From what I understand you shouldn’t just rely on user interviews for research as it isn’t too accurate due to users not knowing why they might do certain things. So we also do observation-based research, correct so far?
I am going to start a new portfolio project soon on my own(fictitious project) and was wondering how will I approach observation research if the project is something brand new from scratch and not an existing product?
Hey thanks for answering. I was reading a Nielsen Norman article that says this which confused me a abit:
Interviews are a quick and easy way to get a sense of how users feel, think, and what they perceive to be true. Do them, but complement them with observation-based research to attain an accurate and thorough sense of what users really do and a higher feeling of confidence with the information you collect.
I also was going to approach my project with interviews but you see how they say to complement it with observation based research in the last paragraph? (Conclusion)
And by that you mean looking at users use similar products and observe them?
Yes. Also what about this approach? I do user interviews to find a problem and then I come up with an idea and then test it. Testing is considered observational research correct? And after the testing I go back to make the improvements based on that user test session. What do you think about that approach?
Ok. Earlier when you said it’s not always possible to do both, can you give me examples where it isn’t possible?
Ok thanks. My idea is a boxing scoring app so I can do user interviews for that?
Ok thanks. For user interviews I should have big topic questions and then smaller questions related to each of them correct? I need to decide what I want to learn? Also user interviews are about insights in general and not strictly pain points correct?
For pain points I understand that you need to find patterns to find a problem, what about for general insights? Do I look for patterns there too or should I still consider it useful if it wasn’t said by the majority of users?
Right, but should I only be looking for patterns?
Also question about insights. For example if I see that 4/5 users said that they take notes for certain rounds if something specific happened, then that is something I use to inform my design correct?
If I ask questions through a survey does that count as a user interview as well?
What if I can’t reach the audience I need for user interviews? Is there anything I can do? Can I speak with them through forums?