Great design starts with knowing what people actually need, not what you assume they need. User research is how you find out. This module starts with choosing the right method for your question and your stage of the project, then gives you a tour of the main techniques so you know what each one is good for.
From there you'll practise the core skills: running user interviews, writing surveys that give clear answers, and observing behaviour in context through field studies. You'll also look at competitive analysis, which shows how other products solve the same problem.
Treat the videos as a reference and come back to them when you plan a study. When you're done, continue on to Research Synthesis & Problem Framing.
Why you should not default to usability tests: five criteria for picking the research method that fits your situation, goals and desired outcomes.
A tour of nine common methods, from user interviews and field studies to card sorting, surveys and five-second tests, and when each one fits.
A free tutorial on running effective user interviews, from preparing your questions to getting useful answers from participants.
The types of survey questions, common mistakes to avoid, and a worked example of building a survey for user research.
A quick guide to studying your competition: key strategies for understanding how other products work and finding opportunities for your own design.