Self-Education in UX and Working with User Research Data

How you can educate yourself in user experience. The best ways to capture and present user research data.

Six, Janet M. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Education>User Experience>Research

Nondirected Interviews: How to Get More Out of Your Research Questions

As user experience designers, a key component to nearly all the techniques we use in our practice is the one-on-one interview. It’s the basis of requirements gathering, usability testing, and task analysis. In order to remove our personal biases, expectations and opinions from the questions asked, I practice a kind of questioning technique called the nondirected interview.

Kuniavsky, Mike. Adaptive Path (2002). Articles>Interviewing>User Experience>Research

The Mid-Point on a Rating Scale: Is it Desirable?    

This study examined the effect on survey results of having no neutral or mid-point on a Likert scale. Participants in a face-to-face omnibus survey were shown either a five point (with mid -point) or four point (no mid-point) Likert scale of importance on a card and asked to state their opinion about the importance of product labelling (additives, ingredients etc.) on packaged foods. This research provides some evidence that social desirability bias, arising from respondents' desires to please the interviewer or appear helpful or not be seen to give what they perceive to be a socially unacceptable answer, can be minimised by eliminating the mid-point ('neither... nor', uncertain etc.) category from Likert scales. There is also some evidence that the presence or absence of a mid-point on an importance scale produces distortions in the results obtained.

Garland, Ron. Marketing Bulletin (1991). Articles>Research>Methods>Surveys

Ethnographic Research in Business and Technical Writing    

Two widely disseminated approaches impose reductive boundaries on ethnographic research by privileging one context of meaning over other essential contexts. The first, emphasizing statistical validity, privileges the research community by recommending that the ethnographer's data analysis via coding agree with that of other raters from the research community. The second asserts that the ethnographer who comes closest to validity comes closest to presenting only the subject's point of view. Ethnography, however, comprises four essential, overlapping contexts: the phenomenal context (that which is observed/recorded), the site's cultural context (the subjects' outlook), the research community context, and the researcher's interior context, shaped by experience and education. Each of the four vantages has dominating tendencies, but if one does dominate to the exclusion of others, the reductive result is data-centered, thin description; subjects-centered groupthink; research community-centered groupthink; or researcher-centered solipsism. Although all contexts of meaning are important, none should fully eclipse the others.

Cross, Geoffrey A. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (1994). Articles>Business Communication>Research>Ethnographies

The Impact of the Internet and Digital Technologies on Teaching and Research in Technical Communication    

Technical communication practices have been changed dramatically by the increasingly ubiquitous nature of digital technologies. Yet, while those who work in the profession have been living through this dramatic change, our academic discipline has been moving at a slower pace, at times appearing quite unsure about how to proceed. This article focuses on the following three areas of opportunity for change in our discipline in relation to digital technologies: access and expectations, scholarship and community building, and accountability and partnering.

Gurak, Laura J. and Ann Hill Duin. Technical Communication Quarterly (2004). Articles>TC>Research>Online

Jared Spool on User Research Methods

Adaptive Path’s Peter Merholz recently talked to the founder of User Interface Engineering Jared Spool about user research.

Merholtz, Peter. Adaptive Path (2005). Articles>Research>Usability>User Centered Design

Design Research Methods for Experience Design

There is a trend among some in the UX community to take the U out of UX and refer to our discipline simply as experience design. One reason for this change in terminology is that it lets us talk about a specific target audience in terms that resonate with business stakeholders more than the generic term user—for example, customer experience, patient experience, or member experience. The other reason for using the term experience design rather than user experience design is that it recognizes the fact that most customer interactions are multifaceted and complex and include all aspects of a customer’s interaction with a company or other organizational entity, including its people, services, and products.

Hawley, Michael. UXmatters (2009). Articles>User Experience>Research>Methods

Patterns in UX Research

One of the key objectives of user research is to identify themes or threads that are common across participants. These patterns help us to turn our data into insights about the underlying forces at work, influencing user behavior. Patterns demonstrate a recurring theme, with data or objects appearing in a predictable manner. Seeing a visual representation of the data is usually enough for us to recognize a pattern. However, it is much harder to see patterns in raw data, so identifying patterns can be a daunting task when we face large volumes of research data. Patterns stand out above the typical noise we’re used to seeing in nature or in raw data.

Baty, Steve. UXmatters (2009). Articles>Research>User Experience

Annals. Computer Science Series  

Annals. Computer Science Series (Romanian original title Anale. Seria Informatică) was founded in 2003 by the collective of researchers of Computers and Applied Computer Science Faculty in "Tibiscus" University of Timişoara, being an annual – in printed form - international journal. The journal publishes scientific research papers presented in the framework of the International Conference "Actualities and Perspectives in Hardware and Software", event under the high patronage of the Romanian Academy, as well as research articles exposed on the "European Conference on Computer Sciences & Applications". Annals. Computer Science Series is an e-journal with free publication of original scientific work in any Computer Science area, as well as its applications to other domains such as Mathematics, Economics, Technical Sciences or Medicine. We accept to publish, after reviewer’s evaluation, theoretical and applicative studies, wishing to offer to interested audience interpretations and analyses of most recent approaches and results in above mentioned areas.

University of Timisoara (2008). Academic>Research>Computers and Writing>Online

Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship  

Social network sites (SNSs) are increasingly attracting the attention of academic and industry researchers intrigued by their affordances and reach. This special theme section of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication brings together scholarship on these emergent phenomena. In this introductory article, we describe features of SNSs and propose a comprehensive definition. We then present one perspective on the history of such sites, discussing key changes and developments. After briefly summarizing existing scholarship concerning SNSs, we discuss the articles in this special section and conclude with considerations for future research.

Boyd, Danah and Nicole B. Ellison. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (2007). Articles>Web Design>Research>Social Networking

Mapping the Research Questions in Technical Communication    

Agreement about research questions can strengthen disciplinary identity and give direction to a field that is still maturing. The central research question this article poses foregrounds texts, broadly defined as verbal, visual, and multimedia, and the power of texts to mediate knowledge, values, and action in a variety of contexts. Related questions concern disciplinarity, pedagogy, practice, and social change. These questions overlap and inform each other. Any single study does not necessarily fall exclusively into one area. A mapping of a field’s research questions is a political act, emphasizing some questions and marginalizing or excluding others. The emphases may change over time. This mapping illustrates reasons for the tensions between the academic and practitioner areas of the field. It also points out their shared research interests and opportunities for future research.

Rude, Carolyn D. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2009). Articles>TC>Research

Practitioner Research Instruction: A Neglected Curricular Area in Technical Communication Undergraduate Programs    

Most technical communication practitioners conduct research throughout their careers. Yet, a survey of the Web sites of 114 undergraduate technical communication programs between September 2006 and April 2007 revealed that 65% (about two thirds) of these programs are providing minimal or no exposure to research instruction and therefore are not sufficiently preparing students to handle the types of research they will encounter in their upcoming careers. Given the disconnect between the centrality of research in the work that technical communicators do and the low presence of research instruction at the undergraduate level, academics need to look for ways to overcome institutional and other constraints in order to give research training greater priority in their undergraduate programs.

Spilka, Rachel. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2009). Articles>TC>Education>Research

The Competencies of a Business Analyst

The first step in developing as a business analyst is to understand the competency required of a business analyst in your organization. This should include an assessment both the current and the future competencies required. The HR department provides an outline definition of the competencies required of the business analyst in the organization. Future competencies are more difficult to assess and depends on the factors such as projects that may develop in future, business issues and technological developments.

Balchandani, Narain. IQTI (2009). Careers>Business Communication>Research

The Technical Communication Research Landscape    

This article reports data from questionnaires assessing the day-to-day experiences that members of the technical communication field have in carrying out their research. The data revealed that most members experience at least some frustration and numerous constraints that prevent them from doing the kinds and amounts of research that they want to do and that may affect the quality of their research. In short, technical communication scholars face an array of challenges. This article presents examples of these challenges and ideas that respondents had both for lessening the challenges scholars face and for better preparing graduate students. It suggests several practical initiatives for addressing these challenges along with realistic strategies for implementing those initiatives.

Blakeslee, Ann M. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2009). Articles>TC>Research

A Guide to the Preparation of Theses and Dissertations in Science and Engineering  

This guide is intended to help you write the best thesis you can by anticipating and answering common questions about content, structure, format, figures, and language. We have also included some suggestions on how to manage the process of turning your research -- your testing and reading, your findings and conclusions -- into a clear, complete, well-written, and convincing thesis or dissertation.

Hart, Hillary. University of Texas (2005). Resources>Style Guides>Research>Engineering

Talking 'Bout My Generation: The Evolution of Online Marketing Research

Utilizing reliable market research on an ongoing basis is the most effective way to ensure a successful marketing campaign. Nevertheless, for many companies, the benefits of conducting marketing research and the costs of conducting marketing research always seem to be at odds. Marketing research can be expensive. Not knowing your customer's needs can be costly.

Janisch, Troy. Icon Interactive (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Marketing>Research

University Publishing In A Digital Age

This paper argues that a renewed commitment to publishing in its broadest sense can enable universities to more fully realize the potential global impact of their academic programs, enhance the reputations of their institutions, maintain a strong voice in determining what constitutes important scholarship, and in some cases reduce costs.

Ithaka (2009). Articles>Research>Publishing>Online

Why We Search: Visualizing and Predicting User Behavior  

The aggregation and comparison of behavioral patterns on the WWW represent a tremendous opportunity for understanding past behaviors and predicting future behaviors. In this paper, we take a first step at achieving this goal. We present a large scale study correlating the behaviors of Internet users on multiple systems ranging in size from 27 million queries to 14 million blog posts to 20,000 news articles. We formalize a model for events in these time-varying datasets and study their correlation. We have created an interface for analyzing the datasets, which includes a novel visual artifact, the DTWRadar, for summarizing differences between time series. Using our tool we identify a number of behavioral properties that allow us to understand the predictive power of patterns of use.

Adar, Eytan, Daniel S. Weld, Brian N. Bershad and Steven D. Gribble. WWW 2007 (2007). Articles>Web Design>Search>Research

Analysis, Plus Synthesis: Turning Data into Insights

In this article, I will outline an approach to gleaning insights from primary qualitative research data. This article is not a how-to for creating the design tools that are often the outputs of primary qualitative user research—such as personas, mental models, or user scenarios. Instead, it identifies an approach to generating overarching insights, regardless of the design tool you want to create.

Ellerby, Lindsay. UXmatters (2009). Articles>User Centered Design>Interviewing>Research

What's Cognitive About Rhetoric?

Our capacity for mimesis -- the capacity to represent experiences and states-of-affairs in iconic and indexical formats under strict bodily control -- molds later symbolic thought and action. Culture is not the initial product of language, language is the product of a particular manifestation of Mimetic Culture.

Van Evera Oakley, Todd. Social Science Research Network (2008). Articles>Rhetoric>Research>Cognitive Psychology

So What IS User Requirements Gathering?

Requirements gathering is all about aiming at the right target. It doesn't matter how accurate you are, if you aim at the wrong target, you miss.

Frontend Infocentre (2009). Articles>Usability>Research>Functional Specifications

Guesses vs. Data as Basis for Design Recommendations

Even the tiniest amount of empirical facts (say, observing 2 users) vastly improves the probability of making correct UI design decisions.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2009). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Research

Electronic Publication and the Narrowing of Science and Scholarship    

Online journals promise to serve more information to more dispersed audiences and are more efficiently searched and recalled. But because they are used differently than print—scientists and scholars tend to search electronically and follow hyperlinks rather than browse or peruse—electronically available journals may portend an ironic change for science. Using a database of 34 million articles, their citations (1945 to 2005), and online availability (1998 to 2005), I show that as more journal issues came online, the articles referenced tended to be more recent, fewer journals and articles were cited, and more of those citations were to fewer journals and articles. The forced browsing of print archives may have stretched scientists and scholars to anchor findings deeply into past and present scholarship. Searching online is more efficient and following hyperlinks quickly puts researchers in touch with prevailing opinion, but this may accelerate consensus and narrow the range of findings and ideas built upon.

Evans, James A. Science (2008). Articles>Research>Publishing>Online

Blasts from the Past

It does not matter if they were published 10 years ago or 100 years ago, old scientific papers may be more important than you think.

Marx, Werner and Manuel Cardona. Physics World (2004). Articles>Scientific Communication>History>Research