@lauraklein

Essential Tips for Lean User Research

@lauraklein

Who is this for?

@lauraklein

This Is For

• Entrepreneurs

• Founders

• Engineers

• Product Managers

• (Some) Designers

@lauraklein

Don't Just Sit There

@lauraklein

Tip #1:Know What You're Testing

@lauraklein

First An ExerciseWrite down the top thing you'd like to learn about your product or market you want to test.

Go on. I'll wait.

@lauraklein

Are You Asking......what or why?

...about your user or your product?

@lauraklein

Why Should You Care?The type of question you ask determines the type of research you should do.

What == QuantitativeWhy == Qualitative

User == Ethnography Product == Usability

@lauraklein

Tip #2:Know Who You're Testing

@lauraklein

Hey Look, An Exercise!Write down a quick

description of who you're

building your product for.

@lauraklein

Did You Write "Myself"?If you did, I hope you're independently wealthy or that you have a lot of clones.

@lauraklein

Pro Tip

You are not looking for "moms".

*also, not "pet owners", "doctors", or "salespeople".

@lauraklein

Be Specific"The person using my product owns more than one electronic device on which she has tried to view documents for work. She finds this difficult & frustrating."

@lauraklein

But How Do You Find Them?

Friends of Friends

Social Networks

Professional Recruiters

Blogs & Forums

Appropriate Physical Locations

Email Lists

@lauraklein

Why Should You Care?If you don't know who you should be testing, you don't know who you're building your product for.

@lauraklein

Tip #3:Know Which Corners To Cut

@lauraklein

Need Some Exercise?Quick, write down as many different types of user research you can think of that take under an hour of your time.

@lauraklein

Less Than 1 Hour• Remote Usability with UserTesting.com

• Landing Page Test with Unbounce

• Google AdWords Test (provided you have an account)

• Remote Observational Session with a Current Customer

@lauraklein

Less Than 15 Minutes

• Five Second Test

• Click Test

• Friends & Family Usability Test

• Guerrilla or Hallway Usability Test

@lauraklein

Why Should You Care?Not all research is this fast, but if you can answer a question in 15 minutes, you have no reason for not testing.

@lauraklein

Tip #4:Know What To Do With The Results

@lauraklein

Yet Another ExerciseI want you to write down what you typically do after a user research session.

@lauraklein

Ok, here's what you could be doing

@lauraklein

Gather ObservationsHave the moderator and observers write down 5 key observations or problems they observed.

@lauraklein

Sort Them By MetricRevenue Retention Activation

@lauraklein

Stack Rank ThemPut them in order of estimated importance. Hang on to these stickies, because you'll iterate after every session.

@lauraklein

Other Methods1. Debrief after every session

2. Capture the info in a persistent way

3. Determine the most important lessons

4. ACT ON THEM

@lauraklein

Why Should You Care?Having a familiar way of aggregating data after any individual test helps you understand the bigger picture being created by your research.

@lauraklein

Tip #5:Know The Unanswerable Questions

@lauraklein

Last Exercise!Write down a question you've asked in research that users couldn't answer.

@lauraklein

Was It One Of These?

• Would you buy this?

• How much would you pay?

• How would you design it differently?

• What new feature would you like most?

@lauraklein

Answerable Questions• How else have you tried to solve this problem?

• How have you found similar products in the past?

• Walk me through exactly what happened the last time you used this product.

@lauraklein

Why Should You Care?

Unanswerable questions make you think you know something. But you don’t!

@lauraklein

More Questions?You know where to find me...

laura@usersknow.comhttp://www.usersknow.com

UX for Lean Startups