Book Companion
Observing the User Experience
Edition 2
Welcome to the Companion site for Goodman, Kuniavsky, Moed: Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's Guide to User Research, 2nd Edition
This list is a growing, changing resource. It’s certainly not intended as an encyclopedic guide to all things user research-related.
To the left side of your screen you will find a list of categories, within those categories you will find here are relatively stable resources that we do not expect to change often, such as sample documents, book references, and links to tools. You can find a fresher and deeper archive of links at http://www.delicious.com/oue.
None of these links should be taken as an unqualified endorsement; we’re just presenting useful tools and resources as we find them.
Useful General Resources
Online Magazines
Concerning interaction and experience design more generally, with some articles on user research.
Blogs on User Research
Usability consultant Jared Spool’s website. Articles, links to tools, and technique suggestions.
Mailing Lists
A mailing list and community focused on the use of anthropology, ethnography, and design. Not all members are anthropologists, though. Search Quora for discussions and LinkedIn for groups related to user experience, UX, and user research.
Designing Your Research / The Research Plan
Sample Documents
Research plan worksheet A worksheet that can be used for brainstorming and connecting research questions to activities, resources needed, and stakeholders.
Sample filled out worksheet Here’s an example of a filled out worksheet. It was used to generate research plan for a project on Internet advertising.
Sample Statements of Work from the US Gov’t The US Gov’t has a number of document templates freely available online that you can adapt to your own purposes. Includes sample SOWs for usability and focus groups. Our tax dollars at work! (Note that government timelines are quite a bit longer than usual commercial projects, so take their sample milestones and deliverables schedules with a grain of salt.)
Universal Tools: Interviewing and Recruiting
Supplementary Reading
Portigal, S. The Art and Craft of User Research Interviews.
Rosenfeld Media, Forthcoming; http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/user-interviews/
Recruiting
Tools
Ethnio Online live recruiting tool for intercepting website visitors.
Sample documents
Sample recruiting messages for popular social media (as of 2012)
Sample screener survey for online recruiting This survey was created as an online screener for a study on genealogy.
Sample confirmation email This is the sort of email to be sent confirming participation in a usability test.
Sample generic consent form This is a fairly generic consent form for a talk-aloud usability test that covers the basics: information collected, non-disclosure request, assurance of confidentiality, and permission for media capture. If you were not going to use this for a usability test (say, for an in-home interview), you would delete the language about "tasks."
Focus Groups
Supplementary Reading
Krueger, R.A. and Casey, M. 2008.Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research (4th Ed.) Pine Forge Press.
Sample Documents
Sample focus group observer instructions
Object-Based Techniques
The MakeTools website has a number of useful overviews. It includes a good argument for why you might want to use these techniques:
Sanders, E. From User-Centered to Participatory Design Approaches as well as videos of these techniques in use in workshops
Photo elicitation
Supplementary reading
Harper, D. (2002). Talking about pictures: a case for photo elicitation.
Collier, J. and Collier, M. (1986). Visual Anthropology: Photograph As a Research Method. University of Minnesota Press. An in-depth discussion of the use of photography in ethnographic work. Scholarly, but extremely useful for anyone interested in why and how to use photographs for documentation or in interviewing.
Card sorting
Supplementary reading
Tools and resources
Card sorting spreadsheets
Joe Lamantia's spreadsheet template. A useful Excel spreadsheet with detailed instructions for putting it to work.
Donna Spencer’s spreadsheet template. Another effective spreadsheets that comes with detailed instructions.
Card sorting software
Donna Spencer maintains a useful list.
Sample documents
Sample checklist for field site visit with mapping exercise.
* Please note that the sites linked to are not owned nor hosted by the publisher nor the author. Sites may change, be moved or taken down over time under circumstances that are beyond the control of the publisher and author.
Field Visits
Supplementary Reading
Suchar, C.S. (1997) Grounding Visual Sociology Research In Shooting Scripts. Qualitative Sociology, 20(1). A helpful guide to “shooting scripts” to guide photography in field visits.
Collier, J. and Collier, M. (1986). Visual Anthropology: Photograph As a Research Method. UNM Press. An in-depth discussion of the use of photography in ethnographic work. Scholarly, but extremely useful for anyone interested in why and how to use photographs for documentation or in interviewing.
Sample Documents
Sample checklist for field site visit with mapping exercise
* Please note that the sites linked to are not owned nor hosted by the publisher nor the author. Sites may change, be moved or taken down over time under circumstances that are beyond the control of the publisher and author.
Diary Studies
Tools and Resources
Here are three blogging or form upload tools that, as of 2012, are standard choices for running online diary studies.
Google Docs forms for surveys, spreadsheets for data collection
Revelation Online service for diary studies or other elicitation exercises. Includes support for recruiting and participant management.
http://www.7daysinmylife.com/ Online service for diary studies -- based on TU Delft contextmapping methods. Builds user-generated collages.
Usability Tests
General Usability
Usability links from 4syllables A frequently-updated set of interesting and useful usability-related articles from 4syllables, a UX consulting group.
Usability Professionals’ Association The international industry association’s website. Includes a great collection of resources and articles at http://www.upassoc.org/usability_resources/index.html.
http://www.useit.com/ The home of conventional, canonical usability testing. Provides some free access to their publications.
Usability.gov The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services site focused on Web site usability.
Measuring the User Experience The companion website to Measuring the User Experience, a more quantitative take on usability than this book. Includes spreadsheet templates for various statistical calculations, coding forms, articles.
UsabilityGeek’s list of corporate guidelines An occasionally updated list of official corporate usability guidelines for developing on iOS, Windows Phone, Samsung, and others.
Remote Usability
remoteresear.ch This supporting website for Nate Bolt and Tony Tulathimutte’s Remote Research hosts a wealth of resources, including an up-to-date comparison of remote research tools and template consent forms, facilitator guides, and Excel note-taking spreadsheets. Their list of remote research tools is the most comprehensive and up-to-date we’ve found.
Mobile Usability
DIY Mobile Usability Testing A very informative set of tips on conducting mobile usability tests and making your own sled by Belen Barros Pena. From 2011.
Standard usability assessment tools
Computer System Usability Questionnaire The CSUQ is a standard questionnaire that’s been used for decades for usability surveys. A good source for time-tested questions.
The System Usability Scale (SUS) is another old school questionnaire, with tons of publications attesting to its reliability and validity.
Measuring Usability With The System Usability Scale (SUS) Jeff Sauro gives a short and handy explanation of SUS’s history and questions.
"SUS: A Good Enough Usability Questionnaire" Caroline Jarrett analyzes the pros and cons of SUS.
Documents
Sample generic consent form This is a fairly generic consent form for a talk-aloud usability test that covers the basics: information collected, non-disclosure request, assurance of confidentiality, and permission for media capture.
Usability observer instructions Includes content for both remote and in-room observers.
* Please note that the sites linked to are not owned nor hosted by the publisher nor the author. Sites may change, be moved or taken down over time under circumstances that are beyond the control of the publisher and author.
Surveys
Supplemental Reading
Howto.gov: Basics of Survey and Question Design This quick, helpful primer on good survey design was written to help US government workers do better research. But anyone can use it.
Designing Surveys That Don't Suck! by Will Evans and Yana Yuchirko A tongue in cheek (but very useful) guide to writing better survey questions
Tools and Resources
The Pew Internet and American Life Project The Pew Internet and American Life Project maintains a searchable database of all the questions it has ever asked (as of 2012, this feature is called "iPoll"). Type in words that describe your research topic and see how Pew researchers have asked questions about it. Try "shopping" for an interesting sample.
Standard usability questionnaires
Computer System Usability Questionnaire The CSUQ is a standard questionnaire that’s been used for decades for usability surveys. A good source for time-tested questions.
The System Usability Scale (SUS) is another old school questionnaire, with tons of publications attesting to its reliability and validity.
Measuring Usability With The System Usability Scale (SUS) Jeff Sauro gives a short and handy explanation of SUS’s history and questions.
"SUS: A Good Enough Usability Questionnaire" Caroline Jarrett analyzes the pros and cons of SUS.
Sample Documents
Common survey questions: demographics, technology experiences, product use
* Please note that the sites linked to are not owned nor hosted by the publisher nor the author. Sites may change, be moved or taken down over time under circumstances that are beyond the control of the publisher and author.
Global and Cross-Cultural Research
Supplementary Reading
Schumacher, Robert (Ed.). 2009. The Handbook of Global User Research. Morgan Kaufman
The Handbook of Global User Research The Handbook of Global User Research has a website with many informative articles, presentations, case studies, etc.
Future perfect Jan Chipchase’s website has thoughprovoking articles and reflections on global research, as well as on-the-ground descriptions of what it’s like to do research internationally.
Tools and Resources
IDEO Human Centered Design Toolkit
Global User Research: Country Facts
* Please note that the sites linked to are not owned nor hosted by the publisher nor the author. Sites may change, be moved or taken down over time under circumstances that are beyond the control of the publisher and author.
Others’ Hard Work
Supplementary Reading
Try the websites and groups listed above under "Useful General Resources".
Sample Statements of Work from the US Gov’t The US Gov’t has a number of document templates freely available online that you can adapt to your own purposes. Includes sample SOWs for usability and focus groups. Our tax dollars at work! (Note that government timelines are quite a bit longer than usual commercial projects, so take their sample milestones and deliverables schedules with a grain of salt.)
Member Organizations / Directories
ESOMAR directory for market researchers ESOMAR is an international market research organization, with members around the world in specialities from demographics to ethnography.
Information Architecture Institute group locator: Locate a UX professional -- chapters around the world.
Interaction Design Association Check the IXDA website for chapters around the world.
User Experience Professionals Association Member Directory
Analyzing Qualitative Data
Supplementary Reading
Patterns in UX Research A clear, straightforward article from Steve Baty that’s useful in thinking about what to look for in your data.
Tools and Resources
Free or low-cost transcription tools
F5 One of the best free or low-cost transcription apps for video. Mac-only
Transcriva Mac-only
Specialized qualitative data analysis software
Atlas.ti Along with Nvivo, one of the standard academic tools for qualitative data analysis.
Dedoose For qualitative and quantitative analysis
HyperRESEARCH Try the free trial version.
Nvivo Nvivo is one of the two standard applications that academics use for qualitative analysis.
Reframer Reframer is one of the few analysis tools we’ve found on the market that is aimed at user experience researchers, not academics.
Transana Transana is specialized software for video and audio analysis. Single-user license costs $65 per user / computer.
WeftQDA Open-source qualitative data analysis software.
Automatically Gathered Data
Supplementary Reading
Complete Beginner’s Guide to Web Analytics and Measurement Andrew Maier in UX Booth. Posted July 6, 2010.
Web Analytics and User Experience: An Interview with Louis Rosenfeld. By Brad Nunnally in Johnny Holland. Posted January 18, 2011.
Tullis, Thomas and William Albert. 2008. Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Usability Metrics. Morgan Kaufmann.
Tools and Resources
Which Test Won Which Test Won is a giant compendium of information about A/B and multivariate testing, including a very long list of potential tools (which unfortunately, the last time we checked, was not annotated).
Research into Action / Reaction Outcomes Deliverables
Examples and Templates
Experience models
Illustrating the Big Picture : Journeys, Experiences and Interactions A case study from Mad*Pow’s Megan Grocki and Jamie Thomson expaining how to put together journey maps.
Design Ethnography & Mood Maps Why and how to represent trends and cycles of moods and emotions in experience models, personas, and other deliverables. With examples. By Will Evans.
Customer experience mapping An in-depth explanation of how to make and use customer experience maps, by Mel Edwards of Design Managers Australia.
The Anatomy of An Experience Map Chris Risdon on experience maps, with an example and case study.
Personas
Konigi persona template Provides omnigraffle template, but useful as reference even if you don’t use Omnigraffle.
Persona page templates Eightshape’s Will Evans offers PDF and InDesign snippets for multiple forms of persona deliverables, along with explanations on how to use them.
Persona sketch worksheet Persona worksheet from Orange Bus (UK) via Wireframes.
"Speech bubble" persona example
Comparative persona template analysis A comparison of quite a few persona examples, circa 2009. Still useful, though.
Task/Process maps
Konigi mental model template Provides omnigraffle template, but useful as reference even if you don’t use Omnigraffle.
http://barnabasnagy.net/2011/12/26/speech-bubble-user-flow-user-journey/ Barnabas Nagy combines sitemap, scenario, task flow, and persona, and provides an axure source file for you to download.
Reporting
Supplementary Reading
The UX of Co-Design: Experience Principles for Successful Client Workshops Paula Wellings’ "personal principles" for running client workshops.
Stanfield, R. Brian. 2002. The Workshop Book. New Society Publishers. Really focused on one kind of workshop -- the consensus workshop -- but a good reference.
Tools and Resources
MakeTools videos The MakeTools website has links to a number of videos of user experience workshops. Very useful for watching how experienced professionals run workshops.
International Association of Facilitator’s methods database Hard to use and some of the methods are only sketchily described. Still, a good place to search for ideas.
* Please note that the sites linked to are not owned nor hosted by the publisher nor the author. Sites may change, be moved or taken down over time under circumstances that are beyond the control of the publisher and author.
Corporate Culture
Supplementary Reading
David Sherwin. Can You Say That in English?: Explaining UX Research to Clients Paula Wellings’ "personal principles" for running client workshops.
Tomer Sharon, It’s Our Research: Getting Stakeholder Buy-in for User Experience Research Projects The website supporting Tomer Sharon’s book of practical advice for building support for research among all types of stakeholders. Includes video interviews with an all-star cast of UX luminaries and social scientists.