Observing the User Experience

by Mike Kuniavsky

The gap between who designers and developers imagine their users are, and who those users really are can be the biggest problem with product development. Observing the User Experience will help you bridge that gap to understand what your users want and need from your product, and whether they'll be able to use what you've created.

Filled with real-world experience and a wealth of practical information, this book presents a complete toolbox of techniques to help designers and developers see through the eyes of their users. It provides in-depth coverage of 13 user experience research techniques that will provide a basis for developing better products, whether they're Web, software or mobile based. In addition, it's written with an understanding of how software is developed in the real world, taking tight budgets, short schedules, and existing processes into account.

·Explains how to create usable products that are still original, creative, and unique

·A valuable resource for designers, developers, project managersanyone in a position where their work comes in direct contact with the end user.

·Provides a real-world perspective on research and provides advice about how user research can be done cheaply, quickly and how results can be presented persuasively

·Gives readers the tools and confidence to perform user research on their own designs and tune their software user experience to the unique needs of their product and its users

Genres: Design, Research, Nonfiction, Usability, Technology, Reference, Business

576 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Mike Kuniavsky is the founder of ThingM, a ubiquitous computing design and development company. He also cofounded Adaptive Path, a leading internet consultancy, and cofounded Wired Digital UX for Wired Magazine‘s online division, where he served as the interaction designer of the award-winning search engine, HotBot. He is also the author of Observing the User Experience, and the new book Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing UX Design, both available from Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

Reviews

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was invaluable to me the summer I was nearly-singlehandedly planning and conducting user testing for an organization. Each chapter covers a different user research method, and does so in a practical, straight-forward way with many examples and suggestions. I followed his guidelines for how to recruit and schedule users, conduct interviews, and do the analysis, and our user test was very successful as a result. Even now, this continues to be a great handbook, as I use it often as a reference when doing work for various projects.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Observing the User Experience is a textbook-style introduction to the profession of user experience design and research. It is written with the novice in mind; either somebody who is interested in the field but not yet working in it, or for somebody who has just started their career in their field but lacks the experience. Different sections of the book include "Why Research is Good and how it Fits into Product Development", "User Experience Research Techniques", and "Communication Results".

The second section is by far the largest, and covers a variety of techniques such as interviews, focus groups, object-based techniques, observational field visits, diary studies, usability tests, and surveys. In each case, clear instructions are provided on how to carry out the technique, and relate the findings to the product/software development cycle to improve the experience for the user. Those with degrees in psychology or other social sciences might find some of the descriptions to be a bit light (particularly with respect to the analysis of data), but the author re-iterates that user research is not academic research, and in the 'real world' practicality is often more important than academic rigour. I was personally a bit surprised that the vast majority of techniques were qualitative in nature (the only exception being survey research, where the description of quantitative data analysis was also pretty light) - is this a weakness of the book, or is it just the case that most user research in practice is qualitative? Without working in the field, it's difficult for me to say.

Overall, I'm confident that this will be a good starting point for anybody interested in a career in user research. The textbook is full of clear descriptions and useful examples, although I'm left thinking that given the length of the book (almost 600 pages), slightly more could have been covered. 6/10

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Innovation requires tighter integration of the user experience into the process of things. I've seen usability testing before as step to validate web design. But in all cases, it was a short post design fine tuning. Now, innovation and user experience are taking over the role of business strategy. User testing has become more prominent - so I decided to better understand.

Good news is most of the materials are very familiar. I think only net new thing for me was around recruitment and diary technique. The book does a good job of providing logical approaches and tactical advice. All pretty straight forward stuff. Needs good logistical mindset as all techniques require lot of careful preparation. Good 101 book on user research.

[laurel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dry and difficult to stay awake. It did have useful examples, but not as useful outside of computer/web research, tho its applicable. Of course, some of my anxiety towards the book could be related to my overwhelming frustration with the class requiring I read it.

[Su · Rating 3 out of 5]

Textbook. Good for research.

[Breanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the ultimate resource for user research. It’s incredibly comprehensive and provides practical guidance on when to use specific research methods, how to communicate them effectively, and how to conduct them to yield meaningful results. Additionally, it delves into the importance of backing research findings. As a user experience designer who has read numerous UX research books over the years, I can confidently say that this book stands out as the most valuable and informative resource available.

[Mikal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice overview of the topic

This book makes an excellent field guide to user research. A range of techniques are covered from a practical standpoint, enabling the reader to get a study up and running. The considerations on analysis and presentation are nice reminders to have at hand.

[Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The user experience is something in UX work, coming to be something engineering teams, seek to evaluate, scientifically; Methods, such as surveys, focus groups etc. are repurposed here to achieve this end.

[Taalib Minhas · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re looking for one book to read to get a solid understanding of user research this is it.

[Christina Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longwinded and overly through, but solid info.

[Petricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but a bit boring, barely read all the chapters. Lots of information and I learned more about user experience. I get it better now, and I know how to track or measure user experience factors and I learned what and how to do from that tracking and collecting observations Quite good to know.

[Kay Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audience analysis is one of the most important tasks in Web content development. Without an understanding of the intended audiences for your project, you will waste valuable time and resources building projects that lack direction and longevity. Costly redesigns are the inevitable result of projects that lack user input.

This book covers topics such as user profiles, user surveys, focus groups, task analysis, and usability testing. It covers obtaining information from customer service inquiries and analyzing how competitors address user needs.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ahhh, it only took 445 pages to decide that looking at the literature is an important first step in user research.
Otherwise, solid and useful, but Kuniavsky's need to try to put humor into this is painful. . . absolutely painful.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive approach for conducting user research.

[Brenda]

Kris B gave this 5 stars

[kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the best user research books I have seen.

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still the best all around introduction to user research out there.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good reference work.

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive and useful.
Not enjoyable. At all.
Needs tighter editing.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a textbook. And it's a bit dry but it does cover the subject.

[joke · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book when i read this description i reali love that
is stranger but perfect for me

[Bridget]

Patrick recommendation