source of Data?

Primary research:.

Primary research is research that involves the gathering of fresh data. It utilizes experiments, interviews, or testing carried out to acquire data first-hand, rather than being gathered from published sources. Since it involves direct interaction with the users, often spread across segments, locations and geographies, primary research is both time and resource consuming.

Mr. X wants to come up with a vegetarian burger recipe but does not have any expertise in cooking. He decides to conduct some primary research with a set of chefs who specialize in vegetarian food. He conducts interviews with 5 of them, so understand in detail the ways the experts have curated their dishes.

Secondary Research:

Secondary research involves understanding, analyzing and synthesizing insights from pre-existing sources like – research papers, journals, blogs, articles, etc. and helps align the focus of primary research in a larger scale and can also help to identify the answer at times. Secondary research is a good way of starting out, especially when the focus of your research is new or unexplored and takes relatively less time, as the entire research happens at the desk, which can be an advantage for when there are limited resources available. However, the insights gathered are subject to the data you have access to and is often limited, in terms of the insights, viability and is often difficult to authenticate. Mr. X wants to know what versions of vegetarian burgers chefs around the world have come up with. He decides to conduct secondary research and reads through recipe books and blogs online for understanding the various varieties of burgers being offered in his area.

What is the Objective of the Research?

Generative or exploratory research:.

It is used to investigate a problem which is not clearly defined. This kind of research acts as the formative reference point for new products, or when we don’t have an understanding of the problem areas a user might face while interacting with a product. Generative research thus includes observing people in their natural environments, conducting interviews and focus group discussions with users or subject matter experts as per the requirement, all with the single goal of understanding and identifying the grey area in the user experience of a product. It is usually carried out when the problem is at a preliminary stage. It helps to answer questions like what, why and how. User Experience researchers seek to thoroughly understand the ecosystem in which users use their products, the social or environmental dynamics in which they function and how that impacts the interaction between products and users.

In our example, Mr. X feels that serving a larger variety of burgers will increase the number of his customers. However he is not sure if his assumption is true, so he needs more information. The owner intends to carry out exploratory research to find out what new varieties of the burger are his customers looking to munch on and would this enable him to get more customers or if there is a better idea.

Descriptive and Informative Research:

Descriptive research begins with a problem statement in mind and is used to gain a detailed understanding of the context of the problem. It seeks to give more specific answers. This approach is utilized to have a good understanding of the context we are trying to solve for through our design and is imperative to fill the knowledge gaps of the solution environment by what other people know. This brings with it the challenge of doing away with predisposed notions and being open to what research informs us of.

Mr. X discovers that there is a need for more vegetarian burgers on his menu, from the previous exploratory research he undertook. To be able to take the right decision on the kind of vegetarian burger he needs to serve, he intends to carry on informative research on the different vegetarian burgers that are available in the market, what ingredients people commonly like and what could help him stand out with his competitors.

Evaluative Research:

After having identified and understood a problem, understanding its context and the people around it, we can now approach users or probable users and try to find out what works and what does not. Evaluations could be done either by users: existing or new or by involving expert evaluators, who are not the users themselves. With this kind of research, the goal is to critically assess if the product has indeed solved the problem that was initially intended to be solved. Essentially, this phase validates or negates our findings from the Exploratory and/or Informative Research.

Mr. X has now invented a new vegetarian burger, after incorporating his findings from the interviews he conducted with his users and the expertise of his chef. He decides to offer free samples of the burgers to a group college students who regularly visit the Burger Base and gathers their feedback. He incorporates a few changes in the recipe and finally introduces in on his menu.

What is the Outcome of the Research?

Pure research:.

Pure research, also known as fundamental or basic research, is conducted without any specific goal in mind. The main aim of pure research is to advance knowledge and to identify or explain the relationship between variables. Thus, it advances fundamental knowledge about the world, and introduce new theories, ideas, and principals as well as new ways of thinking. Pure research generally does not produce marketable results but may be used for later research into more specific and profitable applications. Pure research is driven by curiosity, intuition, and interest, and is more exploratory in nature than applied research. Sometimes, pure research can act as a foundation for applied research. Mr. X wants to understand the entire ecosystem in which cafes in Pune operate, and where Burger Base fits in. He decides to conduct pure research and comes up with a theory on the ‘effect of westernization on the culinary habits of Indian consumers’, that he and a scholarly friend hypothesize.

Applied Research:

Applied research is conducted in order to solve a specific and practical problem. However, applied research is often based on basic research or pure research. Moreover, the results of applied research are usually intended for present use, not for the future. UX research generally falls into this category as it focuses on understanding the users, their interaction and experience with products and eliminates any assumptions bound to a product.

Mr. X now wants to understand how westernization has affected the culinary habits of his customers and what he must do to accommodate for the changing times. He decides to conduct applied research focused on identifying the items from his current menu that do well and those that do not. He identifies opportunity areas by conducting interviews with his customers.

It is evident that there are various approaches to conducting research and may be taken in isolation, or as pairings, or even as a group of sequential approaches. The differences in these approaches make it easier for them to exist as conceptual pairings, instead of as opposing ideas. The way to ascertain what approach or approaches to take is by asking the right set of questions. It is also vital to understand the exact depth of answers needed, the limitations one has while conducting the research, and the willingness and ability to consume the insights gathered. Once these specifications have been defined for a product, for the brand and its stakeholders, it becomes marginally easy to choose what approach to take.

Loved this? Then you must check out this blog on Demystifying UX Research and the Science of Design .

We would like to thank Anubha Bisht for contributing immensely in shaping this article.

Top 7 Cognitive Bias trong UX Research

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Understanding primary & secondary, quantitative & qualitative research methods in UX | by Eva Schicker | Medium

There are many different research methods in UX design.

Learning as much as possible about our users and their needs is the foundation of UX. To gather this user data, we have different types of research available.

For research engagement, we need to understand the categories and common methods UX designers use throughout product development, from ideation to launch, from post-launch to subsequent iterations.

Who and what

There are two main ways to conduct research, each leading to an array of research tools that can be utilized.

Research data gathered depends on who is conducting the research, and what type of data is gathered.

Firstly, it’s about who conducts the research, and secondly, what type of data is being gathered.

Defining primary and secondary research: Who

Primary and secondary are categories to define who is conducting the research. We distinguish primary research as research we conduct, and secondary research as research that is conducted by someone else .

Primary research encompasses data gathered by the UX team, whereas secondary research is data gathered by a third party, such as independent authors, journalists, analysts, or data specialists.

Primary research is conducted by ourselves, the UX team, regardless of the size of the team. We gather insights through direct conversations and interactions with our users. Research tools used for primary research are interviews, observations, surveys, usability studies.

Secondary research is gathered from third parties, such as information from books, journal articles, information available on Government or private statistics websites, newspapers, and independent data specialists.

Defining quantitative and qualitative research: What

Next, we distinguish between the type of data collected. Qualitative data is data gathered through conversations . Qualitative data is narrative in nature, and will need to get further analyzed and organized.

Quantitative data is all data that is presented in numbers quantities weights measures . Quantitative data is mostly set values (such as 100 respondents, 70% of which are 35+ years of age).

Qualitative data is gathered as stories, feedback, interview responses, personal narratives. Quantitative research is data as numbers, measurements, percentages, quantities.

Qualitative research encompasses all information we gather through user conversations , observations , and our users’ personal stories. Through qualitative research we aim to get an understanding of why users are in need of a product, a product feature. Furthermore, we get to understand what our users’ pain points are, their goals, motivations, or aspirations. Qualitative data can only be gathered through direct contact with our users.

Quantitative research holds all data gathered that is measurable. This includes numbers measures mass percentages weights . Quantitative research answers questions such as how many , how much, how often . Quantitive research can be gathered through large-scale surveys.

When to use which type of research

Throughout the product development cycle, from initial problem statement to minimum viable product, we can utilize any type of research, depending on the phase of the cycle, and intermix such research types.

Furthermore, we have many UX tools available for culling user information and gathering concrete data.

Each research method uses an array of research tools. For instance, interviews can be done as primary and/or secondary research, and also as qualitative research. On the other hand, large -scale surveys are tools used primarily to gather quantitative data from a large, non-personal survey sweep.

Naturally, there is a mixing of tools across the methods. Interviews can be both primary and secondary , as well as qualitative . However, it is important to understand the differences in data collected in each method.

For instance, a user interview conducted by the UX team, i.e. you/us , through primary research, will produce different results than a user interview conducted through secondary research, i.e., the interview is conducted by someone else, a third party.

Advantages and disadvantages for each research method

Primary research is more time consuming and expensive than secondary research. It is usually done in the first half of a product development cycle.

In primary research, a lot of time and resources are spent on individual user responses, collecting their very nuanced feedback.

Secondary research , on the other hand, can be done online, in libraries, or accessing journals and newspapers. Secondary research are an excellent supplement to primary research. It can be conducted at any time in the product development cycle.

Qualitative research is also expensive and time intensive. As it focuses on the users’ feedback, stories, pain points, motivations, goals, and many other experiential narratives, the UX team is required to distill the data collected further.

Quantitative research generates broad, numbers-based data. It does not focus on individual user feedback.

Understanding basic UX research methods can greatly enhance the UX team’s approach to data collecting.

Research methods can intermix throughout the product development cycle, as well as in subsequent iteration cycles.

Deciding on which research method to use depends greatly on resources available to the UX team.

A small UX team might do a few primary user interviews, mixed with quantitative research.

A comprehensive new product launch with ample resources will involve all aspects of data research, collecting as much data as possible through all research methods available.

Now that you know the basics of research methods, use them in your product development process.

Interested in learning more about UX design, trends, tools, tech insights and techniques? Join Medium with this link , and support me on my future writing endeavors on UX design.

Thank you! ✍️🧡

All illustrations ©Eva Schicker 2022.

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UX Case Study: Encouraging Secondary Research in Design

• November 2, 2021

Clear processes for secondary research are rare. Some ideas on how to improve the way designers collect and document existing knowledge.

A common answer I got while talking to around 47 designers, managers and researchers, across Europe about their research process. Most of the time, their efforts are focused on validating already developed solutions, and almost never inspire the earlier discovery process. This gets even more difficult when designing for foreign markets. Unless there is a dedicated local team, research gets quite scarce. It ends up being outsourced to one or more agencies a couple of times a year.

The reality is that we rarely have the chance to run exploratory research studies before sketching out any ideas. How do we then build a foundation based on data and insights before we start drawing the first sketch? That’s where secondary research comes in. When done well, it can immediately reveal whether you’re reinventing the wheel, repeating mistakes, and opening up a world of previous knowledge somebody else tried out.

Personally, I have not seen or experienced a clear process that makes use of secondary desk research. There always seems to be a mix of posting screenshots on a wall, reading a few articles, and repeating some generic design principles. Even though I don’t know how secondary research should be implemented within a working process, I do know that we first need a more consistent way of collecting and documenting existing knowledge, before we aim to create our own. So, I started making it myself.

How much data should we look into?

Yes. We underestimate the amount of available information we could use before diving into visual work: Youtube videos, scientific research, concept designs, articles written by design teams, news, keyword trends. I believe we underestimate it since we’re mostly biased at looking for the channels we already use. We’re missing on diversity in data since we’re both choosing the source of information and the information itself.

What if we simply look for the information within a search engine with predefined, rich sources of data and insights? Shortly put, use a refined aggregator tailored for secondary research for product designers.

Imagining that all these APIs would be readily available, people could simply ask for a specific topic they are designed for, e.g. “Apple Carplay” and the aggregator would return a diverse set of results on the topic. Ideally, these would also be pre-sorted into categories as influencer videos, marketing videos, patents, research papers, news, etc.

Filtering would be done specifically per each API capability. People can look for specific data within June 2020 — July 2020, and each API will use whatever it can within that input to return filtered results.

What do we do with the data?

I showed the simple diagrams above and a few more, to some of the 47 people I talked to initially. They were quite curious and keen on discussing a few points:

• Results should not follow basic SEO rules, e.g. a video with the most views might contain less interesting data than one with a few hundred. A good mix of content must be considered.
• Filtering on sub-topics, location, dates, data types, and more, all of which would allow their search results to become more precise and easier to use as arguments in their work.
• What will a designer do with all the search results? A collection of tabs, or a list of links?
• There was also the question of letting people know that their content is used for research. How would you tell a content creator that they were used in a research study? Do you even have to?

Wouldn’t this just look like Google?

Having a structure set, and some early feedback I gave the visual part a try as well. Started with a more basic wireframe moved towards high fidelity designs slowly.

I wanted it to feel simple, accessible, but also professional, almost lab-like. It came out a bit boring for now, but I feel like it’s going on the right path.

This is where I stopped for now. Realistically, there are only a few readily available APIs, which I included in the designs above. My next goal would be to finish the first round of designs, test it with a few designers I know and more designers that I don’t know yet :), then build a working prototype and see how this aggregator affects my work. Does it actually help to get a bit more diverse data in one place? Does it feel unnatural and would it come in the way of natural “googling”? Let’s see…

• Research Tools and Software

Tudor Teisanu ,

• Teisanu Tudor started an exploration of around 47 designers, managers, and researchers in order to figure out how they could enrich secondary research.
• There are a few designers author talked to who run exploratory research studies before sketching out any ideas.
• Before diving into visual work, there are plenty of sources that could (and should) provide crucial insights for building a foundation.
• Equipped with feedback from that 47 people, Teisanu Tudor explores the idea of designing a refined aggregator to help product designers obtain a diverse and comprehensive range of data while conducting the secondary research.

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Exploring UX Research Careers

As the technological landscape continues to evolve, the demand for professionals to ensure products and services are not just functional but intuitive and user-friendly is skyrocketing. You can play a pivotal role in this domain by leveraging the research skills and analytical abilities honed during your academic journey. This article explores various career paths within UX Research that could be your next professional leap. So, sit back, sip your coffee, and dive into the exciting opportunities UX Research offers.

In this guide, we’ll journey through the intricate maze of UX research, illuminating the pivotal roles and impactful opportunities within this transformative field. We’ll decode the various career paths your academic training can lead to and explore how your analytical capabilities, coupled with a deep understanding of human behavior, can influence digital products, services, and their experiences. This voyage into UX research isn’t just about the career prospects it holds; it’s about understanding how your specific skills can significantly impact the digital landscape and enhance user experiences around the globe.

Overview of UX research

• What do UX research professionals do?  
• The Potential of Doctoral Students and Post-docs in UX Research

How Humanities and Social Science Training Helps You in UX Careers

• Job Application Tips & Preparation for a Career in UX Research
• Listen to our Podcast on UX research
• Watch a video conversation with UX professionals on YouTube

User Experience (UX) Research operates at the nexus of human behavior, technology, and business, playing a crucial role in ensuring that products, systems, and services are designed to meet users’ needs.

UX Research is a broad discipline, but at its heart, it seeks to understand the ‘why,’ ‘what,’ and ‘how’ of user interactions with a product or service. It delves into why users behave the way they do, their needs and expectations, and how they interact with digital interfaces.

There are several methods that UX researchers employ to gain these insights, including but not limited to usability testing, interviews, surveys, and field studies. The goal is to collect quantitative data, which offers statistical insights, and qualitative data, which provides depth and context.

This amalgamation of data helps UX researchers create a clear picture of the user’s experience: their motivations, their pain points, their interactions, and their needs. These insights are then used to inform and influence the design process, ensuring that the end product is functional, usable, enjoyable, and engaging for its users.

UX Research puts the user at the center of the design process. It works as a compass for designers and product developers, guiding them to create products that users find intuitive, easy to use, and delightful.

The UX Research field has grown significantly over the past decade, and today it is an integral part of product development in tech companies, startups, and digital agencies worldwide. The increasing recognition of the value of UX Research makes it a rewarding and impactful career choice for those equipped with the necessary skills and mindset.

What do UX Research Professionals do? 

UX Research professionals, often called UX Researchers, act as the bridge between users and product teams. They have a multifaceted role that blends psychology, technology, and business. Let’s delve into some of their primary responsibilities:

Conduct User Research: UX Researchers plan and execute various types of user research, such as interviews, surveys, usability testing, and field studies. Their primary goal is understanding user behavior, motivations, needs, and pain points.

Data Analysis: After gathering data, UX Researchers analyze it to extract meaningful insights. This involves quantitative (e.g., statistics, trends) and qualitative analysis (e.g., themes, patterns). The key here is to go beyond the data and understand what it implies about user behavior and preferences.

Communicate Findings: UX Researchers distill their findings into clear, actionable insights. They create reports and presentations to communicate these insights to the broader product team, including designers, developers, product managers, and executives. This is a crucial step as it influences design decisions and product strategy.

Influence Design: By providing a deep understanding of the user, UX Researchers help shape the design process. They ensure that the design decisions align with user needs and expectations, making the product more user-friendly, intuitive, and enjoyable.

Advocate for the User: UX Researchers are the user’s voice within the organization. They advocate for user needs throughout the product development process, ensuring that the user remains at the center of all design and business decisions.

Keep Abreast of UX Trends: As the UX field evolves rapidly, UX Researchers must stay up-to-date with the latest research methodologies, tools, and trends in user behavior.

Whether they’re working in tech giants, startups, or digital agencies, UX Researchers profoundly impact the digital products we use every day. Their work ensures that these products serve their functional purpose and provide a smooth, enjoyable user experience.

The Potential of Doctoral Students and Post-docs in UX Research  

As doctoral students and postdocs, you possess a unique set of special skills in the UX Research world. Your rigorous academic training has equipped you with the ability to conduct comprehensive research, analyze complex data, and distill insights — all of which are central to the UX Research field. Let’s examine the potential you bring to the table:

Expertise in Research: Having spent years conducting research, you’re well-versed in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. This expertise directly applies to UX Research, where a blend of methods is often used to understand user behavior and needs.

Critical Thinking: Doctoral and postdoctoral training hones critical thinking skills. In UX Research, this ability allows you to delve deeper into user behavior, question assumptions, and unearth meaningful insights that can shape product design and strategy.

Data Analysis: The ability to handle and interpret complex data is a skill that is at a premium in many industries, including UX Research. Whether statistical or qualitative, your training in data analysis is invaluable in drawing accurate conclusions about user behavior and needs.

Communication Skills: As an academic, you’re adept at communicating complex ideas clearly and effectively, a skill vital in UX Research. UX Researchers need to communicate their findings to a range of stakeholders, from designers to executives, in an easily understood and actionable manner.

Problem-Solving: Doctoral students and postdocs are problem solvers. In UX Research, this ability can help you understand and address user pain points, helping create more effective and enjoyable user experiences.

Adaptability: Adaptability and learning new skills are crucial in UX Research, a rapidly evolving field. Your academic experience, where learning and adaptability are essential, primes you for success in this dynamic field.

Training in the humanities and social sciences provides a rich background of skills and knowledge that is directly applicable and highly beneficial in UX careers. These fields prioritize a deep understanding of human behavior, culture, and society – all key elements in crafting user experiences. Here’s how this training can enhance your UX career:

Understanding Human Behavior: Humanities and social sciences study human behavior and motivations, which is at the heart of UX Research. Predicting or explaining why users might act a certain way or prefer one design over another can lead to more effective and user-centered designs.

Empathy and User Advocacy: Humanities and social science disciplines often focus on understanding and advocating for diverse human experiences. This cultivates empathy, an essential quality for UX professionals. The ability to empathize with users allows you to champion their needs and ensure that they are considered in all stages of the design process.

Qualitative Research: Many humanities and social science disciplines rely heavily on qualitative research methods, such as interviews, ethnography, and narrative analysis. These skills directly apply to UX Research, where qualitative data can provide deep insights into user needs, motivations, and behaviors.

Critical Analysis: These disciplines train students to critically analyze texts, ideas, and societal phenomena. In UX, this translates to analyzing user feedback, usability test results, and user behavior to draw meaningful conclusions that can influence design.

Communication Skills: Humanities and social science programs emphasize effective written and verbal communication. As a UX professional, you’ll need to communicate research findings, design ideas, and user needs to various stakeholders, from designers to executives.

Cultural Awareness: These fields often involve the study of diverse cultures and societies. This awareness can be vital in UX Research as you’ll often design for diverse user groups. Understanding cultural nuances can help you create inclusive experiences and resonate with a broad user base.

In a nutshell, the skills and knowledge gained in humanities and social sciences provide a strong foundation for a career in UX. By understanding and valuing human experiences, you can contribute to creating digital products that are not just functional but also meaningful and enjoyable for users.

Job Application Tips and Preparation for UX Research Roles

Embarking on a career in UX research can seem challenging, particularly if you’re transitioning from academia. But with the proper preparation and a strategic approach, you can make your application stand out. Here are some practical tips tailored explicitly for aspiring UX Researchers:

Leverage Your Academic Research: Emphasize how your academic research skills are transferable to UX Research. For example, you might discuss specific research projects where you collected and analyzed data or instances where you translated complex findings into actionable recommendations. Could you make sure to frame these experiences to highlight their relevance to UX work?

Showcase Empathy: UX research is all about understanding users. In your application and interview, demonstrate your ability to empathize with users. Discuss experiences where you’ve had to understand diverse perspectives or address specific user needs.

Build a Portfolio: Even if you’re new to UX Research, creating a portfolio can significantly enhance your application. Include academic projects demonstrating relevant skills, such as qualitative analysis or user interviews. Work on a small, self-initiated UX project to show your understanding of the UX process, from research to design recommendations.

Learn UX Jargon: Familiarize yourself with crucial UX terms and concepts, such as usability, information architecture, user journey, etc. Using this language appropriately can demonstrate your understanding of the field and show that you’re ready to make the transition.

Understand UX Methodologies: UX Research employs a range of methodologies, from user interviews to A/B testing. Gain a basic understanding of these methodologies and be prepared to discuss when you might use one method over another.

Network: Connect with professionals in the field. Attend UX meetups, webinars, or conferences, and feel free to reach out to UX Researchers on LinkedIn. They can offer valuable insights, advice and may even alert you to job opportunities.

Practice Your Presentation Skills: UX Researchers often have to present their findings to various stakeholders. Brush up on your presentation skills and be prepared to showcase them in an interview, possibly through a presentation or a whiteboard challenge.

Stay Current: UX is a rapidly evolving field. Could you show that you’re engaged and informed by discussing current UX trends or challenges in your application or interview? This shows your passion for UX and that you’re ready to hit the ground running.

The goal is to show that, despite being new to UX Research, you have transferable skills, a passion for understanding users, and a readiness to learn and adapt. With thorough preparation and a tailored application, you’ll be well on your way to landing your first UX Research role.

• TECHNOLOGIES
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The distinction between primary research, which involves direct user interaction and first-hand data collection, and secondary research, which is based on existing data and sources at geometry dash world , is important. to understand the strengths and limitations of each method. I found it helpful that the article discusses when to use each type of research based on the project’s goals and constraints.

Primary research and secondary research are two different approaches to gathering information in UX research. Here’s an explanation of each:

Primary Research:

• Primary research involves collecting new data directly from users or participants. It aims to gather specific information that is relevant to a particular research question or objective.
• Methods commonly used in primary research include interviews, surveys, usability testing, observations, and focus groups.
• Primary research allows researchers to have direct interaction with users, gaining insights into their behaviors, attitudes, preferences, and experiences.
• It is typically conducted by the researchers themselves or with the help of a research team.

Secondary Research:

• Secondary research involves using existing data and information that has already been collected by others for a different purpose.
• It involves reviewing and analyzing existing sources of information such as academic papers, market research reports, industry studies, user feedback, competitor analysis, and online forums.
• Secondary research helps to gain a broader understanding of the topic, industry trends, existing knowledge, and insights from previous studies.
• It is conducted by reviewing and synthesizing information from various sources, which may include both qualitative and quantitative data.

Key Differences:

• Data Collection: Primary research collects new data directly from users, while secondary research analyzes existing data and information.
• Researcher-User Interaction: Primary research involves direct interaction with users, allowing for more in-depth understanding and exploration. Secondary research relies on data collected by others, with no direct interaction with users.
• Control and Specificity: Primary research provides control over the research process and the ability to tailor questions and methods to specific research goals. Secondary research relies on data that may not fully address the specific research questions or objectives.
• Time and Cost: Primary research generally requires more time, effort, and resources to plan, conduct, and analyze. Secondary research is often more time-efficient and cost-effective as existing data is utilized.
• Reliability and Validity: Primary research is considered more reliable and valid as data is collected directly from participants. Secondary research relies on the quality and accuracy of the existing data sources.

In UX research, a combination of primary and secondary research is often used to gain a comprehensive understanding of the user and their needs. Primary research helps to uncover user insights and validate assumptions, while secondary research provides a broader context and informs the design process with existing knowledge and trends.

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• Open access
• Published: 05 August 2024

Development and piloting of an online course to improve knowledge, confidence and attitudes towards triaging images of skin lesions submitted online in primary care

• Maria Ntessalen 1 ,
• Albana Krasniqi 1 &
• Peter Murchie 1  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  839 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

154 Accesses

Metrics details

Melanoma is the 5th commonest cancer in the UK and survivors require frequent and thorough skin checks. During the Achieving Self-directed Integrated Cancer Aftercare (ASICA) trial, melanoma survivors used an app to submit images of concerning lesions for assessment by a dermatology nurse. In the past, online courses have been used to train non-specialist primary care practitioners (PCPs) in this skill.

This study aimed to determine whether an online course could increase knowledge, confidence, and attitudes towards skin image triage in PCPs in the Grampian area.

Preliminary discussions were held with PCPs to determine the need for an online course. The course was designed at the University of Aberdeen and included an introduction to the skin, case studies and quizzes on a variety of skin conditions based on melanoma survivors’ submissions via the ASICA app. Two pre- and post-course questionnaires were administered to all participants to (1) assess knowledge gained and (2) assess any improvements in confidence and attitudes towards triaging skin lesions that could be indicative of skin cancer. All PCPs in the Grampian area were invited to participate with almost 70 medical practices contacted. Results were analysed using a paired sample T-test.

The course was advertised to all GP practices in the Grampian area and 38 PCPs completed all its stages. Undertaking the course improved all PCPs’ confidence and attitudes towards triaging ( p  < 0.001). It also improved knowledge in all non-GP PCPs ( p  = 0.01). Most participants found the course useful; thought it was at the right level of difficulty, right format and thought the design was good.

Conclusions

Our online course in triaging skin lesions submitted digitally to PCPs was able to improve knowledge, confidence, and attitudes towards triaging. The course was acceptable in its design and was deemed useful and applicable to practice. Further research should investigate the effect the course has on secondary care referral numbers.

Significance

Skin problems can make up to 15% of Primary Care appointments and patients with benign or low risk skin problems are often inappropriately referred to specialists causing delay in secondary care.

Based on the findings of the ASICA trial it was suggested that low risk concerns can be effectively triaged by non-specialist primary care practitioners (PCPs).

Previous studies showed that online courses can improve knowledge, confidence, and attitudes towards triaging images of skin lesions.

The content of this online course was designed based on the most commonly submitted lesions in the ASICA trial and allowed PCPs (including GPs, GP trainees, ANPs, practice nurses and physician associates) to complete it in their own time.

The study showed that completing the online course increased PCP confidence and attitudes towards triaging skin lesions, regardless of their prior knowledge and experience.

The course also increased knowledge of all non-GP PCPs as well as PCPs with up to 2 years in their current post.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

Melanoma is a cancer of pigment-producing cells within the skin and can result from long-term exposure to UV light [ 1 ]. It is the fifth commonest cancer in the UK and incidence is increasing, making it a significant public health concern [ 2 , 3 ]. 10 year recurrence rates for patients treated are reportedly high beginning from 20% for stage IB/ IIA melanomas (accounting for almost 28% of all primary melanomas) and up to 67% for stage IIB/C primary melanomas (accounting for almost 10% of melanomas) [ 4 ]. These patients require regular monitoring to diagnose melanoma at an early stage as early diagnosis offers better treatment outcomes [ 4 , 5 ]. However, the need for regular monitoring through skin checks in secondary care may be disadvantaging certain groups, such as rural dwellers, as it may mean longer journey times to the hospital and therefore could result in poorer outcomes [ 6 , 7 ]. Additionally, given the shortfall of dermatologists in the UK and increasing skin cancer workload, it is imperative primary care practitioners (PCPs) work together with secondary care to help meet increasing demands [ 7 , 8 ].

In recent years, digital healthcare has been increasingly used as a method for skin lesion triaging to limit unnecessary hospital attendance and to help patients facing difficulties accessing care due to geographic location [ 9 , 10 ]. In line with this, the Achieving Self-directed Integrated Cancer Aftercare (ASICA) app was developed to help melanoma patients with their monthly skin checks to aid early detection of recurrent or new melanoma [ 11 , 12 ]. The app prompted and supported Total Skin Self Examinations (TSSEs) and provided participants with the opportunity to contact a Dermatology Nurse Practitioner (DNP) and receive feedback on any worrisome skin problems they had [ 13 ]. Participants in the ASICA trial were randomised to the ASICA intervention plus standard care, or standard care alone in a 1:1 ratio using a validated remote computer-automated randomisation system hosted at the Centre for Healthcare Randomized Trials (CHaRT) in Aberdeen [ 11 , 12 ]. 120 participants used ASICA for 12 months and together submitted a total of 189 concerns with their skin to be checked by the trial dermatology specialist nurse during that period. Participants were given a tablet with a built-in digital camera preloaded with the ASICA app and received comprehensive training on how to use the app (in person, group and written instruction). No restrictions were made on the nature of skin concerns that they should report as patients all had prior experience of receiving melanoma follow-up examinations [ 11 , 12 ]. Most concerns submitted were low risk and could be resolved without the need to see the participant face to face. The DNP could usually resolve the concern by referring to images and text descriptions submitted by the patient and following up with them by telephone, sometime requesting follow-up images. A relatively small number of patients, with higher risk concerns, required to be seen face to face; 7% triggered face-to-face consultations with a General Practitioner (GP) and 10% were seen at a dermatology clinic.

During analysis of qualitative data from the DNP in the ASICA trial (unpublished data), it was suggested that many low risk concerns could be effectively and efficiently triaged by non-specialist PCPs. This could have the added advantage of offering quicker reassurance for patients and enable more efficient use of specialist time to focus on higher risk concerns. The potential is further emphasised by the fact that initial screening of skin problems is a core activity for PCPs, where approximately 15% of primary care appointments are related to the skin [ 14 ]. Not surprisingly a previous systematic review has suggested that the diagnostic accuracy of pigmented lesions is lower for primary care physicians than dermatologists [0.42-1.00 vs. 0.81-1.00] so it is important that further effective training in skin-lesion triage is made available to PCPs to support them in this role [ 3 ].

A systematic review found that brief online courses can increase confidence and knowledge of PCPs skin lesion triage [ 15 , 16 ]. Currently, however, there are few well-designed and evidence-based courses that support the development of skin problem triage skills by PCPs [ 17 , 18 ]. To address this we designed an online course informed by the concerns submitted by participants in the ASICA trial. Our aim was to determine whether this course could increase the knowledge, confidence and positive attitudes toward skin lesion triage of relevant non-dermatology specialist PCPs such that they could have a larger role in the widescale implementation of ASICA into National Health Service (NHS) practice.

Development of the course

One-to-one preliminary discussions were held with 3 Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs) working in primary care in the NHS Grampian area in January 2022 to scope how useful they would perceive a course in skin lesion triage to be. Discussions focused on: (1) The current situation in Primary Care, (2) How well-equipped PCPs felt to carry out triaging, (3) How they triaged the lesions that would come to them, (4) What would be the best way to train PCPs. The discussion took place online.

Course content

The content of the course was informed by the results of the ASICA trial with the commonest diagnoses forming its basis [ 12 ]. The course consisted of 2 main sections. The first provided a general introduction to the skin, discussed skin cancer, skin protection and assessment of suspicious skin lesions using the ABCDE algorithm - a mnemonic developed to help patients and physicians identify possible melanomas early where A is for Asymmetry, B is for Border irregularity, C is for Colour variability and/or Changing colour, D is for Different, E is for Evolving (changing) [ 19 ]. This was chosen above the modified Glasgow Algorithm as despite both being validated tools for assessing pigmented skin lesions (), as the former tool was deemed to be more memorable and easier to use given it is already in a checklist/ mnemonic format.

Each case study consisted of a patient scenario intentionally presented in an e-consult format to provide a realistic reflection of how skin lesion triage scenarios may present in primary care day-to-day. E-consult cases were formatted in a way that guided participants through clinical assessment of the lesion, assessment of level of concern, management steps and the appropriate outcome. Eleven scenarios were included in the course with primary diagnoses being (1) cherry haemangioma, (2) squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), (3) basal cell carcinoma (BCC), (4) dermatofibroma, 5)skin tag, 6) seborrhoeic keratosis, 7) melanoma, 8) atypical melanocytic naevus, 9) benign melanocytic nevus, 10) benign melanocytic nevus and 11) subungual haematoma. The case studies were interactive and required participants to provide answers before receiving feedback. Cases were grouped into sections and after a few cases, participants were asked to answer MCQs relating to the cases in the section they had just completed. Each quiz question depicted four images of lesions, three correct and one differential (incorrect) answer, and feedback using ABCDE descriptors was provided upon answer selection. There was a total of 11 case studies and 27 MCQs.

Course content was written up by the authors of this paper. Course content and questionnaires were reviewed for validity of content and proofread by three GP colleagues and a final year medical student with special interests/ experience in dermatology, two research fellows and two research assistants. Feedback on the correctness of content, structure and language was provided. Unfortunately, no Dermatology Consultants in the area were available provide feedback on this.

Moodle, an online platform used by Aberdeen University Medical School, was used to host the course. Material was transferred to Moodle by a software engineer at Aberdeen University. The course was designed to take approximately 3–4 h to complete however PCPs were allowed to complete it over 6 weeks.

As is standard on Moodle courses by the medical school, all participants were asked to complete an evaluation form at the end of the course to provide feedback on the dermatology case studies.

Recruitment and participants

A member of the NHS Research Network (NRS) Primary Care Network contacted all practice managers in the Grampian area with information about the online course (January 2023). Practice managers were asked to circulate an email to PCPs. Within this study PCPs included GPs, GP trainees, ANPs, practice nurses and physician associates. A reminder was circulated 2 weeks later to notify PCPs of the final date and prompt them to join the course if they were interested. Personal networks were also contacted.

Course evaluation methods

Participants emailed the course coordinator (MN) expressing their interest and were subsequently sent two pre-course questionnaires to complete which measured knowledge, confidence and attitudes towards triaging skin lesions. A 12-item questionnaire was developed by one of the authors (AK), assessing knowledge in triaging skin lesions using MCQs. No feedback was given to participants regarding their answers. A second 33-item questionnaire was developed by two of the authors (AK, PM), to collect personal and professional information and to assess confidence and attitudes towards triaging skin lesions on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the least confident and 10 being the most. Following completion of the questionnaires, access was given to the course and participants were asked to complete it within 6 weeks. REDCap 13.1.25, an online database with in-built ability to create surveys, was used to design and distribute the pre- and post-course questionnaires.

Participants who did not complete the questionnaires within 2 weeks were sent two reminders 1 week apart as were those who had not started it within 2 weeks. All participants received a reminder email at 4 weeks since they were given access to the course and again a week later.

Following completion of the course, participants notified the course organiser and received the final two questionnaires. One was identical to the pre-course questionnaire. The other assessed confidence levels and attitudes towards triaging skin lesions.

The questionnaire was identical to the one they received at the beginning of the course, minus questions on personal information. Questions on confidence were assessed using a sliding bar. The participant chose how they felt about the question asked (using the sliding bar) and that automatically gave a number from 1 (least confident) – 10 (most confident). Confidence question examples included “How confident are you that if you find an issue of concern on an image of a skin lesion that you will take appropriate action?”. Questions on participants attitudes towards triaging skin lesions were scored using a 5-point Likert scale varying from strongly disagree- disagree- unsure- agree- strongly agree. Strongly disagree was given a value of 1 and strongly agree was given a 5. Attitude question examples include “It is important to carefully assess skin lesions submitted by patients?” and “I could find suspicious features on an image of a skin lesion if they were there.”

The values were added up before and after the course was taken to estimate a confidence score and a score on attitudes.

Statistical analysis

The pre- and post-course questionnaires were designed and sent using REDCap. After receiving all responses, the data were exported in cvs format and analysed using SPSS 28. The data were assessed for normal distribution and the appropriate test was applied (in this case a paired sample t-test). A p value of 0.05 was set as the point of significance. Only data from participants who completed both the pre- and post- test questionnaires were included in analysis.

Participants

All GP practices in Grampian, Northeast Scotland, were invited. Seventy-one PCPs contacted the course coordinator and expressed their interest. Figure  1 shows the number of people who joined the course and completed all steps. Thirty-eight out of 71 participants (53%) completed the course and all steps involved.

Flow diagram showing the number of people who joined the course and the number of people who were able to complete it and submit all questionnaires

Table  1 . shows characteristics of the participants who completed the online course. The participants were asked a number of questions at baseline that pertained to their age, gender, job role, years in their current post and previous training in dermatology and triaging.

Participants were also asked about frequency of triaging lesions, number of lesions triage and areas most commonly assessed (Table  2 ).

Course evaluation

Participants completed two questionnaires during course evaluation. A questionnaire assessing knowledge before and after they took the course, and a questionnaire assessing confidence and attitudes towards triaging skin lesions at the same time points. Table  3 shows mean values (SD) of questionnaires for the whole cohort and for different sub-groups. Notably, confidence increased significantly for the whole cohort, whereas knowledge increased significantly for non-GP PCPs and participants with just 0–2 years in their current post.

Participants feedback on course difficulty, usefulness, and overall satisfaction are seen in Table  4 . Feedback from all participants who started the course and attempted at least one question was analysed as feedback from non-completers was felt to be helpful in giving insight into barriers to course completion/ negative aspects to course design which could be useful for future improvement of the course/ similar courses.

Further information collected from the baseline questionnaire on confidence and attitude towards triaging skin lesions includes comments left by PCPs in an open textbox. Before joining the course, participants provided comments such as the following:

“Worried that I mainly rely on my experience of seeing abnormal lesions in past to guide my decision of whether lesion is abnormal rather than any “guideline” based decision making “ (Female, 46–54, GP). The time pressures in General Practice are so great at the moment that what I would want to do in an ideal world is not necessarily what I have time for currently. It would be good to look at every lesion in person and take a full history but if a patient has submitted a photo of a suspicious looking lesion I am more likely simply to refer on to dermatology. (Female, 55–65, GP)

According to participant feedback post-course, it was “useful”, “educational” and allowed them to “gain knowledge which they took directly back to practice”. Participants also found use of cases and MCQs very useful for learning and liked the realistic set-up of the course with the presentation of the e-consult.

Participants also provided opinions on the course in a free-text question (Table  5 ). These focused on suggestions to improve technical issues and praise for the course. The technical feedback was on an error that appeared during the release of the course where images on a case were no longer available. A small number of participants fed back that images could be larger to aid with identification of diseases. One participant felt not all topics in MCQs were covered in case studies. Another suggested a navigation bar plus the ability to go back to where they had left off would be a good addition to the course. A few participants suggested increasing the number of MCQs and providing more feedback on the “incorrect” answers to questions. Finally, more than a third of participants expressed how useful they found the course in increasing their knowledge, how it would help their practice and that they would like to see more of it.

Summary of findings

This study developed and evaluated a digital healthcare intervention in the form of an online course which aimed to improve the knowledge, confidence and attitudes of PCPs in triaging digital images and descriptions of skin concerns submitted by patients to support self-directed total-skin-self-examination. Of the PCPs who volunteered to take the course and complete the pre- and post-course questionnaires, 38 submitted all questionnaires and completed the course (53%). The training provided during the course increased confidence and attitudes in the cohort of PCPs ( p  < 0.001). Knowledge increased in the whole cohort but was only significantly increased when GPs were excluded from the analysis ( p  = 0.010) or among PCPs with only 0–2 years of experience in their current post ( p  = 0.008).

Context with other research

A number of online courses were previously designed aiming to improve the dermatological skills and practice of PCPs as already mentioned. Their content is variable, either covering only specific areas of dermatology/ body sites [ 20 , 21 ] or being based on referral guidelines determined by “red flags” [ 22 ]. The ASICA trial specifically analysed cases that were frequently encountered by a dermatology nurse practitioner as reported by participants. Consequently, in addition to covering cases centred around a single topic, the course provided comprehensive information and training on skin cancers and pigmented lesions, which has been proven to enhance the diagnostic accuracy of PCPs [ 23 ] .

In our study, we gathered information about training received by PCPs prior to attending the course. It was notable that out of the 38 PCPs, 26 (68.4%) had no prior training in dermatology. Specifically, none of the non-GPs had received any training (11 /11), and more than half of GPs had also received no training (15/27). Interestingly, despite the lack of formal training, a significant proportion of PCPs reported regularly triaging images submitted to their practice. Over 40% of PCPs reported triaging images on a weekly basis, 15% reported triaging 5–10 images per month and more than 10% reported triaging 10 or more images per month.

Our study assessed participants’ knowledge in dermatology before and after the course but despite an increase in mean knowledge (before: 7.38 ± 2.08 vs. after: 8.18 ± 1.96) the difference was not statistically significant ( p  = 0.056) for the whole cohort. Assessment of pre and post course knowledge was via completion of 12 MCQs on skin anatomy, risk factors for skin cancers and differential diagnoses. Similarly, other questionnaires which have been used to test PCP knowledge on skin conditions also included between nine [ 24 ] and thirty questions [ 25 ]. Once GPs were excluded from the analysis, other PCPs did demonstrate a significant increase in knowledge suggesting those with no previous formal dermatological training have much to gain from our course. This course may be more effective overall for non-GP PCPs (ANPs/ primary care nurses/ PAs) than GPs as it has achieved a significant increase in their knowledge level despite number of years in their current role. However, GPs did appear to report increased confidence after undertaking the course.

The course increased confidence in everyone and knowledge in the non-GP cohort showing that allowing the PCPs to take the course at their own pace was still beneficial to them. A number of other courses have been carried out on different time scales varying from 1 h [ 26 ] to 24 months [ 27 ]. Our course shows that increases in knowledge and confidence can still be achieved even if PCPs personalise their engagement with the material to their own schedules. This approach reflected engagement with the course in a pragmatic manner as daily pressures can make daily or even weekly engagement difficult. An important parameter that was not explored in our study was the maintenance of knowledge and confidence long-term. In other studies where knowledge and confidence were assessed long-term the average value remained increased at 6 months but dropped by 12 months [ 28 , 29 ], perhaps suggesting the need for refresher courses. Supporting this, an RCT that evaluated whether a short dermoscopy e-learning course (4 h) was non-inferior to a longer course (12 h) in terms of PCPs’ competence in selective triage of skin tumours found spaced test-based refresher training sessions appear to maintain and even increase the skills acquired by PCPs over time [ 30 ].

While only 53% of participants completed the course, this compares favourably with completion rates for other similar online courses aimed at primary care professionals for whom competing demands and workloads are high. For example, a French study by Greco et al. (2023) aiming to evaluate knowledge on the diagnosis and management of common nail conditions using a 31-minute online training session was deemed successful with an identical 53% completion rate. Furthermore, of the 47% of participants who did not complete our course, only 15% actually accessed the course at all suggesting that barriers to completing the course were unlikely to be due to intrinsic limitations of the course. The remainder who started but did not complete the course may have done so for various reasons including workload pressures.

Strengths and weaknesses

Our study is the first to create an online course in triaging skin lesions submitted to PCPs informed directly by their needs and supported by the most commonly found skin lesions as observed in the ASICA trial. This course consisted of an interactive set-up with case-studies and MCQs which proved to be well received by participants and was useful in their learning and understanding. We demonstrated the course was attractive to busy PCPs, and that they could practically complete and benefit from it within a timescale which would be realistic for widescale implementation within the NHS.

As our study depended on volunteers, the PCPs who enrolled may not have been the most representative of PCPs tasked with skin lesion image triage in general. A number of PCPs mentioned a personal interest in dermatology and attendance of every opportunity for training on the field. As our cohort included all PCPs in Primary care, we were unable to have a representative sample from all divisions (GPs, ANPs, practice nurses etc.) and some were under-represented introducing bias (60% of participants were GPs) and limiting sub-group analysis.

Future research

Our course has demonstrated short-term potential to increase the knowledge and confidence of those who are increasingly being tasked with the triage of skin lesion images in primary care. Future research should look to define the best way to consolidate and sustain these improvements. Additionally, we did not look at the impact the course had on clinical practice. Future studies could also look into specificity and sensitivity of triaging by PCPs and the number of referrals to secondary care before and after training.

This online course was able to increase knowledge and confidence in the PCPs who undertook it and appeared to be acceptable in its design, level of difficulty and usefulness and could be completed within a time commitment practical for busy PCPs. The course appeared to be particularly effective in improving scores for those with less than two-year’s experience, suggesting it may have value for those PCPs in training, and/ or new to skin lesion triage. While the content of this course was initially based on data from submissions to the ASICA trial which aimed to support detecting melanoma early in survivors, it included cases on benign lesions and non-melanoma skin cancers as differentials and in order to equip participants to triage a broad range of skin lesions/ concerns. Therefore, the knowledge gained from our course can be used in the triage of skin concerns in any patient in primary care where PCPs are increasingly being tasked with the triage of skin lesion images. Further research should look to characterise the effect this course has on the number and nature of referrals to secondary care.

Data availability

Data can be made available following request to Professor Peter Murchie ([email protected]).

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Peter Bartlam at the University of Aberdeen for his help with the technical aspects of the course and Dr Asha Venkatesh for her help setting aims for the course. We also want to thank all the Primary Care Practitioners for taking the course and providing feedback.

This work was funded by NHS Endowments Research Grants.

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Maria Ntessalen, Albana Krasniqi & Peter Murchie

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PM contributed to the conception of the idea, design of the course and manuscript preparation. MN contributed to the design of the course, data collection, data analysis and manuscript preparation. AK contributed to the design of the course, data analysis and manuscript preparation.

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Correspondence to Peter Murchie .

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Ntessalen, M., Krasniqi, A. & Murchie, P. Development and piloting of an online course to improve knowledge, confidence and attitudes towards triaging images of skin lesions submitted online in primary care. BMC Med Educ 24 , 839 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05840-1

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Received : 07 May 2024

Accepted : 30 July 2024

Published : 05 August 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05840-1

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