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User research is the foundation of everything you'll encounter in Human-Computer Interaction—without understanding users, you're just guessing. When you're tested on HCI concepts, you're being evaluated on your ability to connect research methods to design outcomes. Can you explain why a designer would choose ethnographic research over a survey? Do you understand the trade-offs between qualitative depth and quantitative breadth? These decisions shape every interface you interact with daily.
The methods in this guide aren't just a checklist to memorize. Each one represents a different lens for understanding human behavior, and knowing when to apply each method is what separates competent designers from great ones. As you study, focus on the underlying logic: What kind of data does each method produce? At what stage of design is it most useful? Don't just memorize the names—know what problem each method solves and how they complement each other.
Before you can design solutions, you need to understand the problem deeply. These methods help researchers discover user needs, motivations, and contexts that might not be obvious from the start. Exploratory research prioritizes depth over breadth, generating rich qualitative insights that inform early design decisions.
Compare: Contextual Inquiry vs. Ethnographic Research—both observe users in natural settings, but contextual inquiry is shorter and more task-focused, while ethnography involves deeper cultural immersion over extended periods. If an FRQ asks about understanding workplace culture, ethnography is your answer; for understanding specific task workflows, choose contextual inquiry.
Once you have designs—whether prototypes or live products—these methods help you assess how well they work for real users. Evaluative research focuses on identifying problems and measuring performance against user goals.
Compare: Usability Testing vs. A/B Testing—usability testing tells you why something fails (qualitative), while A/B testing tells you which option performs better (quantitative). Use usability testing to diagnose problems, A/B testing to validate solutions at scale.
These methods don't just evaluate—they actively generate insights that shape what you design. Generative research produces artifacts and frameworks that guide the design process itself.
Compare: Interviews vs. Focus Groups—interviews provide individual depth without social influence, while focus groups generate broader perspectives through group dynamics. Choose interviews for sensitive topics; focus groups for brainstorming and concept exploration.
These methods transform raw research data into actionable design tools. Synthesis artifacts help teams maintain user focus throughout the design process.
Compare: Personas vs. Journey Maps—personas describe who your users are, while journey maps describe what they experience. Use them together: journey maps often track a specific persona's path through your product.
When you need data from large user populations or want to identify statistical patterns, these methods deliver breadth and measurability. Quantitative research sacrifices depth for generalizability and statistical power.
Compare: Surveys vs. Interviews—surveys tell you what users think at scale, interviews tell you why they think it. A well-designed study often uses surveys to identify patterns, then interviews to explore the most interesting findings in depth.
| Concept | Best Examples |
|---|---|
| Early-stage exploration | Interviews, Ethnographic Research, Contextual Inquiry |
| Testing existing designs | Usability Testing, A/B Testing |
| Information architecture | Card Sorting, User Journey Mapping |
| Understanding user attitudes | Focus Groups, Surveys, Interviews |
| Quantitative validation | Surveys, A/B Testing |
| Maintaining user focus | Personas, User Journey Mapping |
| Natural environment research | Contextual Inquiry, Ethnographic Research |
| Generating design direction | Card Sorting, Focus Groups, Personas |
A designer wants to understand why users abandon their shopping cart. Which two methods would provide the deepest insight into user motivations, and why would you choose them over surveys?
Compare and contrast contextual inquiry and usability testing. When in the design process would you use each, and what kind of data does each produce?
Your team has created three different homepage layouts and needs to determine which one leads to more sign-ups. Which method should you use, and what would you need to ensure valid results?
A persona and a user journey map both synthesize research data. Explain how these two artifacts serve different purposes and how they might be used together in a design project.
An FRQ asks you to recommend a research plan for designing a new medical records system for nurses. Which methods would you combine to balance depth of understanding with breadth of validation, and in what order would you conduct them?