5 Steps to help you do a perfect user research

User research as a product personnel most commonly used working methods, I believe you will not be unfamiliar. But how to improve the effectiveness of user research has always been a problem for everyone, the internet has a pile of research methods to provide the article and theory, but did not systematically explain how to conduct a perfect user research. Today we're going to talk about how the user research is going to work.

　　1. For the user to classify, select the typical Representative

The first thing we need to do at the beginning of the research is to identify the research subjects. In our research, we often say, "Ask the right person the right thing," which means to investigate different groups of users to get the same demand.

According to the different subjects, users can be divided into different types, enterprise system common users are divided into: senior management, manager (team leader), operators.

For the interview of senior executives, the macroscopic expectation and construction goal of the system can be obtained, and the manager's interview can get the objective and suggestion of the management, and the instruction of the operation staff can be obtained. Therefore, for different types of subjects of the topic center and research objectives are not the same. Management is the pursuit of the system in the personnel and business management of efficient and convenient, to ensure that every link is not wrong, but this will often increase the workload for ordinary operators to affect the efficiency of work, such as complex approval process. Sometimes the needs of both sides may conflict, so it is the study of different types of users to get a deeper understanding of the intricacies of the relationship and maximize the balance of interests.

　　2. Set goals to focus the problem more

User research has different missions in different stages of the product lifecycle.

At the beginning of the product we can according to research results to obtain different user requirements for the system construction to provide the basis for the product on the line after we can collect user feedback to improve the function of the business process or user experience. Whether you want to gain user opinion and behavior, verify assumptions, or quantify results, you must be clear about what the goal of this research is before conducting a research, and any meaningless gossip or survey is inefficient and disruptive. Many people get used to asking users "what do you want?" and "What do you think of the system?" Such a similar problem, but this is the customer to the wrong direction with the beginning. Never let a customer tell you what the system does, the right thing to do is to structure or improve the system through the user's description of the business and the habit of using it.

　　3. Clear forms of research

There are many methods for user research, such as eye movement experiment, usability test, user interview, A/b test, questionnaire survey, focus group, participatory design and so on. Each approach has its pros and cons, and we choose the right approach at different times of the product, where it is appropriate to refer to the size of the product and to the size of the company, for example, that many small and medium-sized companies do not need to use eye-movement tests or usability tests at all. According to my experience, the following methods are more versatile and can achieve good results:

User Interviews

User interview is the most direct and effective way, in the interview can be with the user for a longer time, more in-depth communication. Easier access to the user's real ideas and potential factors are often used to solve specific problems. With clear goals, the questions raised by the investigators also need to be carefully scrutinized and polished, and the next part of the article will focus on the combination of problems.

Questionnaire Survey

Questionnaire survey is generally familiar with the research methods. The advantage of the questionnaire is that the survey is broad and can get more people's feedback for data statistic/analysis. The disadvantage is not deep enough, and the questionnaire in the design of a large extent will be about the user's answer. Therefore, the design of a reasonable questionnaire directly determines the quality of the investigation. A good questionnaire needs two main aspects: length and problem type.

Usually the questionnaire is not suitable for more than 15 minutes, and the set of topics should be as specific as possible not empty. In the problem setting, try to avoid the use of closed problems (provide multiple options, similar to multiple-choice questions), because such questions can easily induce the respondents, resulting in inaccurate conclusions. In addition, the advantage of using semi-closed and open questions is that such questions can lead to more thinking and more accurate information for the researchers.

Situational Survey (Field trips)

In some of the more traditional books are also called "live observation", to the present more is the reappearance of the scene. To be straightforward is to create a user's usual use of the product scene, to see the user in a familiar environment how to operate, in the B-end products are usually door-to-door site visits. This approach allows the product staff to build a more intuitive understanding of the requirements and business processes and to get some of the overlooked details more easily. In the process of observation, we need to think more, and try to sum up the steps of the whole task and find the skeleton.

　　4. Sequencing of issues

In the use of questionnaires or interviews, the sequence of issues should be organized according to the business logic sequence. To efficiently get the most valuable information in an interview, you can use the "problem group" approach and step into the real idea of the interviewees. In particular, you can use pyramid structure, funnel structure and diamond structure to organize problem groups.

Pyramid structure

Using pyramid structure to form problem group is an inductive process.

When using this form, the investigator raises very specific questions, usually starting with closed questions (offering multiple options, similar to multiple-choice questions), then using Half-open questions and encouraging respondents to expand the problem with more general answers. If you think that the researcher is not in the state need to preheat the topic, you should use the pyramid structure. When you want to end a problem, you can also use the pyramid structure to organize the order of the problems.

Funnel structure

The funnel structure is actually a deductive process, which is what we often say to focus the problem gradually. It usually starts with a generic, open question, and then shrinks the possible answer with a closed question. The funnel structure provides an easy and easy way to start, and when the investigator has emotional fluctuations in the topic, it is necessary to control the order of use problems and determine the depth of the problem according to the respondents ' answers.

Diamond Structure

The diamond structure is actually a combination of the above two structures, which usually begin with a very specific problem and then transition to a generic problem, and then proceed further in accordance with a conclusion. Researchers will first put forward a number of simple, closed questions, for research to pave the ground. As the problem unfolds, questions are presented to the respondents that there is obviously no "general" answer. Then, according to the answer, the researcher once again restricted the area to a specific question to get a clear answer, thus completing a complete set of questions.

　5. To study the user's behavior, but also to study the user's ideas

The research result analysis, this is the research final link is also the most important link. If the user needs to be compared to a sewage river, then we get through the research is often the river downstream of things, that is, "visible demand." It is usually a problem that puzzles the user, the function that the user can imagine. But there is always a stream of sewage in the river, and we have to find a source that is "unaware of demand" and "invisible demand".

Unconsciously through the product personnel to the actual work scene of empathy after a more reasonable solution, the invisible demand refers to the product personnel to the business in-depth understanding and the user's psychology to conceive the user can not imagine the solution. Therefore, after the investigation needs to summarize and boldly put forward the idea, and then continue to practice and verification. And the study of the user's ideas can let the product staff understand why users will put forward such a demand, based on what kind of business and psychological premise, such a demand is not worth the response, etc., the analysis of demand has a clear guiding significance.

User research can get different ideas from different users, but the product must not be the pursuit of satisfying everyone's needs, the product has its own characteristics and positioning. Product Manager must balance the relationship between product positioning and user needs, in line with the user's habits, there is a focus on the characteristics of the products and to allow more users to accept, create greater value.