Dev Design Handbook

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User Research ​

Core concept: User research serves as the foundation for design, ensuring that decisions are based on data rather than assumptions.

Initial Data Gathering ​

This phase identifies the target audience and their needs through various methods:

  • Interviews — One-on-one conversations to understand user motivations, pain points, and goals.
  • Focus Groups — Group discussions to gather diverse perspectives and identify common themes.
  • Surveys — Quantitative data collection to validate hypotheses at scale.
  • Competitive Analysis — Critical for identifying market gaps and benchmarking standards.

User Personas ​

These are realistic, research-based, fictional characters that represent key segments of the target audience. They help build empathy and ensure design decisions align with specific user needs and motivations.

Example Structure ​

Name: John Doe
Age: 35
Occupation: Stay-at-home parent
# of Kids: 3

Habits:
- Buys ice cream weekly
- Makes ice cream sundaes at least once a week

Goals:
- Reduce the cost of ice cream for his family
- Make kids happy

Frustrations:
- Doesn't know which new ice cream brands are best
- Stores carry different ice cream brands
- Kids want different ice cream flavors

After we have our user personas, we need to define our user needs for our project. We want to determine what problem our website or application will solve. User needs, also called problem statements, are vital to establish before you begin more in-depth research and before you begin building your website or application.

The Norman Nielson Group defines a user need statement as the following:

A user need statement is an actionable problem statement used to summarize who a particular user is, the user’s need, and why the need is important to that user. It defines what you want to solve before you move on to generating potential solutions, in order to 1) condense your perspective on the problem, and 2) provide a metric for success to be used throughout the design thinking process. — Nielson Norman Group (https://www.nngroup.com/articles/user-need-statements/)

S.M.A.R.T. Goals ​

Objectives should follow the S.M.A.R.T. framework to align user goals with business objectives and prevent "scope creep":

  • Specific — What exactly do we want to achieve?
  • Measurable — How will we know we've succeeded?
  • Actionable/Achievable — Can we realistically do this?
  • Relevant — Does this align with broader objectives?
  • Trackable/Time-bound — When do we need to achieve this?

Example ​

Bad goal: "Improve the checkout experience"

S.M.A.R.T. goal: "Reduce checkout abandonment rate from 68% to 50% within 3 months by simplifying the payment form from 5 steps to 2 steps."

Research Strategies ​

  • Qualitative vs. Quantitative: Qualitative research (interviews, focus groups) explains "why" users behave a certain way, while quantitative research (analytics, surveys) provides statistical evidence to validate those insights.
  • Attitude vs. Behaviour: Research distinguishes between what users say (attitudinal) and what they actually do (behavioural).

Research methods ​

Research methods include:

  • Card sorting
  • Competitive analysis
  • Focus groups
  • Interviews
  • Surveys
  • Usability testing
  • Informal methods - qualitative and quantitative data can also be found on the web.

Examples of introductory questions you could ask if you were running a focus group on ice cream:

- How do you feel about ice cream?
- How often do you buy ice cream?
- What words or phrases come to mind when you think of ice cream?
- What things do you consider when buying ice cream?
- What brands do you associate with ice cream?
- What do you not like about current ice cream products on the market now?

Research Planning ​

When to Research ​

Before design:

  • Understand the problem space
  • Identify user needs
  • Validate assumptions

During design:

  • Test concepts and prototypes
  • Gather feedback on solutions
  • Iterate based on findings

After launch:

  • Measure success
  • Identify improvements
  • Inform future iterations

Key Takeaway ​

User research ensures that design decisions are grounded in reality rather than assumptions. Combine qualitative methods (to understand "why") with quantitative methods (to measure "what") for a complete picture. Always distinguish between what users say they want and what they actually do.

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