User Experience newsletter — March 2020This month I’ve been trying to define what makes good qualitative research. It began after reading this tweet thread from Alba Villamil (@albanvillamil). Alba discussed how to assess the quality of research. This took me to the work of Prof Mario Luis Small of Harvard University. I read a transcript of a lecture he gave where he discusses quantitative and qualitative literacy. In particular, I thought this quotation captured perfectly what ‘empathy’ means in user research: “A good qualitative researcher, after having spent enough time observing or interviewing others, eventually comes to understand the experience of others in ways close to what they experience. How can one tell that a book or article or report has attained it? One sign is that the perspective of another seems perfectly rational, the perspective oneself might take given the circumstances, despite the fact that it might have seemed wrong or politically unpalatable. For example, a good qualitative researcher can make clear to an uncompromising pro-choice voter why it might be rational to believe, as some do, that an early-term abortion even in the case of rape constitutes murder. It is not necessary to agree with a perspective to come to see it precisely as another sees it.” Another takeaway from reading Prof Small’s research: it occurred to me that unmoderated research, though convenient, has limited value. I started preparing an article to make this point but then discovered Damian Rees had beaten me to it: Unmoderated research, better than nothing, but only just. Still on the topic of “good user research”, I enjoyed this article titled 5 things UX Researchers should do differently. I particularly agree with this one: Stop being a neutral observer and instead contribute strong and subjective opinions. Ethnio has created an incentive payment calculator for participants in UX research sessions. It’s based on data from over 40,000 participants that Ethnio has paid in 140 countries. Will this standardise what we pay participants? David Hamill has started a thread on tips for usability testing. There’s just a handful at the moment but I’m hoping he’ll turn it into a book. Erik Kennedy is one of my favourite user interface designers because he provides such practical advice. Here’s one of his latest mammoth posts: The iOS 13 Design Guidelines: An Illustrated Guide. Perhaps one day Erik will attempt a redesign of the Yale School of Art web site. In the mean time, I’ll use this as an example in my classes where I ask people to provide an expert review critique. 5-minute videos on UX
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