The study, explained
Objectives, activities, participant criteria and the limits of what the work can answer.
See the product
from their side.
You know the product inside out. Research helps you understand the person using it: what they are trying to do, where they use it and what gets in their way.
The task, in contextWatch an agreed task unfold.Observe / Interpret / Keep asking
Moderated usability sessions
A working product or a testable prototype, with the tasks that matter.
Observe attempts at agreed tasks and ask about the experience.
Usability issues with supporting observations and a discussion of findings with your team.
An approach shaped by the questionChoose the thing
Choose the thing
you need to understand.
A recurring routine calls for different research from a task someone cannot complete. An early idea raises different questions from a product already in use.
We help teams define the question, choose an appropriate approach and prepare the work so the findings can be used afterward.
How a study can take shapeCustomer interviews
Conversations grounded in a person’s experience, language and context.
Usability sessions
Observed attempts at agreed tasks using a product or a testable prototype.
Diary studies
A way to follow repeated activity and the circumstances around it.
Concept research
A structured look at comprehension, relevance and the questions an idea raises.
Research with the teamUseful work starts
Useful work starts
before the first session.
Frame the question.
Agree what the team needs to understand, what is already known and the decision the work will inform.
Make room for observation.
Prepare the activities and materials, then pay attention to what people do and how they describe it.
Work through the implications.
Connect observations to the product question. Keep interpretations, limitations and unresolved points visible.
People, speaking for themselvesLeave room
Leave room
for an answer
you did not expect.
A discussion guide gives a conversation direction. It should also leave space for a participant to describe the experience in their own terms.
We distinguish what someone says from what we infer, and return to the evidence when the story becomes too neat.
The research practiceMaterial the team
can work with.
A readout should help people return to the work after the presentation. We agree the outputs with the brief and keep their relationship to the evidence clear.
Inside the research handoverObservations, connected
Themes or usability issues linked to supporting material, with interpretation identified as interpretation.
Implications, discussed
A team conversation about what to change, what to examine further and what remains unresolved.
What a study
can contain.
Before you
commission a study.
Do we need to know which method to use?
No. Begin with the product question and the decision the work will inform. We discuss whether interviews, observed tasks, diaries or concept work fit that question.
What should we bring to the first conversation?
The question, the product stage, what the team already knows and any timing or access constraints. Existing support themes or research can be useful context.
Can the team observe sessions?
Observer access, participant consent and recording arrangements are agreed as part of the study. We prepare observers to separate notes about what happened from their interpretation.
What is included in the handover?
The scope sets the outputs. These can include a study summary, supporting observations, themes or annotated issues, recommendations and a team readout.