User interviews allow us to talk one on one with about a small group of 10 to 20 users themselves. Field studies have proven effective for gaining knowledge about the user in their own environment, while asking them questions and gauging the response. Usability testing can be used to observe users behavior, but at this stage of the process it’s hard to setup tests without a product already in place.
Conducting Qualitative Research
User interviews allow us to talk one on one with about a small group of 10 to 20 users themselves. Field studies have proven effective for gaining knowledge about the user in their own environment, while asking them questions and gauging the response. Usability testing can be used to observe users behavior, but at this stage of the process it’s hard to setup tests without a product already in place.
Segment Users Based on the Research
Segmentation involves taking the many data points to create groupings that can be described based on the commonalities among each one of the group members. Segmenting is less about the science behind it all and more about reviewing the data collected and going with your gut feeling.
Create Personas Based on Your Segments
Each type of user evolves into a persona as you add more details to their goals and behaviors. Each persona then becomes more realistic once you assign a name, photo, demographic, scenarios, etc.
The Pros of Conducting Qualitative Research
- A relative low effort is required on our part. A basic process with 15 user interviews, segmentation, and persona creation could take 3 to 4 weeks to complete.
- A more simplistic persona story increases the understanding and ‘buy-in’. Because you’re creating these personas based on interviews and the stories you’ve gathered, chances are the persona will be defined by one or two attributes. This in turn will make things easier to understand and clarify things for the client.
- Fewer skill sets are needed to accomplish your persona. You won’t need any statistical analysis skills because this is not quantitative research.
The Cons of Conducting Qualitative Research
- There is no quantitative data to back up your findings. Qualitative personas are based on the idea that you can communicate with a small number of users and notice behavioral patterns that you can apply to all of your users. The risk you take of being wrong is greater than if you had a larger number of users to confirm your research.
- Your existing do not tend to be questioned. The client knows their business (as we should too), and they have assumptions about who their users are and their needs. When we interview the user, we bring said assumptions into the research. More often than not, people tend to find what they’re looking for. Subconsciously, look for pieces to back up their own assumptions. So instead of gaining insight into improving on or problems with the design, the user will end up simply validating their existing worldview of the product.
If you can’t invest much time or money into creating the personas, then using the qualitative process might be the way to go. In this case, the client will not need to review the persona and the stakes aren’t too high in terms of how you’ll be using the personas for the client’s solution.
