Lesson 2 of 5
User research: understanding people before designing
2 min read
Methods
| Method | Answers | When |
|---|---|---|
| User interviews | why people behave as they do, their goals and frustrations | early discovery |
| Surveys | how many people feel or do something | validate patterns at scale |
| Contextual inquiry | how people actually work in their environment | complex workflows |
| Competitive analysis | what exists, conventions, gaps | early |
| Analytics | what people do, where they drop off | ongoing |
| Usability testing | can people use this design | throughout |
| Card sorting / tree testing | how people group and find information | information architecture |
Qualitative methods tell you why; quantitative methods tell you how many. Use both.
Running a good interview
- Recruit 5–8 people who match the target users.
- Ask about past behaviour, not hypothetical futures: "Tell me about the last time you applied for an internship" beats "Would you use an app that…?"
- Open questions ("How did you…", "What happened next?"), follow-ups ("Why was that frustrating?"), silence (let them fill it).
- Don't pitch or lead: "Don't you think this button is confusing?" is a leading question.
- Record (with consent) and take notes on quotes, actions and emotions.
Synthesis
- Write each observation on a sticky note.
- Affinity mapping: group notes into themes.
- Turn themes into insights: "Students track applications in WhatsApp chats and screenshots because portals don't show status changes."
- Create personas (realistic archetypes based on research, not demographics alone) and journey maps (stages, actions, thoughts, emotions and pain points across an experience).
- Prioritise problems by frequency and impact.
Check yourself
- Rewrite this leading question: "Wouldn't it be easier if you could apply with one click?"
- What's the difference between a persona and a user segment?
- When would you use a survey instead of interviews?
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