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User Research Methods - Strengths and Weaknesses
Research Methods
The table below lists the user research methods and provides details of their strengths, weakness and resource requirements.
User Research Methods
| Method |
Strengths |
Weaknesses |
Quality of results |
Resources required |
| Usability test - metrics, qualitative feedback |
- pinpoints users' misconceptions
- comfortable for users
- finds user preferences
|
does not show technical problems
|
- medium quality human response feedback
- medium quality technical feedback
|
- 8-15 users per group
- 2+facilitators/observers
|
| Questionnaires and surveys |
- finds subjective user preferences
- provide countable data
|
- indirect method: low validity
- needs good recall to be significant
|
- high quality human response feedback
- low quality technical feedback
|
- no conclusive data on numbers
- 2+facilitators and observers
|
| Interviews and focus groups |
- finds subjective user preferences
- spontaneous reactions
- group dynamics
|
- hard to analyse subjective data
- appointments can be hard to set up and participants fail to turn up
- group dynamics
|
- high quality human response feedback
- low quality technical feedback
|
- 6-12 per focus group/30+interviewees
- 2+ facilitators and observers
|
| User website feedback |
- finds subjective user preferences
- spontaneous reactions
|
- not a good representation of the user population
- hard to analyse subjective data
|
- medium quality human response feedback
- low quality technical feedback
|
2+ analysts
|
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