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One participant at a time works through realistic task scenarios with a product or prototype while a facilitator observes, often asking them to think aloud. Qualitative usability testing collects observational data to identify problems in an interface.

Useful for

Where and why people struggle with specific tasks, observed directly, with enough detail to understand how to fix the problems.

When to use

Design — improve the usability of the design. Methods are formative: they inform how to improve the design. Launch & Assess — measure product performance against itself or competitors. Methods are summative.

Preparation and resources

A facilitator, a working product or prototype, task scenarios, recruited representative participants and a way to take notes or record sessions.

Combine with

Use analytics or surveys to find where problems happen at scale, then usability testing to understand why. Re-test after changes.

Nuance

Usability studies mix behavioral observation with self-reported comments; NN/g recommends leaning toward the behavioral side. Usability testing can also be run quantitatively.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryUX Research Cheat SheetA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

A usability study in which the facilitator and participant are in different locations and interact through video conferencing and screen sharing.

Useful for

Task-based observations similar to in-person usability testing, from participants who are geographically spread out.

When to use

Design — improve the usability of the design. Methods are formative: they inform how to improve the design. Launch & Assess — measure product performance against itself or competitors. Methods are summative.

Preparation and resources

Video-conferencing and screen-sharing tools, a facilitator, task scenarios and recruited participants.

Combine with

Pairs well with unmoderated testing when you need both depth and a larger sample.

Nuance

Placed near the middle of the qualitative–quantitative axis in the landscape; it is most often run as a qualitative study.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

Participants complete tasks with a site, app or prototype on their own while a specialized tool presents tasks and records their behavior; no facilitator is present. It can be used in both qualitative and quantitative studies.

Useful for

Session recordings and usability metrics such as success rate, task time and perceived ease of use.

When to use

Design — improve the usability of the design. Methods are formative: they inform how to improve the design. Launch & Assess — measure product performance against itself or competitors. Methods are summative.

Preparation and resources

An unmoderated testing tool, carefully written tasks, a product or prototype and recruited participants.

Combine with

Use after moderated sessions to check whether issues found in depth are widespread.

Nuance

Captures both behavior and attitudes, which is why it sits near the middle of the attitudinal–behavioral axis.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

Tightly scripted usability studies with larger numbers of participants and precise, predetermined measures of performance, used to track improvements over time or compare against competitors. It is a summative method.

Useful for

Comparable metrics such as task success, time on task, error rates and satisfaction across versions or competitors.

When to use

Launch & Assess — measure product performance against itself or competitors. Methods are summative.

Preparation and resources

A stable product, a defined set of top tasks and metrics, a larger participant sample and analysis capability.

Combine with

Benchmark before and after a redesign; use qualitative usability testing in between to find what to fix.

Nuance

The cheat sheet recommends benchmark testing before a major redesign so progress can be gauged over time.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryUX Research Cheat SheetA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

Researchers study participants in their own environment, at work or home, where they would most naturally use the product or service. Some field studies are purely observational; others include interviews or tasks.

Useful for

Rich understanding of real environments, workarounds, needs and problems that people may not think to report.

When to use

Strategize — find new directions and opportunities. Methods are often generative.

Preparation and resources

Access to participants’ real environments, an experienced observer, travel or on-site time and note-taking tools.

Combine with

Follow with a survey to understand how common the observed needs are.

Nuance

Field studies can lean toward what people say (ethnographic interviews) or what they do (extended observation).

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryUX Research Cheat SheetA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

A type of field study in which the researcher watches people perform their tasks in their normal environment and asks questions to understand how and why they did what they did. It combines in-depth observation and interview and suits complex systems and processes.

Useful for

Detailed understanding of work practices, task steps, information needs and reasons behind behavior.

When to use

Strategize — find new directions and opportunities. Methods are often generative.

Preparation and resources

Access to the work environment, a skilled researcher, consent from participants and organizations, and note-taking tools.

Combine with

Combine with interviews and diary studies for task analysis of complex workflows.

Nuance

The glossary notes it is typically conducted in early discovery. Remote versions are possible with various degrees of success.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: Glossary

Participants record behaviors, activities and experiences relevant to a product or service over an extended period — from days to months — using a paper or digital diary, camera or app.

Useful for

Patterns over time: habits, triggers, information needs and experiences in real contexts.

When to use

Strategize — find new directions and opportunities. Methods are often generative. Design — improve the usability of the design. Methods are formative: they inform how to improve the design.

Preparation and resources

A logging mechanism, clear prompts, participants willing to commit over time and someone to monitor entries.

Combine with

Use interviews before or after the diary period to explore entries in depth.

Nuance

Self-reported, so it sits on the attitudinal side even though participants describe behavior. The cheat sheet also lists it for testing when people self-report use over time.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryUX Research Cheat SheetA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

A one-on-one attitudinal method in which a researcher asks a participant questions about a topic, listens and follows up to learn in depth what they think.

Useful for

Needs, motivations, expectations, mental models and experiences in participants’ own words.

When to use

Strategize — find new directions and opportunities. Methods are often generative.

Preparation and resources

An interviewer, a discussion guide, recruited participants and a way to record or take notes.

Combine with

Follow with a survey to measure how widespread the themes are, or with field studies to observe actual behavior.

Nuance

Context depends on how the interview is conducted; an interview held in the participant’s environment moves toward a field study.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryUX Research Cheat SheetA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

A facilitator leads a small group through a discussion of a set of topics, gathering verbal and written feedback. NN/g notes they tend to be less useful for usability but can provide a top-of-mind view of a brand or product concept.

Useful for

Group reactions, expectations and the range of opinions about a topic or concept.

When to use

Strategize — find new directions and opportunities. Methods are often generative.

Preparation and resources

A skilled facilitator, a discussion guide, a venue or video tool and a group of recruited participants.

Combine with

If used, pair with individual interviews or behavioral methods to avoid relying on group opinion.

Nuance

Group sizes are described differently across sources (3–12 in one article, 6–9 in the glossary).

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: Glossary

Participants are given design elements or creative materials to construct their ideal experience, expressing what matters most to them and why. The resulting designs are used to understand needs, not to be implemented.

Useful for

Priorities, expectations and reasoning behind what people want from an experience.

When to use

Strategize — find new directions and opportunities. Methods are often generative.

Preparation and resources

Prepared building blocks or creative materials, a facilitator and recruited participants.

Combine with

Combine with interviews to explore the reasoning behind choices.

Nuance

Uses a limited form of the product: participants rearrange elements that could be part of an experience.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

A researcher shares an approximation of a product or service that captures its essential value proposition to determine whether it meets the needs of the target audience. It can be done one-on-one or with larger numbers, in person or online.

Useful for

Whether an idea resonates, what people expect from it and which needs it does or does not meet.

When to use

Strategize — find new directions and opportunities. Methods are often generative.

Preparation and resources

A concept representation (description, sketch or storyboard), a facilitator or survey tool and target participants.

Combine with

Follow with prototype usability testing once a direction is chosen.

Nuance

The glossary describes it as attitudinal and often run as a qualitative survey; the landscape places it between qualitative and quantitative.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

Participants group labels into categories that make sense to them, exposing their mental models to help create or refine an information architecture. Open sorts let participants create categories; closed sorts use predefined ones.

Useful for

How people expect content and features to be grouped and labeled.

When to use

Design — improve the usability of the design. Methods are formative: they inform how to improve the design.

Preparation and resources

A list of content items, a card-sorting tool or physical cards and recruited participants.

Combine with

Use card sorting to create an information architecture, then tree testing to evaluate it.

Nuance

Can be qualitative (moderated, with discussion) or quantitative (larger online samples).

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryUX Research Cheat SheetA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

A task-based method in which participants find where specific items are located in a text-only hierarchy, assessing how well the navigational structure matches their expectations.

Useful for

Success rates and paths for finding items in a hierarchy, showing where labels or groupings fail.

When to use

Design — improve the usability of the design. Methods are formative: they inform how to improve the design.

Preparation and resources

A defined category hierarchy, findability tasks, a tree-testing tool and recruited participants.

Combine with

Run on the existing hierarchy, improve it with card sorting, then run again to demonstrate improvement.

Nuance

The landscape plots card sorting and tree testing together; the method articles describe tree testing as a quantitative, task-based method.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

Participants view different visual-design alternatives and associate each with attributes selected from a closed list, to assess whether aesthetic qualities match a desired brand image.

Useful for

Which attributes people associate with a visual design and how alternatives compare.

When to use

Design — improve the usability of the design. Methods are formative: they inform how to improve the design. (Stage inferred; the sources do not assign one.)

Preparation and resources

Visual design alternatives, a list of attribute words and participants.

Combine with

Combine with usability testing so visual appeal is not mistaken for ease of use.

Nuance

The sources do not place desirability studies in a specific product stage; design-stage use is inferred from comparing visual alternatives.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: Glossary

Open-ended or closed information provided by a self-selected sample of users, often through a feedback link, button, form or email.

Useful for

Recurring complaints, questions, bug reports and points of confusion from people using the product.

When to use

Launch & Assess — measure product performance against itself or competitors. Methods are summative. (Stage inferred; the sources do not assign one.)

Preparation and resources

Existing feedback channels (forms, support tickets, FAQs, forums) and time to analyze them periodically.

Combine with

Use themes from feedback to choose tasks for usability testing.

Nuance

The cheat sheet places analyzing incoming feedback in its “Listen” activities throughout the cycle; a Launch & Assess fit is inferred.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Cheat Sheet

Participants answer a series of questions, typically more closed-ended than open-ended, online, on paper or by phone. An intercept survey is triggered during use of a site or application.

Useful for

Self-reported attitudes, perceptions and characteristics across a larger group, measured and categorized.

When to use

Strategize — find new directions and opportunities. Methods are often generative. Launch & Assess — measure product performance against itself or competitors. Methods are summative.

Preparation and resources

A survey tool, carefully written questions, a distribution channel and enough respondents for the analysis planned.

Combine with

Use after interviews to measure how widespread themes are, or alongside analytics to add attitudes to behavior.

Nuance

Primarily attitudinal. The which-methods article describes surveys as quantitative; the glossary notes surveys can collect qualitative or quantitative data depending on question design. Intercept surveys happen during natural use.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryUX Research Cheat SheetA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

An eyetracking device precisely measures where participants look as they perform tasks or interact naturally with websites, applications, physical products or environments.

Useful for

Which design elements attract attention and which are ignored.

When to use

Design — improve the usability of the design. Methods are formative: they inform how to improve the design. Launch & Assess — measure product performance against itself or competitors. Methods are summative. (Stage inferred; the sources do not assign one.)

Preparation and resources

Eyetracking equipment, specialist setup and analysis skills, and recruited participants.

Combine with

Combine with usability testing to connect where people look with what they do.

Nuance

Can be natural or scripted. The sources do not assign it to a specific stage.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: Glossary

Analyzing recorded usage data such as clicks, form filling and other interactions. Clickstream analytics examines the sequence of pages people visit. It requires the product to be instrumented in advance.

Useful for

What people actually do at scale: visits, paths, drop-off points and actions taken.

When to use

Launch & Assess — measure product performance against itself or competitors. Methods are summative.

Preparation and resources

An instrumented live product, analytics tools and someone who can interpret the data.

Combine with

Use analytics to find where problems occur, then usability testing or interviews to understand why.

Nuance

The cheat sheet notes data usually tells you what, but you often need to know why — use questions raised by data to push for usability testing.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryUX Research Cheat SheetA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods

Different designs are deployed to randomly assigned groups of users while holding everything else constant, measuring the effect on behavior such as conversion or click-through. Multivariate testing extends this to combinations of variants.

Useful for

Which of two or more live variants performs better on a defined behavioral metric.

When to use

Launch & Assess — measure product performance against itself or competitors. Methods are summative.

Preparation and resources

A live product, experimentation software, sufficient traffic, a defined metric and analysis capability.

Combine with

Use qualitative usability testing to generate better variants and to explain results.

Nuance

NN/g describes A/B testing as a summative method used in Launch & Assess.

When to Use Which User-Experience Research MethodsUX Research Methods: GlossaryA Guide to Using User-Experience Research Methods