User Research Terms Flashcards
Human-Centered Design
a design problem-solving process that prioritizes the users’ needs, wants, and
limitations.
Design Research
a research-driven process that helps define how a problem is solved, and
communicates the value of the solution.
Context
the users and environment they interact with.
Commodity
something easily available, financially and intellectually
Crowdsourcing
the process of collecting services, ideas, and content by asking a large group of people
to contribute and build on each other’s ideas.
Research Method
a structured process of collecting data
Secondary Research
reviewing and summarizing existing research
Primary Research
research collected directly from participants.
Quantitative Research
an output of research that results in something measurable, such as a
quantity, statistic, or numerical information.
Objective Data
research information that is difficult to argue against
Qualitative Research
an output of research that results in something subjective, such as beliefs and
opinions.
Subjective Data
research information that is collected through interviews and includes feelings,
perceptions and concerns.
Generative Research
research that is conducted during the early stages of a project. It may also be
called formative research.
Evaluative Research
research that is conducted in the later phases of a project, validating research by
testing potential solutions. It may also be called summative research.
Iterative Design
the process of testing and refining repeatedly until a successful solution has been
discovered.
Market Research
research that studies human behavior toward a market-based economy, focused on
understanding how humans connect to goods, services, and experiences.
Demographics
collections of quantitative data that represent a group of people or market segment.
Psychographics
collections of qualitative data that represent the subjective beliefs of a particular
demographic.
Ethnography
research aimed at understanding the connection between human behavior and culture
Empathy
understanding another person’s situation from that person’s perspective.
Research Tools
practical techniques of engaging with primary and secondary research methods, such as
literature review, competitive analysis, interviews, surveys, and focus groups.
Literature Review
the act of reviewing and summarizing key documents, publications, articles, and
books centered on a specific topic.
Competitive Analysis
a market research strategy used to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of an
organization’s competition.
Media Scanning
reviewing materials written and produced by competing organizations.
Observational Note-Taking
involves a researcher watching and recording human behavior
Photo Ethnography
recruiting research participants to document an aspect of their life with
photography.
Surveys
are administered by a researcher asking the questions verbally, through either the telephone or
in person. Questions are asked to a sample audience that is a representative of a larger population.
Questionnaires
ask participants to respond on their own, usually through an online form or via a paper
document.
Open-Ended Questions
Survey or interview questions that prompt participants to respond with their
own answer.
Closed-Ended Questions
Survey or interview questions that prompt the participants to choose their
answers from a given list of replies
Interviews
a research tool that involves asking a set of questions directly to a participant.
Interview Probes
follow-up questions or phrases to use in an interview in order to help get more details,
such as “tell me more,” “why does that matter?” or “can you give me an example?”
Focus Group
an interview-like tool where a moderator asks a set of questions to multiple people at
once.
Bias
a researcher’s natural opinion toward something, favorable or not, based on subjective beliefs, such
as “I have a bias toward female athletes because I am one.”
Information Literacy
the process of finding information and using it to effectively solve a problem.
KWHL Table
establishes a research strategy by organizing your initial ideas into these 4 categories—K:
what you know; W: what you don’t know; H: how you’ll figure it out; and L: what you hope to learn.
The Research Logic Model
is a graphic tool/organizer developed and evolved by graduate students
at Kent State University’s Visual Communication Designs Program. The tool helps to organize how you
engage with your research sources.
POEMS
Developed by Kumar and Whitney, POEMS is a graphic organizer that helps sort research into
people, objects, environment, messages, and services.
AEIOU
Developed by the Doblin Group, AEIOU is a graphic organizer that helps sort research into
activities, environments, interactions, objects, and users.
The 5Es Experience Model
Developed by Conifer Research, the 5 Es is a graphic organizer used to
analyze and organize research from an experience. The 5 Es stand for entice, enter, engage, exit, and
extend.
Personas
fictitious summaries that represent users in a particular demographic.
Prototype
an example of a final solution that you can test with your end user.
Rapid Prototyping
a quick form of prototyping that focuses on making simplistic models in order to
quickly test and refine ideas.
