User Research Terms

Question 1

Human-Centered Design

Answer 1

a design problem-solving process that prioritizes the users’ needs, wants, and
limitations.

Question 2

Design Research

Answer 2

a research-driven process that helps define how a problem is solved, and
communicates the value of the solution.

Question 3

Context

Answer 3

the users and environment they interact with.

Question 4

Commodity

Answer 4

something easily available, financially and intellectually

Question 5

Crowdsourcing

Answer 5

the process of collecting services, ideas, and content by asking a large group of people
to contribute and build on each other’s ideas.

Question 6

Research Method

Answer 6

a structured process of collecting data

Question 7

Secondary Research

Answer 7

reviewing and summarizing existing research

Question 8

Primary Research

Answer 8

research collected directly from participants.

Question 9

Quantitative Research

Answer 9

an output of research that results in something measurable, such as a
quantity, statistic, or numerical information.

Question 10

Objective Data

Answer 10

research information that is difficult to argue against

Question 11

Qualitative Research

Answer 11

an output of research that results in something subjective, such as beliefs and
opinions.

Question 12

Subjective Data

Answer 12

research information that is collected through interviews and includes feelings,
perceptions and concerns.

Question 13

Generative Research

Answer 13

research that is conducted during the early stages of a project. It may also be
called formative research.

Question 14

Evaluative Research

Answer 14

research that is conducted in the later phases of a project, validating research by
testing potential solutions. It may also be called summative research.

Question 15

Iterative Design

Answer 15

the process of testing and refining repeatedly until a successful solution has been
discovered.

Question 16

Market Research

Answer 16

research that studies human behavior toward a market-based economy, focused on
understanding how humans connect to goods, services, and experiences.

Question 17

Demographics

Answer 17

collections of quantitative data that represent a group of people or market segment.

Question 18

Psychographics

Answer 18

collections of qualitative data that represent the subjective beliefs of a particular
demographic.

Question 19

Ethnography

Answer 19

research aimed at understanding the connection between human behavior and culture

Question 20

Empathy

Answer 20

understanding another person’s situation from that person’s perspective.

Question 21

Research Tools

Answer 21

practical techniques of engaging with primary and secondary research methods, such as
literature review, competitive analysis, interviews, surveys, and focus groups.

Question 22

Literature Review

Answer 22

the act of reviewing and summarizing key documents, publications, articles, and
books centered on a specific topic.

Question 23

Competitive Analysis

Answer 23

a market research strategy used to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of an
organization’s competition.

Question 24

Media Scanning

Answer 24

reviewing materials written and produced by competing organizations.

Question 25

Observational Note-Taking

Answer 25

involves a researcher watching and recording human behavior

Question 26

Photo Ethnography

Answer 26

recruiting research participants to document an aspect of their life with
photography.

Question 27

Surveys

Answer 27

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.

Question 28

Questionnaires

Answer 28

ask participants to respond on their own, usually through an online form or via a paper
document.

Question 29

Open-Ended Questions

Answer 29

Survey or interview questions that prompt participants to respond with their
own answer.

Question 30

Closed-Ended Questions

Answer 30

Survey or interview questions that prompt the participants to choose their
answers from a given list of replies

Question 31

Interviews

Answer 31

a research tool that involves asking a set of questions directly to a participant.

Question 32

Interview Probes

Answer 32

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?”

Question 33

Focus Group

Answer 33

an interview-like tool where a moderator asks a set of questions to multiple people at
once.

Question 34

Bias

Answer 34

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.”

Question 35

Information Literacy

Answer 35

the process of finding information and using it to effectively solve a problem.

Question 36

KWHL Table

Answer 36

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.

Question 37

The Research Logic Model

Answer 37

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.

Question 38

POEMS

Answer 38

Developed by Kumar and Whitney, POEMS is a graphic organizer that helps sort research into
people, objects, environment, messages, and services.

Question 39

AEIOU

Answer 39

Developed by the Doblin Group, AEIOU is a graphic organizer that helps sort research into
activities, environments, interactions, objects, and users.

Question 40

The 5Es Experience Model

Answer 40

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.

Question 41

Personas

Answer 41

fictitious summaries that represent users in a particular demographic.

Question 42

Prototype

Answer 42

an example of a final solution that you can test with your end user.

Question 43

Rapid Prototyping

Answer 43

a quick form of prototyping that focuses on making simplistic models in order to
quickly test and refine ideas.