Secrets of UX Research : Part 3 The Researcher
In any research, 3 things matter more than the methods you know.
The first is the research question, which we talked about in part 2.
The second is the researcher’s domain knowledge. Being familiar with prior literature gives you the benefit of others’ work, and prevents you from reinventing the wheel — if that’s even possible in the given time for a project.
The third is the researcher’s philosophy. This may sound academic, but cuts to the core of why some research projects result in incoherent data.
Think of research philosophy as two ends of a line. The first is “Realist”, i.e there is an absolute truth. The second is “Relativist”, i.e different people can have their own versions of what happened.
To state simply, these two ideas apply to different types of research. Are you looking for the average time spent by users on a screen? You need to be realist, since this is a mathematical fact. Asking users open ended questions about it will not work.
But if you want to know the lived experience of someone using your product, just analytics won’t cut it. Different people will interpret words and graphics differently, and this needs a relativist approach. Ask open ended questions, observe their environment, and so forth.
Why does this matter? Because the methods you choose depend on your philosophy. Next time you put together methods in a research program, ask yourself: is there an absolute truth?
Addendum: I’ve spoken about methods above, but these questions permeate every aspect of a study. For example, when a researcher reports a study, does she present one truth, or multiple viewpoints?
More in future articles. Stay curious.
— —
