In January 2020, I spoke at the 2020 QRCA Conference in Austin, Texas. The name of my talk was “UX Research Is Not a Synonym for Usability Testing.”
The inspiration for my talk actually came to me immediately while attending the 2019 conference… Sometimes when I introduced myself as a UX researcher to another qualitative researcher, I heard, “I do usability testing, too!” Hhm?
Continue reading “Takeaways from My 2020 QRCA Conference Talk: UX Research Is Not a Synonym for Usability Testing”Designing for the “average” user? Turns out, there’s no such thing. The average user doesn’t exist.
When building your online surveys, user personas, empathy maps, customer journey maps, user requirement documentation, prototypes, and products—consider ways to be inclusive and accessible to all users.
Nail polish isn’t just for girls and women; some men wear nail polish. Not all bald people are men; some women shave their heads or lose their hair.
Call out stereotypes and biases whenever you find them. Be empowered to speak up and advocate for all users.
Continue reading “Designing for Inclusion & Accessibility: The Giant List of Use Cases”If you haven’t guessed by now, I love making lists.
And as a maximizer, I’m always looking for new ways to grow as a researcher and strategist—whether it’s new research methods or techniques, reasons to invest in UX, or ways to communicate my research findings.
Are you looking for ways to deliver research insights more effectively to stakeholders or the design team? Do you find report writing to be too slow or too redundant? Or do you need a deliverable that the entire design team can collaborate on together?
Continue reading “28 UX Research Deliverables”What’s a hypothesis map? How is it different from a customer journey map?
A hypothesis map is based on internal stakeholders’ input and assumptions. A customer journey map is based on customer research.
Continue reading “UX Word of the Day: Hypothesis Map”Want to understand what the user experience is really like from the perspective of a customer? The data collected from web/app analytics, CES, VOC text analytics, video analytics, and session replays can show us where customer problems lie, but they don’t tell us why.
To inform your design decisions with deep, in-context insights, there are 5 different research methods you can use—depending on your research goal.
Continue reading “Gain a Bird’s Eye View of the User Experience”Surprise! Not all UX research methods include users. There are other ways to inspect or understand the user experience without observing or talking to people.
Supplement your user research with the following.
Continue reading “Non-User Research Methods to Add to Your UX Research Toolbox”Earlier in my UX career, I used to dislike sketching on a whiteboard with a group of colleagues. I preferred working alone, making everything pixel-perfect on my screen and having complete and total control over my deliverable.
I didn’t like the messiness or seemingly slower pace when working with others on the same deliverable—plus, ideas no longer felt like mine.
Then I learned to let go.
Continue reading “Strategies to Bring More Collaboration into Your Everyday Work”During a recent vacation at Universal Studios Orlando (which is actually 2 separate parks), I thought I had a mental model of how public lockers work.
Universal Studios broke my mental model. Twice.
Continue reading “UX Word of the Day: Mental Model”If you’ve ever been inside the Minneapolis skyway—the human-size hamster tunnel—you immediately understand the critical need for clear wayfinding.
The skyway system is notoriously confusing. Each building owns their branch of the skyway system—so signage is terribly inconsistent or non-existent.
Continue reading “UX Word of the Day: Wayfinding”I love introducing the concept of “information scent” to non-UX designers. They almost always find the concept fun to say and empowering.
Once non-designers understand the definition of information scent—the ability to use design and copy to pull users deeper into an experience—concerns about “the fold” and “number of clicks” quickly fade away.
Continue reading “UX Word of the Day: Scroll Stopper”