[1] It is used to understand how people interact with products and evaluate whether design solutions meet their needs.
User research is used to improve a multitude of products like websites, mobile phones, medical devices, banking, government services and many more.
From these proposals, design solutions are prototyped and then tested with the target user group even before launching the product in the market.
[8] User researchers often work alongside designers, engineers, and programmers in all stages of product development.
These methods are used to answer broad and open questions, where the aim is to identify problems users might be experiencing.
Usually, the data collected through generative research must be synthesized in order to formulate the problems to be solved, for whom and why it is important.
[5] During this phase, experts in the problem area are consulted to fill knowledge gaps that will be required to create a solution.
This phase is required to avoid making assumptions about the problem or people that might otherwise result in a biased solution.
Evaluative research is used to test the solution ideas to ensure they work and solve the problems identified.
[11] The commonly used method in this phase is called usability testing and it focuses on measuring if the solution addressed the intended problem.
The Nielsen Norman group has provided a framework to better understand when to use which method, it is helpful to view them along a 3-dimensional framework with the following axes:[15] (moderated/ unmoderated) Natural use Natural use User research deliverables helps summarize research and make insights digestible to the audience.
[27] ResearchOps is similar to DevOps, DesignOps and SalesOps where the goal is to support practitioners by removing some operational tasks from their daily work.
[33] The criticism was mainly due to the manipulative nature of the study, harm caused to the participants who were shown negative content and a lack of explicit informed consent.
[36] Most of the user research studies do not contribute to generalizable knowledge but companies use the data to improve their products and offerings.
[37] Their principles are Respect for users, Responsibility to protect peoples' interests, Honesty in truthful and timely communication.