What is it

User Research is research directed at understanding the users of your products. Insights important to the design of your product can be achieved with a solid understanding of your users, the tasks they are trying to perform, and the environment in which they carry out those tasks.

User Insight is an unparalleled leader in helping clients understand how their products are used. We go to the source, and observe users interacting with products in a natural context, whether that be at home, in the office, in an airport, or a hotel. This type of research is called Contextual Inquiry.

Other qualitative user research methods we offer include:

• Focus Groups
• Close Interviews
• Persona Development

All employ a combination of techniques from the social sciences.

When do we do it

Focus Groups, or roundtable discussions with 6-8 participants, are conducted at the outset of the product development cycle.

Close Interviews, in which users are interviewed individually, offer the best results during the prototype stage or just before product redesign.

Contextual Inquiries, conducted in the respondent’s work or home environment, inform needs definition, and are typically used at the outset of product development or during redesign.

Close Interviews and Contextual Inquiries can also lead to Persona Development. Personas are the foundation of all user experience design.

Quantitative research is best used to validate an assumption that surfaces from one of the qualitative study methods.

How we do it

Our researchers work with you to determine the best approach to finding the answers to your questions. Then they craft a screener to find the types of people we need to talk with, and a research plan that will tease out the information you want.

What we deliver

• Transcripts of all interviews
• Video and/or recordings of all interviews or assessments
• A Findings Report