UX Research: Practical Techniques for Designing Better Products

by Brad Nunnally, David Farkas

One key responsibility of product designers and UX practitioners is to conduct formal and informal research to clarify design decisions and business needs. But there’s often mystery around product research, with the feeling that you need to be a research Zen master to gather anything useful. Fact is, anyone can conduct product research. With this quick reference guide, you’ll learn a common language and set of tools to help you carry out research in an informed and productive manner. This book contains four sections, including a brief introduction to UX research, planning and preparation, facilitating research, and analysis and reporting. Each chapter includes a short exercise so you can quickly apply what you’ve learned.

Genres: Design, Research, Nonfiction, Audiobook

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2016

Reviews

[Mark Congiusta · Rating 2 out of 5]

What could have been a decent 25 page book painfully dragged out to 300+ pages.

[Greg Burrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a survey, it doesn't go too much in depth on any topic. If you work in UX design then you'll find this book too basic. But if you work in other, adjacent areas (software design, product management, etc) and want to learn about user or customer research methods then this is a good overview of UX research practices.

[Luke Isitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for basics of design/general research. The biggest take aways were the methods in the Quantitative and Qualitative chapters, with great examples for how to present data backing your decisions. I would have liked to see more content related to user interviews, and what kind of questions to ask vs. how to establish a relationship.

[Vincent V · Rating 3 out of 5]

UX Research is probably the most light intellectual area of research; thus it fits well into learning the scientific process fully in its glory; albeit UX research is quite flexible for interpretation… For hard scientific research that is backed by reality; check out: physics…

[Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book to determine if I could suggest it to new or student designers. The book provides a great overview (and some practical exercises) for understanding and conducting effective UX research; from quantitative evaluation to qualitative, in-person or remote studies, the book does a great job of introducing many concepts and connecting them together through shared objectives.

[Anton Nikolov · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book on UX research. I enjoyed it, however if you've practices UX research for a few years even not full time, there is a good chance you know almost all of the things that are mentioned in the book.

I think the book is a great source for new UX researchers and designers that want to improve their skillset and execution. For a more experienced designer, it is a nice reminder with a few interesting things like Improv methods that can be applied to research for example.

In general, I am happy I spend the time on this book.

[CalebA · Rating 4 out of 5]

A walkthrough into UX research.
I think there is some wisdom here from experience. I appreciated the aspects of the 3:1, three hours of analysis per one hour of research and doing analysis with others. Some of the chapters seemed rudimentary. I think I expected some deeper interview methods or insights. I'd recommend this to maybe a college student, but if you're doing research today, chances are most of this won't shock you.

[Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even for someone who has been in the field for decades, this is a really great refresher.

I think when you pivot so much around the real world constraints and office politics, it’s great to be reminded of your foundations.

For those who are new in the field - great lean resource that balances both Quant and Qual research methods… just use this as ONE of your theory books rather than the single source of truth as I feel there are some theoretical aspects not covered.

[KR RYB · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about UX - life UX in industry with stakeholders. You can design marvelous products and apliacatins but without stakeholders of Your projects - no projects get final apperance. This book is essential for any UX Designer, noob, pro - any level of profession. My personal top3 book about UX

[ichbinkreativ · Rating 1 out of 5]

People who are a familiar with user research will be surprised by the superficial and partly wrong presentation of some topics.

People who deal with user research for the first time, will not be able to apply many of many methods/frameworks in practice due to the very superficial description, which sometimes consist of only one paragraph. In addition, the structure of the book, which at first glance may appear to make sense, will probably raise questions for many beginners, as not all of the methods mentioned can be linked to later chapters. In short, the red thread is not always present.

In my opinion, the book "Validating Product Ideas: Through Lean User Research" by Tomer Sharon, for example, is much better suited for beginners to learn a few methods step by step.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good Intro to UX guide; I ended up covering it in sticky notes of things I could put into practice as I pursue my work projects. This was easy to read and had some real-life examples from the field that were actually useful and insightful, instead of just "fluff."

[Germaine Irwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful overview of UX research! A must for anyone who cares about end users.

[Yas Taheranpour · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to conducting user research. Would recommend it if you don't have a degree or previous experience in the field.

[Christina Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid info, I particularly liked the Voices from the Streets breakout in each chapter. I really looked forward to them.

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book. Comprehensive but not many insightful methods.

[Taivo]

Goals (what you want to do)
Operators (tools, what cognitive hurdles are there)
Methods (how the tools are operated)
Selections (various options and interface to help users accomplish the goals)

[Peter Kaalund · Rating 4 out of 5]

good practical reference guide for all things to be considered when planning and conducting product research.

[Alex Gulgren · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright. It was basically just a reiteration on things I already know. I wish it had more tangible examples of research that I could use in my everyday work life. It wasn’t horrible, just average. Im still on the look for a modern day book that helps with remote forms of user research and tactics/applications that other companies design or research teams are using 🤔