52 Research Terms you need to know as a UX Designer
Your A-Z list of research terms in plain English
Having written the article 53 Tech Terms You Need to Know as a UX Designer it made sense to add research terms into the mix. I’ve put together an A-Z list of research words with explanations in plain English.
“Pay attention to what users do, not what they say.”
Jakob Nielsen
3 Click Rule
This is the theory that users will leave a website if they can’t get to the page they want within 3 click.
5 Second Test
A 5 second test involves showing users the interface of software application or a website for 5 seconds. The participant then has to recall what they saw on the page. This is a great method to see whether the key visuals, or calls to actions have been correct impact.
80/20 Rule
This is based on the Pareto principle. Applied to any website, web app, or software environment, 20% of the functionality and features will be responsible for 80% of the results.
A/B Testing
A/B testing is a when you test two different versions of online content with users to see which one they prefer.
Accessibility
Accessibility is the ease with which people can use and understand a website or app. This also refers to how websites and apps are adapted for those with disabilities or special needs. An example of this could be adapting colours to allow for people who are colour blind.
Active Listening
This is an interviewing technique where the interviewer pays attention and provides feedback to encourage the conversation.
Analytics
Analytics gives valuable information on the traffic to your website and app. It tells you where your traffic comes from and where they move around. It gives a great insight as to what is working or not with your site /app.
Card Sorting
Card sorting is a method used to help design or evaluate the information architecture of a site. In a card sorting session, participants organise topics into categories that make sense to them. They may also be asked to label these groups. To do a card sort, you can use cards, pieces of paper, or an online card sorting tool.
Clickstream Analysis
On a website, clickstream analysis (also called clickstream analytics) is the process of collecting and analysing data about which pages a website visitor visits, and in what order. The path the visitor takes though a website is called the clickstream.
Competitor Analysis
This is an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors.
Context of Use Analysis
The context of use analysis involves collecting and analysing information about: the intended users, their tasks, the tools to support their goals, the physical environment that the product will be used in, the technical constraints and other factors that’ll effect the user experience.
The data for a context of use analysis can be gathered using interviews, workshops, surveys, site visits, focus groups, observational studies, and contextual inquiry .
Conversion Rate
Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors that complete a targeted transaction online.
In e-commerce, conversion marketing is the act of converting site visitors into paying customers. The process of improving the conversion rate is called conversion rate optimisation.
Diary Study
A diary study is a research method used to collect qualitative data about user behaviours, activities, and experiences over time. Typically, users self-report their activities at regular intervals to create a log of their activities. The diary study can range from a few days to over a month.
End Users
This is the people who use a website/app or those who are participants or subjects of research studies.
Engagement (User Engagement)
User engagement is about getting a users attention and keeping it. Anything that helps a user stay focused on a page or a screen (whether it be a button or a menu) is crucial.
Entry Field
The entry field (also known as a data or text entry field) is when users are required to make text or data entries.
Error Analysis
A part of task analysis that identifies the frequency and type of errors that occur for each specified set of task flows.
Error Rate
Frequency in which errors occur in a given time period.
Ethnography / Ethnographic Research
This is the study of people in their own environment through the use of methods such as observation and face-to-face interviewing.
Eye Tracking
This is the measurement of eye activity on a screen or an environment. Eye tracking software allows the users eye movement to be tracked on a screen. It can see what they look at most frequently and in what order.
Fishbone Diagram
A diagram designed to identify cause and effect relationships between factors in a given situation. It is made up of a “head” which states a problem and bones along the spine which represent factors and categories of factors.
The fishbone helps to visually display the potential causes for a specific problem.
Fitt’s Law
A mathematical model that predicts how long it will take to point at a target based on target size and proximity. The further away and smaller it is the longer it will take for user to interact with it.
Focus Group
This is a discussion with a group of participants, that a moderator leads through a set of questions on a particular topic. The idea is to obtain feedback about users, products, concepts, prototypes, tasks, strategies, and environments.
Free Listing
A data collection technique to gain user insight for a specific topic. it’s done by asking people to list all the items they can think of that relate to that topic.
Gestalt Principles
Also know as the “Law of simplicity”. This states that every stimulus is perceived in its most simple form. People do not visually perceive items in isolation, but as part of a larger whole.
Heart Framework
Google’s Heart Framework allows you to measure the user experience on a large scale. The metrics that are measured are: Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention and Task Analysis.
Hick’s Law
Hick’s law, describes the time it takes for a person to make a decision as a result of the possible choices he or she has. Increasing the number of choices will increase the decision time.
Human Factors
Human factors and ergonomics (also known as comfort design) is the practice of designing products, systems, or processes to take proper account of the interaction between them and the people who use them.
Intercept Studies
Intercept surveys are surveys that are conducted in-person, generally in a public place or business. For example, interviewers might approach people leaving a shop and ask to interview them about their experiences.
KISS
Keep it Simple Stupid. KISS was design principle noted by the U.S. Navy in 1960. It states that most systems work best if they are kept simple. Simplicity is a key goal in design.
Learnability
How easy or difficult it is to learn to effectively use a system or interface.
Likert Scale
This is a survey method in which a person is asked to rate their answer on a scale. The scale could be positive to negative with a neutral score in between.
Mental Map / Mental Model
The closer the users mental model is to the functionality of the site, the higher the site’s perceived usability.
Minesweeping
An action designed to identify where on a page links are located. Minesweeping involves the user rapidly moving the cursor over a page, watching to see where the cursor or pointer changes to indicate the presence of a link.
Participatory Design
Participatory design (originally co-operative design, now often co-design) is an approach to design attempting to actively involve all stakeholders (e.g. employees, partners, customers, end users) in the design process. The aim is to help ensure the result meets their needs.
Path
The route taken by a user as they move through a Web site. The path can be shown by breadcrumbs.
Persona
The creation of a representative user based on available data and user interviews. Though the personal details of the persona may be fiction, the information used to create the user type is not.
Video from: UX Mastery
Qualitative Research
The study of human behaviour that focuses on context and observations rather than numerical data or statistics.
Quantitative Research
The study of human behaviour that focuses on numerical data and statistics. This can be done through polls, questionnaires and surveys.
Remote Usability Studies
Remote usability testing allows you to conduct user research with participants in their own environment by using screen sharing software. It allows you to record the face and voice of participants.
The advantage of this kind of research is that your pool of participants can be much larger than your own location. As a result you can conduct more research sessions in a shorter time.
Representative Sampling
Choosing a group of participants that represent your target audience.
Survey
A survey is a list of questions aimed at extracting specific data from a particular group of people. Surveys may be conducted by phone, the internet, face-to-face and various other ways.
Video: UX Mastery
Target Market
The set of users for which a product is designed for.
Task Analysis
A method used to identify and understand the activities to be performed by users when interacting with a website or app.
Task Flow Diagrams
A visual representation of tasks and there interrelationship on a site.
Think Aloud
Think-aloud (or thinking aloud) is a method used to gather data in usability testing. During usability testing asking the user to think out aloud on what they see and do helps to gather valuable information.
True Intent Studies
True intent studies measure the experience users have with a website and provide insights for improving the design by answering the following questions:
- Who’s visiting?
- Why are they coming?
- What do they like or dislike?
- How well do they succeed?
The answers to these questions help us empathise with users and understand how to address their needs.
Usability
How effectively, efficiently and satisfactorily a user can interact with a user interface.
Usability Benchmarking
This measures the current usability of a system and provides a baseline against which future usability can be measured.
Usability Lab
A space designated for conducting usability tests by observing user interactions with a system and recording their activities. Additional observers may be present or may observe via two- way mirrors or video streaming in another room.
User Flow
A user flow is the steps a user performs to complete a task. The “top path” is the most common user flow.
User Research
User research focuses on understanding user needs, behaviours and motivations through observation techniques, task analysis, and many other other methods.
Video: Udacity
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
Bill Gates
Articles on UX Research
How to conduct User Experience Research like a professional
A crash course in UX Design Research
Complete beginners guide to UX Research
Embracing uncertainty in UX Research
7 Great tried and tested UX Research techniques
The 7 deadly sins of User Research
The case for talking to users in the age of big data
UX Research Books
Handbook or Usability Testing by Jeffrey Rubin and Dana Chisnell
Remote Research by Nate Bolt and Tony Tulathimutte
Study UX Research
UX Research & Strategy with Designlab
Google User Experience Research Studies
UX and Usability Research Methods Training by Nielsen Norman Group
“Want to grow as a designer? Spend most of your time thinking about how it works, as opposed to how it looks.”
Josh Puckett
Bookmark this A-Z ☆ and use it as a reference. If you have any words you think should be added to the list then please message me below. The list will be iterated on.
If you enjoyed this, have a read of my other UX articles:
New to UX Design? Feeling Overwhelmed?
Writing for the Web: How To Be Well Prepared With This Great Checklist
UX Writing: How to do it like Google with this powerful checklist
24 Ways to Look Like an Awesome UX Designer
51 Research Terms You Need to Know as a UX Designer
53 Tech Terms You Need to Know as a UX Designer
How to become a UX Designer at 40 with no digital or design experience
Created on: 12th October, 2022
Last updated: 12th October, 2022
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