Improve product, service design & enhance your UX research
By Stéphanie Marsh   |   Second Edition 2022   |   User Research, Data Driven Design

What is User Research?

As you’re here, reading this, you probably have a fair idea of what user research is, even if you don’t know how it’s done, but it’s worth making sure we have a shared understanding before we continue. User research is the study of people’s (users’) behaviour, motivations and needs in a particular context, which affect how people understand and use things in their daily lives. It can include thinking about how these factors change over time. Market research is something different: it aims to find out what consumer preferences and wants are. Market and user research have different sets of objectives and outcomes.

Who is his book for?

There are many reasons why you may be reading this book, including:

  • You may want or need to do user research yourself, as there is no one else in your organization who is going to champion a user-centric approach.
  • You may be a new user researcher looking for good practice tips.
  • You may be one of the lucky ones who get to work with a user researcher and want to understand more about what user research is and how it is done; this would improve your own working practices in collaborating with the team.
  • You want to be an intelligent customer when buying in outside help from specialist agencies.
  • You may already be a user researcher, wanting to refresh your skills or to get a different perspective.

There are several groups of people who would benefit from diversifying their skillset with user research, such as:

  • Web Managers and Developers;
  • Visual and Interaction Designers;
  • Experience and Service Designers;
  • copywriters and content designers;
  • Information Architects;
  • Social Media/Digital Communication Specialists;
  • Digital Marketing and Campaign Specialists;
  • Marketing Managers;
  • Market Researchers;
  • Communication Officers;
  • Business Analysts;
  • Digital/Transformation/IT Specialists;
  • Policy Analysts;
  • Business Development Managers;
  • Teachers;
  • Gallery and Museum Curators;
  • Politicians.

This is an essential handbook for anyone learning how to conduct user research. It’s also an invaluable reference book for experienced researchers. I shall add it to my library! What stands out in this book is the excellent blending of the basic building blocks with best practice for conducting quality user research.

Karmen Guevara, human–computer interaction pioneer