Course 4 Module 1

Section 1: Introduction to Course 4

1:1. Video

Introduction to Course 4: Conduct UX Research and Test Early

Concepts

Video Transcript
0:00

Hey there. Let's review where we're at in the UX design process. You've learned how to
empathize with users, define user needs and problem statements, and come up with ideas for
design solutions. You've also created a wireframe and made your way into the prototype phase.

Now you're going to learn how to conduct research to test your prototype. Once you have your
research findings, you'll use the insights to iterate on and improve your low-fidelity designs.

By the end of this course, you'll know how to:

 Plan a research study

 Conduct research with a usability study
 Analyze and synthesize research results
 Share and promote research insights
 Modify designs based on research insights

But before we get started, let me tell you a bit about myself. My name is Jason, and I'm a UX
researcher and UX manager at Google. During my career here, I've worked on products like
Google Chrome. I'm currently leading a team called Equity Engineering.

Our team practices equity-focused design, and we work to make sure that Google's products,
systems, and processes are fair and equitable for both Googlers and our users. I advocate for
folks that are underrepresented and for groups that have been historically excluded from
design. Focusing on equity in your design can be a powerful tool to help you effectively meet
the needs of your users.

Play video starting at 1:21 and follow transcript

1:21

Early in my career, I held many different jobs that were not in UX design. My journey into UX
design has not been the most straightforward, but it has been fulfilling.

Your career journey will be a unique one as well.

I'm excited to guide you through your next course in UX design, which is all about conducting
research and testing prototypes.

To get started, we'll go through the four steps in a UX research study. Then we'll deep dive
into the first step: planning a study, which has seven elements.

Ready to get started? Let's do it!

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 1: Introduction to Course 4

2:2. Reading

Welcome to Course 4

Welcome to Course 4: Conduct UX Research and Test Early

Concepts
Welcome to Conduct UX Research and Test Early Concepts, the fourth of seven courses in
the Google UX Design Certificate. You're almost halfway through the program, so keep up the
great work!

In this course, you’ll continue to design a mobile app, in alignment with the project prompt from
Sharpen that you selected earlier in the program. You've made your way through the
empathize, define, ideate, and prototype phases of the design process for your app designs.
Now, you're ready for the test phase, which is what this course is all about.

You will learn how to plan and conduct a usability study to test your designs with users and
gather feedback. Then, you'll modify your designs based on insights from your research.
Content and projects in each course of this certificate program build on information practiced in
earlier courses. To be successful in this course, you should complete the previous three courses
of this certificate program, if you haven't already done so.

Previous Courses
 Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design
 Start the UX Design Process: Empathize, Define, Ideate
 Build Wireframes and Low-Fidelity Prototypes

Current Course
 Conduct UX Research and Test Early Concepts – this course

Upcoming Courses
 Create High-Fidelity Designs and Prototypes in Figma
 Build Dynamic User Interfaces (UI) for Websites
 Design a User Experience for Social Good & Prepare for Jobs

Each course of the Google UX Design Certificate is broken into modules. You can complete
courses at your own pace, but the module breakdowns are designed to help you finish the
program in about six months total.

What Will You Learn During This Course?

Here’s a quick preview of the four modules to come:

Module 1: Planning UX research studies

There are seven elements that your research study plan should include:
 1. The project background
2. Research goals
3. Research questions
4. Key performance indicators
5. Methodology
6. Participants
7. The script or questions you’ll ask participants

You'll explore each of these elements in detail, and you'll create your own research plan to test
the mobile app designs you've developed in previous courses of the program. You'll also learn
how to respect user privacy and data when conducting UX research.

Module 2: Conducting research with usability studies

Conducting research with users to get feedback about prototypes is a critical part of the design
process. You'll conduct a usability study, which is a research method that assesses how easy it is
for participants to complete core tasks in a design.

You'll also explore how to reduce bias and be inclusive when conducting usability studies.
And, you'll take notes while observing participants in a usability study.

Module 3: Analyzing and synthesizing research results

After you conduct a usability study, you'll have a ton of feedback from participants. In this part
of the course, you'll analyze and synthesize all of the feedback from your research.

You'll:

 Gather data and observations in one place

 Organize the data using an affinity diagram
 Find themes
 Come up with actionable insights

Module 4: Sharing research insights for better designs

As a UX designer, it's important to share and promote the insights from your research.

You’ll:

 Learn techniques for presenting insights to various audiences

 Improve your presentation skills to grab your audience's attention
  Iterate on your designs, which means making revisions to create new-and-improved
designs, based on insights from your research

Portfolio Project
As you make your way through this certificate program, you will create projects to include in
your professional portfolio to show to potential employers.

In this course, you’ll continue to design the mobile app that you've worked on for the past two
courses. For example, if you selected a prompt to design an app for your local burger restaurant
in Course 2 of the program, you will continue through the design process with this same project.

 In Course 2, you learned how to empathize with potential users and define users’
needs.
 In Course 3, you came up with ideas for solutions that addressed the users’ needs. You
also created wireframes and a low-fidelity prototype of your app.
 Now, in Course 4, you will plan and conduct research to test your designs and get
feedback from users.
 Next, in Course 5, you will create mockups and a high-fidelity prototype of your app
for a second round of testing.

Everything you build in the courses of this program will eventually be included in your online
portfolio.

Taking the courses in this certificate program in order will allow you to follow the steps of the
design process and end up with all of the artifacts you’ll need to include in your portfolio.

Keep up the great work with your mobile app designs!

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 1: Introduction to Course 4

3:3. Reading
Helpful Resources and Tips
As a learner, you can choose to complete one or multiple courses in the Google UX Design
Certificate program. However, to obtain the certificate, you must complete all 7 courses in the
program and submit all graded assignments. This reading describes what is required to obtain a
certificate and best practices for you to have a good learning experience on Coursera.

Course Completion to Obtain a Certificate

To receive your official Google UX Design Certificate, you must:

 Pass all graded assignments in all 7 courses of the certificate program.

o Each graded assignment is part of a cumulative graded score for the course.
o The passing grade for each course is 80%.

AND one of the following:

 Pay the course certificate fee

 Be approved for Coursera Financial Aid
 Complete the certificate through an educational institution, employer, or agency that's
sponsoring your participation.

Healthy Habits for Course Completion

Here is a list of best practices that will help you successfully complete the courses in the
program:

Plan Your Time

 Set regular study times and follow them each week.

 Use a calendar or timetable to create a schedule.
 List what you plan to do each day to set achievable goals.
 Find a focused space to review videos, readings, and complete course activities.

Work at Your Own Pace

 You can progress through the program at your own speed.

 There is no penalty for late assignments.
 You can extend deadlines at any time by going to Overview → Switch Sessions.
 If you have already missed previous deadlines, click Reset my deadlines.
Be Curious

 Act on ideas that excite you.

 Ask questions, search online, explore links of interest, and take notes.
 These steps support your learning and help qualify you for jobs.

Review Exemplars

 Exemplars are completed assignments that fully meet an activity’s criteria.

 They offer guidance and inspiration for completing your own work.

Take Notes

 Notes help you retain information and understand connections between topics.
 Taking notes is especially helpful as you prepare to enter a new job field.

Build Your Career Identity

 Your career identity is the unique value you bring to the workforce.
o Watch this video to learn about its key components.
o Write your own career identity statement.
 Defining your identity helps align your career path with your strengths, values, and goals.

Connect with Other Learners

 Visit Coursera’s private Google UX Design Community to:

o Expand your network
o Discuss career journeys
o Share experiences
 Also, check out the quick start guide.

Update Your Profile

 Consider updating your profile on Coursera.

 This helps classmates get to know you better when they find you in the Community.

Documents and Files for Course Activities

To complete certain activities in the program, you will need to use digital documents,
spreadsheets, presentations, and/or labs. UX design professionals use these tools to collaborate
within their teams and organizations.

If you need more information about using a particular type of document, refer to these resources:
  Microsoft Word: Help and learning
 Google Docs: Help Center
 Microsoft Excel: Help and learning
 Google Sheets: Help Center
 Microsoft PowerPoint: Help and learning
 Google Slides: Help Center

Weekly, Course, and Certificate Glossaries

This program covers a lot of terms and concepts—some familiar, some new. To help you review
terms and prepare for quizzes, refer to the glossaries below:

Weekly Glossaries

 Found at the end of each week’s content.

 Not downloadable.
 All terms are also included in course and certificate glossaries.

Course Glossaries

 Found at the end of each course.

 Downloadable.
 Covers all terms for that course.

Certificate Glossary

 Includes all terms across the entire certificate program.

 Helpful for ongoing reference.

Access and download the glossary via the course’s Resources tab or the following link:
UXD Certificate Glossary – Use Template

OR

If you don’t have a Google Account, download the glossary directly from the provided
attachment.

Course Feedback
Providing feedback on videos, readings, and materials is easy:
  Click thumbs-up for helpful materials.
 Click thumbs-down for unhelpful materials.
 To flag an issue, click the flag icon, select a category, and enter an explanation in the text
box.
o This feedback goes to the course development team.
o It is not visible to other learners.

All feedback helps improve future versions of the program.

Technical Help
For technical assistance on the Coursera platform, visit the:
Learner Help Center

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 1: Introduction to Course 4

4:4. Video

Samar – Working as a Self-Taught UX Researcher

Introduction
0:03
Hello, my name is Samar. I'm a user experience researcher at the design systems team at Google
Search. I do user experience research trying to understand how different features on Google
should look like to provide the best experience possible for users.

Educational Background and Career Start

I never really had any official UX certification or education. I studied in Egypt. As a student, I
just used all my vacations to try different internships and learn about different fields to try to find
what clicked most with me.
By the time I was applying for my first job, I thought data analytics was the thing that I liked
most. I applied to different data analytics roles in different companies—more than 50, I
remember. I was very overwhelmed by the number of rejections I got as a fresh graduate that I
felt so desperate to apply to Google almost as a joke, almost as like, yeah, let me apply for
Google, why not?

Entry into Google

I got accepted—surprise. I started as a data analyst in one of the Google Search teams. It wasn't
the one thing I'm passionate about; it was less interactive than I wanted. I was really looking for
something that's more interactive or a bit more creative.

Discovery of UX Research
I casually learned about the field of UX actually from a friend. I just started learning about it. I
started reading about it. I really liked how I could make it overlap with the skill that I have,
which was at the time analyzing large data. I could use what I'm good at and then build on that to
do something that I'm more passionate about.

I just started learning more about that. I took courses online. I'd learn something, I'd like, read a
book about research methods, and then I'd be like, okay, this method is so cool. I haven't heard
about that before. Let me try to find the project to apply the knowledge that I've gained to make
it stick and also build my portfolio.

Building a Portfolio and Gaining Experience

I approached different teams at Google and was like:

"Hi, I am an aspiring UX researcher. This is what I know, this is what I've worked on previously,
would you like any help in your team? Can I provide any help to work on a project that's UX
research related with this team basically?"

I'd work on user research. I did that for three years straight. I kept self-learning, reading books,
taking courses online, and trying to implement this knowledge.

First UX Research Project

Play video starting at 2:53 and follow transcript
2:53
I was so passionate about this project. It was like in my mind also the first step towards
achieving this goal, which is eventually finding a UX research role. I was so passionate, I put my
heart in it.
That said, it was a disaster in the sense that I was figuring everything for the first time. I didn't
know if I'm doing everything correctly. I hoped I was doing my due diligence. I was asking for
lots and lots of feedback. I was lucky to have people around me who are happy to give me
feedback.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and Growth

Even though I still got my first job as a UX researcher, sometimes I just feel like I don't know
what I'm doing. There's always someone who knows better, there's always someone who has
more experience, more knowledge, does things in a better way.

The trick is: no one really expects you to be perfect. You just have to keep learning.

Even if you reach your dream job, if you stop learning, you'll never progress and then you'll lag
behind. Then it would be like you never reached anything. When you've been working so hard to
reach something and then you reach it and suddenly you're like, okay, what now? Am I done
with learning, should I relax?

Lifelong Learning and Professional Satisfaction

The realization there, which I had all along but it materialized more, is: learning is a never-
ending cycle.

If you reach your dream job but you never learn more or work on your knowledge to be better or
take on more challenges, etc., you'll never really advance, and you'll never really feel like you're
actually good at your job—which is where most of the satisfaction comes from.

Not just taking the job, being good at your job and advancing in your career is where most of
the satisfaction comes from. I felt like I'll never reach that if I stop learning.

Here I am, after my first role in UX research, and I'm still continuing my self-learning—and
hopefully, I always do.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 1: Introduction to Course 4
5:5. Video

Jason – My Journey to UX
0:03
I head up a team. We have a product lead, we have a business systems analyst, UX engineer, UX
designer, UX researchers as well. What we do is we define this as equity-focused research. What
this consists of is trying to speak with users from these underrepresented and sometimes
marginalized groups to understand basically their experiences and their needs.

Background and Motivation

0:35
I grew up in Oakland, here in California. I come from a lower socioeconomic status background.
I understand what my folks had to do to get a degree of social capital and resources to be able to
give us a reasonable quality of life. But I think of the struggles my folks had, the struggles being
a Black man, the struggles that I've gone through in terms of access to resources, access to
education, straight on discrimination because of the color of my skin and my background as well.

Having that lived experience, I realized I want to be able to advocate for people that are from my
background and my community, but there are tons of other backgrounds and communities that
are struggling in that same way. I think that's what drives me to do the work, is that lived
experience and understanding that there are people in need.

I studied medicine at UCSF and I did my clinical rotations at SF General Hospital. As you
transition from the pre-clinical years to the clinical years, these are the moments in which you're
actually talking to people. SF General being a county hospital, it was the first time essentially
that I got to start to work with people that were from my own community. I was working with a
number of Black folks that were from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds, and there were
patients there that were going through really, really horrible, horrible things.

But I would sit down and I would talk to people, sometimes for 45 minutes or an hour, to
understand what their backgrounds were and what their needs were, at least in the clinical space.

Transition to UX

2:14
It was those moments of understanding their needs and understanding where the system had
broken down for them that I think I learned the most. I could see the points at which these
patients-physicians, we're missing the mark, they weren't getting the information that was
necessary to help these people.
A lot of that is why I left the field of medicine because I wanted to do something that would be
scalable and had a lot more to do with education and access for folks that had not had it up till
that point. I actually left UCSF early before finishing. I got three out of four years in and I went
to Stanford instead and got into a doctoral program there in learning sciences and technology
design.

I got exposed to UX and general product design, and UX research. While I did my doctoral
work, I was focused on understanding the experience of Black plus students at Historically Black
Colleges and Universities, these students that were pursuing degrees in computer science and
electrical engineering. My work there was focused on understanding the challenges there and
understanding their ideas of their own identity as engineers.

Joining Google and Equity Work

3:28
I went through the doctoral program and got into an internship here at Google. I had a chance to
then be able to convert to a full-time position after the internship and I landed on a wonderful
team, Chrome UX team.

I came onto that team to get my chops, to understand what UXR really meant, and to understand
how to work in product design. But at the same time when I came in the door, my intention was
to be able to do equity work. Since hitting the ground, I've been in programs and created my own
programs that have focused on equitable access to education and specifically equitable access to
education in UX.

I think my favorite part about my job is the ability to focus on equity. I think for me what that
means is being able to advocate for groups that are underrepresented and marginalized, and
groups that don't have as much agency or access to a voice in the industry. Being able to speak
with folks from these backgrounds and elevate their voices and elevate their needs is the thing
that keeps me going through the job day-by-day.

I'm Jason, and I am the Head of Equity Engineering at Google.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 2: Understand the UX research process

6:1. Video

Understand the UX Research Process

0:00
Hi again. In this video, you'll learn about a process for conducting UX research called a research
study. In a UX context, a research study is a step-by-step examination of a group of users and
their needs, which adds realistic context to the design process.

UX researchers adopt various methods to uncover problems and design opportunities. In doing
so, they reveal valuable information, which can be fed into the design process. The term
"research study" is often shortened to study.

There are four steps in a UX research study. We'll cover each step in more depth throughout the
course.

0:42
In this video, we'll simply set up the steps.

To get started:

1. Step 1: Plan the study

2. Step 2: Conduct the research
3. Step 3: Analyze and synthesize the results
4. Step 4: Share and promote the insights

For now, here's a little introduction to each:

Step 1: Plan the study

To plan a study:

 Start by outlining the background for the project.

 Next, set goals for your research, and write down the questions you want to answer.
 Then establish the steps you'll take to conduct the study and select the people who will
participate in the study.
The work you do while planning the research study is incredibly important since it impacts every
other part of your research. You need a proper plan to get successful research results.

1:31
Step 2: Conduct the research

During this step, you'll gather data. There are several techniques you can use, but the one we'll
focus on in this course is called a usability study.

A usability study is a research method that assesses how easy it is for users to complete core
tasks in a design. The goal of usability study is to identify pain points that the user experiences
with your designs so the issues can be fixed before the final product launches.

During a usability study, you get a chance to see how users interact with your new product or
feature. You can also interview users to learn more about their experience.

Step 3: Analyze and synthesize your results

This involves trying to find the actual meaning in the data. You want to figure out why the data
is the way it is. Look for:

 Patterns in the quantitative data

 Trends in the qualitative data from participants' answers to interview questions.

Step 4: Share and promote your insights

This step is for sharing your findings with the project's stakeholders.

Project stakeholders are people who are involved in the project or who will be impacted by its
results. They need the results of your research and need to agree with the direction of the project.

Examples of project stakeholders:

 Other designers
 The head of your department
 Engineers who will help bring your design to life

To share and promote your insights, you need to create a presentation. Your presentation
should include:
  The method you used to conduct your research
 The data you collected
 The conclusions you reached based on that data
 Your recommendations for acting on those conclusions

The stronger the connection between your research conclusions and your recommendations, the
more likely it is that your stakeholders will take the actions you've proposed.

Why is conducting a UX research study important?

Remember: The goal of user experience research is to prioritize the user.

A UX research study helps us gain an understanding of users' problems in order to solve them.

It can also help bridge the gap between:

 What a business thinks the user needs

 What the user actually needs
— before an expensive and time-consuming product is made.

We've now defined the four steps in a UX research study:

1. Plan the study

2. Conduct the research
3. Analyze and synthesize the results
4. Share and promote the insights

In the next video, we'll begin our journey through the steps of the UX research study.
We'll start by discussing the elements of a research plan.

See you there.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 2: Understand the UX research process
7:2. Reading

Research is Part of the Test Phase

Overview
Research is a vital part of the UX design process—in every phase, from start to finish. In this
reading, the focus is on research in the test phase. You’ll learn how research in this final phase
differs from research in other phases, how it’s structured, and how it can benefit the design and
end-user.

Context
Imagine this: The product you’ve been working on is finally ready to launch. You are very
excited to complete the project. But, before you get too excited, an experienced UX designer
comes in and asks what your research has indicated. Wait. What?

Yes, that’s right. There’s more to do to ensure the product provides the best end-user experience.
Let’s learn more.

Research in the Test Phase

When a product is ready to launch (or go live) it can—and should—be iterated upon. This means
conducting research, in the form of user testing, to determine how users view and use the
product. This type of testing is called acceptance testing and means that UX designers want to
see how real-life users react to the UX design of the final product.

Even at this final stage of the design process, the design can be adjusted and iterated based on the
user testing feedback. In general, the changes should be minor refinements, as more substantial
changes and iterations should have been done during prototyping.

Summary:
The research during the testing phase helps UX designers refine the design to help give end-users
the best possible experience.

Benefits of Test Phase Research

  Research should happen during each design phase.
 Once the design is transitioned into a prototype, user testing should occur.
 Prototype testing can help refine ideas and design prior to finalizing the user interface.
 Conducting research and testing when the product is in prototype form:
o Saves time by allowing changes before development.
o Allows iteration of designs based on user feedback.
o Ultimately leads to a better end-user experience once the product is launched.

Types of Test Phase Research

User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

 UAT determines if the product does what it was designed to do.

Quality Assurance Testing (QA)

 QA testing examines the product for any unwanted errors.

 Tests if everything works as intended.
 If something doesn’t work (e.g., a button doesn’t redirect correctly), the UX design team
may:
o Submit a bug report to the development team for fixing.

Accessibility Evaluation

 Ensures all aspects of the product adhere to accessibility standards.

 This evaluation may be part of the QA testing.

Research Structure at the Test Phase

Research in the test phase should be carefully structured to ensure that the end product fully
meets users’ needs.

Test Participants

 Gather participants from the demographic defined as the target users.

 Tools like usertesting.com can be helpful.
 Alternatively, UX designers can recruit testing subjects directly.

Test Location

 Testing can be done:

 o In a lab, with in-person observation of how users navigate the product.
o Online, with recorded user actions for later review.

Questionnaires

 Used to gather user feedback.

 May include specific tasks and general questions.

Task-Based Questions Example (Shoe App):

 Search for a leather shoe in your size. How was your experience searching for it?
 Select the leather shoe and go through the checkout process, up to the point of payment.
How did you like the checkout process? Is there anything you’d want to improve?

General Questions Example:

 How do you feel about the design of the app?

 How do you feel navigating through the app?
 How do you feel about the placement of the product on the app?
 Did you find all the necessary information to make an informed decision about the
product?
 How would you improve the app?
 What did you like/not like about the app?

Key Takeaways
 Research in the test phase is critical to the success of any product.
 UX designers should use research throughout the UX design process.
 The resulting data will help:
o Inform design decisions.
o Drive iterations.
o Ensure the product meets end-users’ needs.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 2: Understand the UX research process
8:3. Assignment

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 2: Understand the UX research process
9:4. Reading
Language and Communication in UX Research
As a UX designer, you’ll regularly communicate and collaborate with others, especially while
doing research. One of the most essential aspects of conducting research is understanding how to
communicate effectively with all different kinds of people. In this reading, you’ll explore the
distinct roles that language and communication play in UX research.

Language and Communication Matter

When it comes to UX research, written and spoken language play a very important role in the
success of your product and the feedback you receive about your designs. Language is the
primary tool you’ll use for:

 Collecting data
 Building relationships with research study participants
 Reporting research findings to your team
 Representing the users you’re designing for

The language you use while conducting research directly affects the language your participants
use. For example, if you use a formal speaking style, participants might feel less comfortable
being open and honest, and they might respond in a more formal style themselves. Using
language that’s appropriate for the context can help you get a deeper understanding of
participants’ unique perspectives and values. Every word you use when asking questions, taking
notes, or transcribing quotes needs to accurately represent the ideas that participants convey.

Your understanding of the best language to use in any given situation will continually shift as
you learn the ins and outs of conducting UX research. Using appropriate language while
conducting research is an ongoing process!
Consider Word Choices
When conducting research, it’s important that you understand your own ideas on language use,
as well as the ideas other communities have about language. This way, you can better identify
and avoid your own biases about language use. All languages are important and complex, and
they deserve to be represented equally.

Keep in mind that some languages and language varieties express the same concepts in different
ways. For example:

 In Standard American English, potato chips are a popular savory snack

 In British English, the same snack is known as crisps

Similarly, African American English, Creole, and other dialects have their own unique words,
pronunciations, and expressions. If you’re not certain what a research study participant meant by
something they said, ask them! If that’s not possible, talk to colleagues or outside experts to
learn about what the participant might have intended.

As the UX designer conducting research, it’s your responsibility to seek clarification on language
differences and to ensure the translations of participants’ insights are accurate.

There’s no right or wrong way to communicate an idea, but language often reveals hidden
power imbalances. When conducting research, you want to make sure you’re communicating in
a way that’s inviting, not commanding.

For example, avoid using words that are considered ableist, or words that assume a person does
not have a disability.
You can imagine that a researcher might say to a participant:

 “Let’s walk through the details of the study.”

Instead, it’s just as easy to say:
 “Let’s go through the details of the study.”

That second phrase doesn’t make any assumptions, intended or not, about a person’s physical
capabilities.

Overall, your goal when conducting research is to make participants feel welcomed and valued
for who they are. It takes time to change language and word choice habits, so don’t get
discouraged if you make a mistake. Being aware of the words you use is an important step in
being inclusive.
Keep the Context in Mind
You also need to consider the context that the research is happening in, such as the physical
space where the research study is taking place. You want participants to feel like there’s an
equal power dynamic between them and you as the researcher.

For example:

 If one person is sitting and the other person is standing, there’s an unequal power
dynamic and the situation can feel awkward or off putting.

Some portions of your research studies might need to be adjusted to meet participants where
they are. Different communities have different ways of interacting with others in various
situations, so it’s important to be aware of those cultural differences.

For example:

 Some cultural groups take turns when speaking

 Others feel free to interrupt whenever they have a great idea

In other words:

 One research study participant might consider interrupting to be rude

 Another might think that interrupting shows engagement in the conversation

In your role as a researcher, you need to be aware of context changes and pay close attention to
how participants prefer to communicate to create an equitable environment for all
participants.

Final Thoughts

With these considerations in mind, you'll be set up for success when conducting research with
participants and collecting feedback about your designs.
Remember, language and communication are an art that can take years to master — and you're
just getting started!

Would you like this formatted as a PDF or DOCX for professional use?
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Course 4 Module 1
Section 3: Build a UX research plan (part 1)

10:1. Video

Get to Know the Seven Elements of a Research Plan

Introduction

0:01
Ready to start our journey through a UX research study? Let's explore the first step: planning the
study. Like any good explorer, you need to have a plan for where you're headed. There are seven
elements that your plan should include:

1. The project background

2. The research goals
3. The detailed research questions
4. The key performance indicators (KPIs)
5. The methodology
6. The participants
7. The script or questions you'll ask participants

Let’s break them down.

1. Project Background

0:35
The project background answers the question: What led you to conduct this research? You
don't have to provide a long drawn-out history—just a few lines is good.

Example:

We're creating a new app to help people find and schedule dog walkers. We need to find out if
the main user experience, finding and scheduling a dog walker, is easy for users to complete.
2. Research Goals

Next, your plan should include research goals. Ask yourself:

 What design problems are you trying to solve?

 How will the results of the research impact our design decisions?

Use your answers to create goals for your research project.

Example:

Determine if the dog walker app is difficult to use. We need to consider the ease of use in order
to understand why customers join our app and leave or stay.

3. Detailed Research Questions

After you determine research goals, you need to develop detailed research questions for your
plan.

Ask yourself:

What are the questions your research is trying to answer?

Example questions:

 How long does it take a user to find and book a dog walker in the app?
 What can we learn from the user flow or the steps that users take to book a dog walker?

4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

1:54
KPIs are critical measures of progress toward an end goal.

Ask:

How can you measure your progress toward the research goal?

Example:

For our app, one thing we should track is how many users in the research study complete their
search for a dog walker.
KPI: The percentage of users who book a dog walker.
5. Methodology

The methodology documents the steps you'll take to conduct your research.

Ask:

 How will you collect data?

 How will you analyze the data once you get it?

Example:

To find out if users are able to find and schedule a dog walker in our new app, we might want to
conduct a survey of prospective users.
To analyze the survey results, we will use a spreadsheet and identify trends.

6. Participants

Your research plan should list the research participants.

Ask:

 Who will you survey?

 What characteristics do the participants have?

Example:

You might want to recruit participants who are dog owners with full-time jobs and who go out
for activities more than once a week.
The types of participants you select should be based on your research goals. Also, make sure that
participants you select do not bias your results.

7. Sample Bias - A Historical Example

3:17
To understand sample bias, consider the 1936 U.S. presidential election.

 Republican Alf Landon vs. Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt

 The Literary Digest polled 2.4 million people and predicted Landon would win:
o Landon: 57%
o Roosevelt: 43%
Actual results:

 Landon: 38%
 Roosevelt: 62%

Why the inaccurate prediction?

Sample bias. The Literary Digest selected participants using car registrations and telephone
directories.

Issue:

In 1936, car and telephone ownership was limited to wealthier individuals who tended to vote
Republican.
Thus, the sample was not representative of the general population.

Lesson:

Choose study participants who are representative of all your users, not just a select group.

8. Script or Questions (Discussion Guide)

The final step in your research plan is to script the questions you ask study participants as they
test your product.

Also known as the discussion guide.

Make sure these questions are specific to the KPIs you're trying to measure.

Example question:

Did you face any challenges when trying to book a dog walker in the app?

Conclusion

Now you know the seven elements of a research plan.

Coming up, we’ll continue our journey and dive into each of the seven elements in more detail.
We'll start by focusing on the first three elements: project background, research goals, and
research questions.

Let’s cruise on over.

Would you like this content exported into a Word or PDF document?

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 3: Build a UX research plan (part 1)

11:2. Reading

UX Research Plan Template

Purpose

Use this template to plan your own UX research study.

Instructions

To use the template for this course item, follow one of the options below:

Option 1: Use Online Template

Click the link below and select “Use Template.”

🔗 Link to template:
UX Research Study - Plan [Template]

Option 2: Download Template

If you don’t have a Google account, you can download the template directly from the attachment
below.

Let me know if you want this organized into a downloadable Word or PDF file.
/////////////////////////////////////////

Course 4 Module 1
Section 3: Build a UX research plan (part 1)

12:3. Video

Start Building a Research Plan: Project Background, Research

Goals, and Research Questions

Introduction

In this section, we will explore in detail three key elements of a research plan: the project
background, research goals, and research questions. These elements are essential as they
shape the rest of your research study, and developing them correctly is crucial for the success of
your study.

1. Project Background

The project background element provides a summary of the situation leading to the need for the
research. This is a brief explanation you can give anyone asking why you are conducting the
research.

Importance of Project Background

A clear and concise project background helps establish a shared understanding within the team
about why the research is necessary. This ensures that everyone is on the same page at the
beginning of the study.

 Why is it important?
o It ensures the team understands why the research is being conducted.
o It builds confidence in the overall quality of the analysis and insights.
o It serves as the foundation for your research approach.

Key Points to Include in the Project Background:

 Identify the signals that indicated research was necessary. Ask yourself: Why are you
doing this research? Is there a problem you're trying to solve?
 Describe previous research or solutions that have been attempted. What has already
been done, and how has it brought us closer to solving the problem?
  List the insights the research will generate. Insights are observations that help you
understand the user or their needs from a new perspective. Ensure these insights inspire
clear action and are described using simple language.

Note: Keep the project background concise so that everyone on the team will read and
understand it.

2. Research Goals

Research goals, sometimes referred to as research objectives, state the specific things you want
to learn from the research or what you would like the outcomes of the research to be. These goals
guide your entire research study and help define the bigger picture.

How to Develop Research Goals:

The research goals vary depending on when you conduct the research during the product
lifecycle. There are three primary categories for research goals:

1. Foundational Research (Before the Design Process):

o Goal: Understand the user problem and determine if there is a real need for the
product.
o Example (Dog Walking App): Determine if there is a need for a dog-walking
app.
2. Design Research (During the Design Phase):
o Goal: Understand how to build the product and what features it needs to address
the user’s problem.
o Example (Dog Walking App): Learn how to build the dog-walking app and what
features it needs to solve the user’s problem.
3. Post-Launch Research (After the Product Has Been Launched):
o Goal: Understand if the product works as expected and if it achieves its goals.
o Example (Dog Walking App): Understand if the app attracts and retains regular
users.

3. Research Questions

Research questions are the handful of questions that your research aims to answer. These are not
the literal questions you ask study participants during your study, but the key questions that
guide your research and focus on achieving your research goals.

Importance of Research Questions:

 They provide focus and structure for your research study.

 They will be the main topics of your research presentation.
  They help determine the methods (quantitative or qualitative) you will use to gather data.

Characteristics of Good Research Questions:

 Actionable: You should be able to identify a clear way to attempt to answer the question.
 Specific: Avoid being too broad. Focus on questions that lead to meaningful data.
 Neutral: Ensure the questions are neutrally phrased, without assuming a particular
answer.

Examples of Research Questions:

For the Dog Walking App:

1. Quantitative Question: “On average, how many times a week does a user hire a dog
walker through the app?”
o This will yield numerical data.
2. Qualitative Question: “What frustrated users most about finding a dog walker through
the app?”
o This will provide descriptive insights.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research:

 Quantitative Research: Focuses on numerical data (e.g., counts, percentages, averages).

 Qualitative Research: Focuses on understanding behaviors and motivations (e.g., user
experiences, frustrations).

Both types of questions are important as they address different aspects of the user experience.

Conclusion

Now that you understand the three key elements—project background, research goals, and
research questions—you are ready to start developing your own research plan. The next step is
to explore how to measure the success of your study with key performance indicators (KPIs).

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 3: Build a UX research plan (part 1)

13:4. Reading
Example Research Plan: Project Background, Research Goals, and
Research Questions
A UX research study is a step-by-step discovery of a group of users and their needs. Research
studies help designers understand users' problems so they can solve them. Creating a plan for a
UX research study will help you ensure successful research results. Below is a sample structure
to guide you in writing your own UX research study plans. This includes the project
background, research goals, and research questions, which serve as the foundation for the rest
of the research plan.

Introduction
Title:

Creating CoffeeHouse Ordering App

Author:

Ali, UX Researcher, ali@coffeehouse.design

Stakeholders:

 CoffeeHouse customers
 Gael Esparza: CTO
 Linda Yamamoto: VP of Design

Date:

12-14-2020

Project Background:

We’re creating a CoffeeHouse app to help people place and pick up multiple CoffeeHouse orders
together at once, so they can skip in-store lines and streamline the payment process. Some
patrons place orders for groups, and ordering individually takes too long.

Research Goals:

The goal is to figure out if collaborative ordering in the app actually saves people time when
placing group orders.
Research Questions

1. How long does it take for 4-5 people to make a collaborative group order?
2. What can we learn from the steps users take to order as a group, versus on their
own?

UX Research Study Plan Template

The above example follows the UX Research Study Plan Template, which helps designers
ensure their plans are comprehensive, readable, and visually appealing. This structure is essential
when aligning with teams or obtaining approval from stakeholders.

Key Elements of the Introduction:

1. Title: The title should clearly indicate the focus and purpose of the study. In this case, the
study focuses on the CoffeeHouse app and its goal of facilitating group orders.
2. Author: The author section includes the name, title, and contact email of the researcher
for clear communication.
3. Stakeholders: This section lists individuals involved in the research, including both the
targeted user group and relevant company staff overseeing the app's development.
4. Date: It’s important to indicate when the plan was last updated, ensuring that the research
plan is current and aligned with the latest version.

Project Background and Research Goals:

 Project Background: Offers a brief yet precise explanation of the purpose of the
CoffeeHouse app and the reason behind testing the app with users. A concise project
background ensures the research team understands the reason for the study and builds
trust in the analysis.
 Research Goals: Clearly outline what the researchers aim to learn from the testing of the
CoffeeHouse app, helping to shape future design decisions. In this case, the goal is to
determine whether collaborative ordering improves efficiency in group orders.

Research Questions

1. Actionable: Research questions should be clear and indicate the type of answer sought.
For example, the second research question helps researchers explore users’ ordering
steps.
2. Specific: Research questions should target precise data. The first question specifically
asks about the time taken for a group of 4-5 people to make an order.
3. Neutral: Research questions should not assume a specific answer. For example, "How
long does it take for 4-5 people to make a collaborative group order?" is neutral and
doesn’t imply the group orders are inherently slow.
 4. Methodological: The questions should indicate whether they require quantitative or
qualitative data. The first question is quantitative, seeking a numerical answer (time),
while the second question is qualitative, exploring users’ steps and experiences.

Questions to Assess Your Research Plan

When creating your own research plan, assess your work based on the following criteria:

 Title: Does the title reflect the focus and purpose of the study?
 Author: Have you listed the researcher’s name, title, and contact email?
 Stakeholders: Have you identified the groups involved in the study and those impacted
by the results?
 Date: Is the date updated to reflect when the plan was last revised?
 Project Background: Have you provided a brief explanation of why the research is
necessary and what the study will test?
 Research Goals: Are your research goals clear and aligned with the study’s objectives?
 Research Questions: Are the research questions actionable, specific, neutral, and
methodological?

If you can answer "yes" to each of these questions, your research plan is well-crafted. If not,
revise your plan with these points in mind.

Key Takeaways

Creating a UX research study plan is a crucial first step in understanding users’ problems and
designing effective solutions. A well-crafted introduction sets the stage for understanding the
research's purpose, while strong research questions help gather meaningful data that can guide
design decisions.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 3: Build a UX research plan (part 1)

14:5. Video

Continue building a research plan: KPIs

Introduction
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are critical measures of progress toward an end goal, helping
to measure the effectiveness of a product or prototype during UX research. In this section, we
explore six KPIs that are particularly useful in UX research studies.

KPIs Overview

1. Time on Task
o Description: This KPI measures how long it takes for a user to complete a task.
Tasks can include actions like filling out forms, making a purchase, or any other
user activity.
o Significance: The less time it takes for users to perform a task, the more effective
the UX design is likely to be. This helps gauge the efficiency of the design.
2. Use of Navigation vs. Search
o Description: This KPI indicates how many users utilize a website or app’s
navigation compared to how many users use the search functionality.
o Significance: It helps understand user preferences in navigation. There is no right
answer; different users have different ways of getting around a site. If one method
is used much more than the other, it might signal a need for design adjustments.
3. User Error Rates
o Description: This KPI identifies the parts of a design that cause users to make
errors, such as selecting the wrong icon during checkout.
o Significance: User error rates help identify problematic areas in the design.
However, a low error rate doesn't necessarily indicate a strong design, as users
may still perform actions incorrectly due to confusion or lack of understanding.
4. Drop-off Rates
o Description: Drop-off rates measure how many users abandon the experience
before completing the desired action, such as completing a purchase.
o Significance: A high drop-off rate suggests issues in the user journey that cause
users to quit before reaching the endpoint. Reducing drop-off rates should be a
goal in each design iteration to improve user engagement.
5. Conversion Rate
o Description: This KPI measures the percentage of users who complete a desired
action, such as making a purchase.
o Significance: A higher conversion rate means more users are completing the
intended actions, such as purchasing a product. This is a critical KPI when
measuring the success of a UX design.
6. System Usability Scale (SUS)
o Description: The SUS is a questionnaire used to measure the usability of a
design. It consists of ten statements, such as "I found the design unnecessarily
complex," and "I thought the app was easy to use." Users are asked to rate each
statement on a scale from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree."
o Significance: The SUS provides quantifiable feedback on the usability of a
design. It is a quick and reliable way to determine how user-friendly a design is.

Selecting KPIs for Research Goals

When conducting a study, not all six KPIs should be used. Instead, select the KPIs that most
closely align with the research goals. For instance:
  If the goal is to assess the checkout process in an app (e.g., a dog walker app), the
relevant KPIs might be:
o Time on Task: Measures how long it takes a user to find and book a dog walker.
o Conversion Rate: Measures the percentage of users who successfully book a dog
walker.

Conclusion
The KPIs mentioned are essential tools for measuring various aspects of user experience and can
provide valuable insights into design effectiveness. As the research progresses, you will select
the most appropriate KPIs based on the study's specific goals.

Next steps: In the following section, we will discuss the remaining elements of the research plan:
methodology, participants, and script.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 3: Build a UX research plan (part 1)

15:6. Reading

Learn More About KPIs

Introduction
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are critical measures of progress toward an end goal. In UX
research, KPIs are essential for determining the effectiveness of a product or prototype. KPIs are
the fourth element in a research plan and are frequently discussed in the real-world UX design
process. These metrics help measure the success of your design and its ability to meet user needs.

Overview of KPIs
There are many KPIs that can be useful when planning and conducting a UX research study.
This document explores six KPIs introduced in a previous video, along with an additional
seventh KPI to consider.

1. Time on Task

Definition: Time on task measures how long it takes for a user to complete a task. Tasks can
vary, such as filling out a form, making a purchase, or completing other user activities within a
product.
How to Measure:

 Start timing when the user begins the assigned task.

 Stop timing once the user completes the task.
 For example, time how long it takes for a user to start from the home screen of an app
and complete a checkout flow.

Interpretation:

 The less time it takes for users to perform a task, the more effective your design is
considered to be.

2. Use of Navigation vs. Search

Definition: This KPI indicates the number of people who use a website or app's navigation
compared to the number of people who use the search functionality.

How to Measure:

 Count the mouse clicks or taps on navigation-related parts of the design.

 Compare this with the number of times a query is entered into the search bar.

Interpretation:

 This metric shows user preference, not necessarily the "goodness" or "badness" of a
design.
 Helps identify which navigation method (bar or search) is preferred by users, which can
inform design adjustments to improve the overall user experience.

3. User Error Rates

Definition: User error rates indicate the parts of a design that cause users to make mistakes.
Errors may include clicking the wrong icon, forgetting to check a box, or submitting incorrect
information.

How to Measure:

 Track the parts of the design where users make errors during task completion.

Interpretation:

 The lower the error rate, the better the design.

 A high error rate may signal areas in need of improvement to enhance the user
experience.
4. Drop-off Rates

Definition: Drop-off rates show how many users abandon the experience before reaching the
desired goal, such as completing a purchase or finishing a task.

How to Measure:

 Count the number of participants who quit a task or fail to reach the end of their goal.

Interpretation:

 A high drop-off rate may indicate that users are frustrated or find the design difficult to
use.
 The goal is to decrease drop-off rates with each design iteration. Changes made to the
design should be tested again to see if they reduce drop-off rates.

5. Conversion Rates

Definition: Conversion rates measure the percentage of users who complete a desired action,
such as making a purchase or completing a sign-up process.

How to Measure:

 Count the number of users who complete a listed action during the study (e.g.,
completing a purchase or successfully booking a service).

Interpretation:

 A higher conversion rate indicates a more effective design.

 Comparing conversion rates between research studies can help gauge the success of
design changes.

6. System Usability Scale (SUS)

Definition: The System Usability Scale (SUS) is a questionnaire that asks participants to
evaluate the usability of a design by responding to 10 statements.

How to Measure:

 Participants are asked to respond on a scale from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree"
to statements such as:
o "I thought the app was easy to use."
o "I found the design unnecessarily complex."
 The results can be used to calculate an overall score for the design.

Interpretation:
  SUS provides quick and reliable insights into how usable a design is, helping designers
know if the product is easy to use.

7. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Definition: The Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures user loyalty and how likely users are to
recommend a product to others.

How to Measure:

 Ask participants, “Would you recommend this product to a friend or colleague?” on a

scale from 0 to 10.
o Promoters are those who rate 9 or 10.
o Passives are those who rate 7 or 8.
o Detractors are those who rate 0 to 6.
 Subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters to calculate the
NPS.

Interpretation:

 A high NPS indicates a positive user experience and satisfaction with the design.
 A negative NPS suggests potential issues with the product's usability, design flaws, or
user frustration.

Choosing the Right KPIs

When choosing KPIs for your research project, consider the goals of your study and what you
want to demonstrate to your team or portfolio. Each KPI is unique, and they work together to
help you assess the success of the user experience you’ve designed. It's important to select the
KPIs that best align with your research objectives.

By understanding and utilizing these KPIs, you can gain meaningful insights into your UX
designs, make informed decisions, and continuously improve your product's user experience.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 3: Build a UX research plan (part 1)
16:7. Assignmetn
////////////////////////////////

Course 4 Module 1
Section 3: Build a UX research plan (part 1)

17:8. Reading

Example Research Plan: KPIs

You’ve learned that key performance indicators (KPIs) help you determine what is working well
and what needs improvement in your UX research design. This feedback helps designers decide
how to move forward with their design.

You’ve also learned that KPIs are situational: Some KPIs measure “bad” things, while others
measure “good” things. So, what you use will depend on the information you want to get. It’s
important to choose the ones that will best help you evaluate your research goals. The more your
KPIs inform your research goals, the more you’ll be able to design for your end user. Ultimately,
KPIs are an accountability tool to evaluate whether you’re addressing the problem you set out to
solve in the first place!

Example Research Plan with KPIs

This review will go through an example of a research plan’s KPIs. Refer to this review when you
write your own UX research study plans, and use the example for reference and comparison.

This example is part of a research plan to test the low-fidelity prototype for the CoffeeHouse
app, which you explored in earlier course items. Before moving on to the example, you can
review the CoffeeHouse business scenario. If you don’t have a Google account, you can
download the scenario directly from the attachment below.

CoffeeHouse Research Plan:

Title: Creating CoffeeHouse Ordering App

Author: Ali, UX researcher, ali@coffeehouse.design
Stakeholders: CoffeeHouse customers, Gael Esparza (CTO), Linda Yamamoto (VP of Design)
Date: 12-14-2020
Project Background: We’re creating a CoffeeHouse app to help people place and pick up
multiple CoffeeHouse orders together at once, so customers can skip in-store lines and the
business can streamline the payment process. Some patrons place orders for groups, and ordering
individually takes too long.
Research Goals: Figure out if collaborative ordering in the app actually saves people time when
placing group orders.

Research Questions

 How long does it take for 4–5 people to make a collaborative group order?
 What can we learn from the steps users take to order as a group, versus on their own?

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

1. Time on Task
2. User Error Rates
3. Conversion Rates

KPI Breakdown

In the example, notice how the UX research study plan clearly identifies three KPIs that are
relevant to the project’s research goals:

1. Time on Task: How long it takes a user to complete a task.

2. User Error Rates: How often users make mistakes.
3. Conversion Rates: The number of users who reach their goal successfully.

Each of the selected KPIs will be used to measure user feedback.

 Time on Task KPI: Provides insight into whether the app speeds up group ordering by
showing how long it takes users to make an individual order and a group order.
 User Error Rates KPI: Indicates how often users get lost or make mistakes while
making an order. The feedback will identify common sticking points in the design and
places where improvement is needed.
 Conversion Rate KPI: Provides feedback on whether the current checkout process is
effective by showing how many users successfully complete their group orders.

Remember, these KPIs can be looked at by themselves or combined with other KPIs. The more
you find overlapping feedback between KPIs, the more you can identify different insights. For
example, if time on task is high, user error rates are high, and conversion rates are low, that is a
sign that the current process for group orders is difficult and inefficient for users, causing them to
feel frustrated and stop using the product altogether. This kind of feedback is valuable for
assessing how well your current design meets the project goal.
Questions to Assess Your Research Plans

Consider comparing the example provided above to your own KPI selection.

As you assess your work, here are some guiding questions you can use:

 Have you chosen KPIs that:

1. Measure progress toward a research goal?
2. Reveal meaningful insights into user behavior?
3. Provide actionable feedback about how the design is performing?

If you’re reviewing your own work and can answer “yes” to each of these questions, terrific job!
If there are questions you were unable to answer “yes” to, then these are areas where you can
refine your KPI selection process. Go back and choose new KPIs with the three questions above
in mind.

Key Takeaways

Choosing KPIs that accurately evaluate your project’s goals leads to a more complete and usable
product. The more you know about your users, the more you can design with them in mind! The
way you approach your product isn’t always the way users will. Using KPIs to learn how users
interact with your product will improve your skills as a researcher and designer. The more you
take feedback into consideration, the better your designs will become!

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 4: Build a UX research plan (part 2)

18:1. Video

Continue Building a Research Plan: Methodology

Introduction to Methodology

Hello. By now your research plan is taking shape quite nicely. It's time to progress from the
background and goals of your study to your plans for actually carrying it out. In this section, we
will discuss the logistical details of your study, known as the Methodology.

What is Methodology?

Methodology is the fifth element of your UX research plan. It outlines the steps you will take to
conduct your research. The methodology will list the procedures you’ll use while collecting the
information needed to answer your research questions. This should include the following details:

 The time and place of the product tests and interviews.

 Who will conduct them.
 How the tests and interviews will be carried out.

Why Include Methodology in Your Research Plan?

There are a few reasons why you want to include methodology in your research plan:

1. Informs stakeholders: The methodology informs stakeholders of what will happen

during the study, how long the study is, and where it will take place.
2. Increases confidence: Detailing your methodology will give stakeholders more
confidence in your study's results, because they can see all of the steps. This makes it
more likely they will act on your suggestions.
3. Ensures repeatability: The methodology provides the details that other researchers need
to repeat the exact same study in the future.

The Importance of Reliable Documentation

For your research to be reliable, it needs to be documented in a way that another researcher could
repeat it and find similar results. This ensures that your study is robust and can stand up to
scrutiny.

Example: Dog Walking App Usability Study

For our dog walking app, we will conduct a usability study on March 12 and March 13. The
details of the study are as follows:

 March 12: Conduct interviews during normal business hours.

  March 13: Conduct interviews after hours.
 Participants: Five participants will be interviewed individually.

With these details, you’ve now nailed the fifth element of your UX research plan—the
methodology.

Next Step: Participants

On to the next element of your research plan: Participants. See you there!

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 4: Build a UX research plan (part 2)

19:2. Reading

Learn More About Methodology

Introduction

The first few steps of your research plan—the introduction, research questions, and KPIs—
focus on the aim of the research, the questions you’ll focus on trying to answer, and how you’ll
measure the information you receive. After planning this part of your research study, it’s time to
think about how you’ll collect the information. In other words, determining what the
methodology will be.

What is Methodology?

Methodology involves the steps you’ll take to conduct research, collect data, and analyze data.
When thinking about the methodology, it’s important to consider:

1. The type of research method involved.

2. The steps involved in the research method.
3. The type of data that will be generated from the research method.
Comparing Research Methods

In the first module of Course 2, you learned about various primary and secondary research
methods:

 Primary research is research you conduct yourself.

 Secondary research is research that uses information someone else has put together.

Some examples of primary research include:

 Interviews (which you conducted in Course 2)

 Surveys
 Competitive audits
 Usability studies

Another key consideration is whether the research method is quantitative or qualitative:

 Qualitative research focuses on understanding why and how things happen.

 Quantitative research focuses on data that can be gathered by counting or measuring.

For example, most of your primary, qualitative research will likely be conducted during the
empathize phase of the project, when your goal is to find out as much as possible about the
challenges, needs, and characteristics of potential users before creating designs.

Conducting Research with a Usability Study

For the purposes of Course 4, your research plan will include a usability study as the research
method. In the last course, you learned how to create low-fidelity prototypes. This research
method is ideal at this stage of a project because it involves testing out your design with real,
potential users.

 Usability studies are primary, qualitative research methods because they allow UX
designers to make direct and indirect observations based on the participants’ behavior
and words.

During a usability study:

 You’ll give each participant a few guided tasks and take notes on how successfully the
tasks are completed (direct observation).
 You’ll also record the study to play it back later (indirect observation) and discover
new insights from the study.

At this stage, you can start thinking about filling in the research plan template, but later you’ll
have a chance to write a detailed description of your methodology and continue to build your
research plan.
For more ideas about the information to include in a research plan, check out a couple of
Example UX Research Plans.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 4: Build a UX research plan (part 2)

20:3. Video

Continue Building a Research Plan: Participants

Introduction

Hi, again. As you know, the field of UX is all about the user. We're moving into an exciting
element of the UX research plan, where we focus on the very important people who you will
study—your participants. The participants you select represent the voice of real users. This is an
important part of your research plan.

Selecting Participants

Keep in mind that how and where you find study participants will depend on where you work.
Regardless, there are a few things you should include in this part of your research plan. To get
started, your research plan should include:

1. A list of the primary characteristics of the people you will recruit to participate in the
study.
2. A justification for each and every characteristic.

The types of participants you select should be based on your research goals. For example, for a
usability study for a dog walking app, you might want to recruit participants who are:

 Dog owners.
 Have full-time jobs.
 Go out for activities more than once a week.

Detailing these characteristics is important because you want participants in the study to have
things in common with your ultimate end users. In addition, listing characteristics of participants
helps you avoid sample bias.
Sample Bias

You may remember that sample bias happens when you unintentionally choose study
participants from a select group. While you want participants to have things in common with
your end users, you still need to make sure that participants are representative of all users. This
ensures that your results aren't skewed.

Screener Survey

You’ll also want to create and include a link to a screener survey, which you'll use to ask
potential participants a series of questions to see if they meet your desired characteristics.

Incentives for Participation

In addition, you need to think through how to get participants to be part of your study, known as
the incentive. The incentive also provides a way to thank participants for their time and
feedback. For example, you could compensate them with:

 Cash.
 A gift card.
 Or enter them into a raffle for a prize.

Diversity in Participants

One more thing: it’s important to engage participants with diverse perspectives and abilities
for every product you design.

For example, if you're designing an app to help people hire dog walkers, you might assume that
your target user is someone who:

 Currently walks their dog twice per day.

 Is tight on time.

One characteristic then would be someone who walks their dog regularly. But what about users
with visual impairments? They might also be interested in your dog walking app, so you need
to make sure your app is compatible with screen readers.

When recruiting participants for your usability study, you want to have a representative sample.
The small group of participants in your usability study should represent:
  Your key user group.
 User groups that are often marginalized.

The goal of a usability study is to collect honest feedback from users, so you want to gather
feedback from people with really diverse perspectives.

Engaging Participants with Diverse Abilities

You should also engage participants with diverse abilities during your usability studies.
Understanding how people with disabilities use your product is a crucial part of the UX
research and design process. If your product isn’t already compatible with assistive
technology, then you need to investigate how people with disabilities interact with your product.

Don’t assume you already know the workarounds that someone uses to navigate a product that
wasn’t designed with their specific needs in mind. Participants in a usability study can provide
this feedback firsthand.

There are many different ways to recruit potential users for your study that would include people
with disabilities. To learn more, check out the reading that follows this video.

Conclusion

With all of this in mind, you should be able to complete the sixth element of your UX research
plan: Participants. Without people to participate in your study, the study won't happen at all. It's
important to really get this part right.

There's only one element to go. In the next video, we'll discuss the script, which is also known
as the discussion guide. Let's get to it.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 4: Build a UX research plan (part 2)

21:4. Reading

Recruit a Diverse Participant Pool

Introduction

As you develop your UX research plan, you’ll outline a group of participants to include in the
study and collect feedback from. The participants in your study should represent your product’s
potential users. These participants play a big role in shaping your designs because you’ll take
their pain points and suggestions into account as you iterate.

How and where you find research study participants can differ depending on the company you
work for and the type of product you’re designing. Regardless, there are some important best
practices to follow when recruiting a diverse and inclusive group of research participants.

Where Can I Find Participants?

Finding people who will provide feedback about your designs might seem a little overwhelming
at first. The good news is that there are a few different places you can turn to find research
participants!

1. Existing User Base

If you’re conducting research and creating designs for a company with an existing user base,
you’ll likely be able to recruit participants from that group of established connections. This
might not be the case for your current project in this program, but recruiting from an existing
user base is pretty common in the real world.

2. Online

Alternatively, if you’re coming up with designs for an imaginary company or a newly

established business, the easiest way to recruit participants for your study is online. You can use
social media, online design communities, or even fee-based research recruitment agencies.
There are also websites created specifically to connect companies with research participants,
like:

 UserTesting
 User Interviews

Keep in mind that recruiting participants online can have downsides. For example, you risk
leaving out populations of potential users, like:

 Older people who don’t use the internet.

 People who don’t have internet access at home.

As you create your research study plan, consider the target audience for the product you’re
designing and decide if you can recruit that type of user online.
3. Hallway Testing

If recruiting participants online isn't an option, a less formal way to recruit for your study is to
ask people in person. You can use a recruiting method known as hallway testing, which means
asking people that pass by in the “hallway” to try the product you’ve designed.

Try to position yourself in a location where you’re most likely to encounter your product’s target
audience, like a dog park or a coffee shop. Hallway testing can be effective if you’re recruiting
a small number of participants, if you have limited time, or if you want to conduct research for
free. However, finding participants in this way is risky because the people you collect feedback
from might not have all the characteristics of your product’s potential users.

Incentives

There’s one more thing to consider when it comes to finding participants: Incentives. Incentives
are something that motivates or encourages people to participate in a research study. Incentives
can take the form of:

 Monetary compensation
 Gift cards
 Physical gifts
 A gesture to thank participants for their time and feedback, like a paid lunch.

No matter where you find participants — online or in person — you’ll need to consider how
you’ll incentivize them to engage in your study.

Who Will the Research Study Participants Be?

Your research plan should include a list of the primary characteristics of the people you will
recruit to participate in the study. The types of participants you select should be based on your
research goals and the target users of the product you’re designing.

The best way to check if potential participants meet your desired characteristics and represent a
diverse set of individuals is with a screener survey. A screener survey is a detailed list of
questions that help you determine whether potential participants meet the requirements of the
research study. To learn more about screener surveys, check out this article from User
Interviews.
Importance of Diversity in Participants

As you create a screener survey, remember that getting feedback from participants with diverse
backgrounds, perspectives, and abilities is extremely important for ensuring that your designs
are accessible and equitable.

A representative sample is a small group of participants who represent both:

 Your target user group.

 User groups that are often marginalized.

A marginalized population is one where people have specific characteristics and life
experiences that prevent them from fitting into what society inaccurately defines as “normal,”
such as people with disabilities or people with limited access to technology. Collecting feedback
from a representative sample will help you enrich the overall user experience on your product.

Recruiting Participants with Disabilities

In an effort to be inclusive of people of all abilities when you’re recruiting participants for your
usability study, your first instinct might be to seek out people based on their disability status.
But directly asking someone’s disability status limits people to only one aspect of their identity:
their disability.

Disability status can be considered Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information, which is

illegal to inquire about in many situations. Instead of recruiting participants who are visually
impaired, hearing impaired, or who have physical impairments, recruit participants who use the
assistive technologies you want to involve in your study.

For example, seek out participants who use:

 Screen readers
 Closed captions
 Switch devices
 Keyboard-only navigation
 Magnification devices or magnified screens
 Any other assistive technologies that will provide insights about your UX design.

Conclusion

Remember, the participants you collect feedback from during research are key to the success of
your product’s design. Participants provide valuable perspective about the user experience
you’ve developed and can highlight areas for improvement in your work.
As you recruit participants for your own research study, be sure to find individuals who align
with the target users of the product you’re designing and who come from diverse backgrounds
of all kinds.

Optimal Number of Participants

One more thing to keep in mind when finding diverse participants for your usability study: It's a
good goal to have between five and eight participants. Five participants is a large enough
sample size to gain valuable feedback, and there is often diminishing return on investment if
more than eight participants are added to the study.

////////////////////////////////

Course 4 Module 1
Section 4: Build a UX research plan (part 2)

22:5. Reading

Example Research Plan: Methodology and Participants

Introduction
 Title: Creating CoffeeHouse Ordering App
 Author: Ali, UX Researcher, ali@coffeehouse.design
 Stakeholders: CoffeeHouse customers, Gael Esparza: CTO, Linda Yamamoto: VP of
Design
 Date: 12-14-2020
 Project Background: The CoffeeHouse app is being created to help people place and
pick up multiple CoffeeHouse orders together at once. The aim is to streamline the
ordering process and reduce in-store lines, particularly for patrons who place orders for
groups, as ordering individually takes too long.
 Research Goals: Determine if collaborative ordering in the app saves people time when
placing group orders.

Research Questions
1. How long does it take for 4–5 people to make a collaborative group order?
2. What can we learn from the steps users take to order as a group, versus on their own?

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

  Time on task
 User error rates
 Conversion rates

Methodology
 Study Type: Unmoderated usability study
 Location: United States (remote, participants will go through the usability study in their
own homes)
 Dates: February 8 and 9
 Study Procedure: Five participants will complete collaborative ordering tasks
independently. One participant will be randomly chosen to submit the group order. Each
participant will complete a questionnaire privately after the session.
 Session Length: Each session will last 45 minutes, including an introduction, a list of
tasks, and a short questionnaire.

Participants
 Target Participants: People who place group coffee orders at least twice a month,
whether for business tasks or social activities. These orders could be for office meetings,
friend groups, or family gatherings. Participants do not need to be coffee drinkers.
 Demographics:
o 2 male participants
o 2 female participants
o 1 non-binary participant
o Age range: 20–75 years old
o 1 participant uses assistive technologies (keyboard, screen reader)
 Incentive: $10 CoffeeHouse gift card, redeemable at any location or online

Methodology Section Review

Details of the Methodology

 Study Type: Unmoderated usability study where participants complete the tasks on their
own without a moderator.
 Location: United States (remote); participants will complete the study in their own
homes.
 Dates: Sessions are scheduled for February 8 and 9.
 Participant Details: Five participants will perform the tasks independently. One will be
randomly chosen to submit the group order. Each participant will complete a
questionnaire after the session.
 Session Description: Each session lasts 45 minutes, including an introduction, task list,
and a short questionnaire.
Descriptive Clarity for Stakeholders

The more descriptive the methodology, the easier it will be for stakeholders to understand the
plan and for the study to be replicated. As seen in this example, clear details ensure that the
process can be repeated to verify the study’s reliability.

Participants Section Review

Primary Characteristics

The ideal participants are those who regularly place group coffee orders, whether for work or
social purposes, but they don’t necessarily need to be coffee drinkers. Their demographic
diversity helps ensure inclusive feedback:

 Age: 20–75 years old

 Gender: 2 male, 2 female, 1 non-binary
 Assistive Technologies: 1 user of assistive technologies (keyboard, screen reader)

Incentives and Acknowledgment

 Incentive: A $10 CoffeeHouse gift card for each participant, which can be used at any
CoffeeHouse location or online.
 Thank You: A short thank-you message will be included to show appreciation for
participants' time.

Questions to Assess Your Research Plan

As you create your research plan, consider the following questions:

1. Methodology:
o Have you listed the procedures for conducting the usability test?
o Have you indicated the time and location where the test will occur?
o Have you identified whether the test will be moderated or unmoderated?
o Have you clearly described how the test will be conducted?
2. Participants:
o Have you described the ideal characteristics of your participants to ensure diverse
feedback?
o Have you included a suitable incentive for participants to engage in the study?
o Have you provided a way to thank participants for their time?
If you can answer "yes" to all these questions, your research plan is well-structured. If there are
areas that you’re unsure about, revise those parts to ensure completeness.

Key Takeaways
Establishing the methodology and identifying the participants are crucial steps in creating an
effective UX research study. A well-detailed methodology will help stakeholders trust the
study’s results and enable replication for consistency. A carefully chosen participants section
ensures the study represents a diverse set of users, which is key to gathering honest, valuable
feedback. When your plan is complete, review it with your team to ensure it’s as effective as
possible.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 4: Build a UX research plan (part 2)

23:6. Reading

Assistive Technology for Participants with Disabilities

Introduction to Accessibility and Assistive Technology

As you prepare to conduct your own research, you’ll need to ensure that you include participants
with varying abilities in order to get a range of feedback about your designs and to ensure that
your designs are equitable. Accessibility means the design of products, devices, services, or
environments for people with disabilities. One of your key priorities as a UX designer is to create
products that are usable and accessible to all people.

Sometimes, the abbreviation a11y (pronounced “A eleven Y”) is used to refer to accessibility.
It’s shorthand for representing the 11 letters between the letter “a” and the letter “y” in the word
“accessibility.” More importantly, a11y resembles the word “ally,” which reflects the idea that
UX designers need to be allies to people with all types of abilities.

It’s critical that you consider and involve people with various accessibility needs when
designing, especially during the empathize and test phases of the design process.

Accessibility is for Everyone

If you make the design of a product easier for people with disabilities, you also often make it a
better experience for everyone else. Designing for accessibility isn’t an obstacle, but a way to get
your products to as many users as possible. In other words, designing for accessibility benefits
everyone!

As a UX designer, you need to design for people with disabilities that are permanent,
temporary, or situational.

Types of Disabilities

 Permanent Disability: This is a disability that affects a person long-term, like losing
sight, hearing, speech, or mobility. For example, Amir, a person with permanent
blindness, uses a walking stick to navigate their surroundings.
 Temporary Impairment: This is a short-term illness or ailment that can be caused by an
injury or other limitation. Consider Margo, who has temporarily blurred vision without
their glasses.
 Situational Challenge: This occurs when a person’s environment blocks certain
functions. For example, Juan cannot read text messages on their mobile phone while
driving a car. Instead, Juan uses voice commands to hear and send texts while driving.

You need to keep in mind users with a diverse range of abilities as you design features and
products. You should also consider the types of assistive technology (AT) that people will use
when experiencing your designs.

What is Assistive Technology?

An assistive technology (AT) is a product, equipment, or system that enhances learning,
working, and living for people with disabilities. For the examples above, assistive technologies
came in the form of a walking stick, glasses, and voice commands.

For your research study, you should strive to include as many different users of assistive
technology as you can.

Common Types of Assistive Technology (AT)

1. Screen Reader: A screen reader is an AT that interprets and verbalizes text, button
names, keyboard strokes, and code that a website or app is composed of. Screen readers
are often used by people with low vision. In addition to screen readers, some people with
low vision might use a computer or smart device with a high contrast screen or increased
magnification.
2. Switch: A switch is an AT that helps people with disabilities use technology, such as
computers, phones, appliances, and mobility equipment, with minimal movements and
gestures. A switch can come in many forms, like a button or clicker. For a computer, a
switch might replace a traditional keyboard and mouse.
3. Closed Captioning and Speech-to-Text: These ATs convert audio into text for people
with limited hearing.
 4. Reminder Alarms: Reminder alarms with simplified text and supporting images can
help people with cognitive disabilities remember important information. For example,
Android phones have a feature called Action Blocks, where users add common actions to
their home screen with a name or image. So, a photo of your mother on the home screen
of your phone will call her phone number.
5. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC): AAC devices are ATs that
support people with cognitive disabilities who may experience speech limitations or
learning disabilities by using images to communicate instead of words.

Interviewing Participants Using Assistive Technology

Interviewing participants who use assistive technology or who have accessibility needs is an
important part of the UX research process. Before you begin your usability study, it’s a best
practice to test the AT involved in your study with your team.

For example, try using a screen reader on one of your favorite websites and with your own
designs. Screen readers can be accessed directly from your device’s accessibility settings, and
some can even be added to your browser as plug-ins or extensions.

Testing your product using assistive technology will help you better understand the user
experience of someone with a disability, brainstorm ideas to improve those experiences, and ask
more targeted questions during your research study.

This document provides a detailed overview of assistive technology considerations when

conducting UX research, emphasizing the importance of including diverse participants and
testing accessibility features to enhance the user experience for everyone.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 4: Build a UX research plan (part 2)

24:7. Video

Finish Building a research Plan: Script

1. Introduction
The script, sometimes referred to as the discussion guide, is a critical component of your
research plan. It provides structure and ensures consistency throughout user interviews. The
script helps in collecting purposeful, well-thought-out data that can yield valuable insights into
the users' needs, thoughts, and experiences.

Importance of Using a Script

 Consistency: Using a script ensures that every participant receives the same set of
questions and instructions, which allows for consistent data collection across interviews.
 Avoid Forgetting Instructions: It helps in remembering all the necessary steps and
instructions to avoid any omissions during the study. This is crucial to prevent errors or
the need for a redo of the study.
 Clarity and Focus: A script keeps the interviewer focused and avoids deviating from the
study's objectives.

2. Tips for Writing Interview Questions

2.1 Use the Same Set of Questions

 Consistency: It is important to ask each participant the same set of questions to ensure a
fair comparison of their responses. Usability studies typically involve one participant at a
time, focusing on a set of product features.
 No Improvisation: Avoid improvising or asking random questions to different
participants. This can lead to inconsistency and bias in the data.

2.2 Ask Open-Ended Questions

 Key for Insights: Open-ended questions like “How did you feel about...?” or “What
bothered you about...?” are effective in understanding users' goals, experiences, and
problems. These types of questions encourage detailed responses.
 Avoid Yes/No Questions: Yes/no questions can shut down conversation and limit the
depth of the responses.

2.3 Encourage Elaboration

 Dig Deeper: If a participant gives a brief answer, encourage them to elaborate. For
instance, if a participant says, “I didn’t like that search page,” you could prompt them
with, “Tell me more about that.” This will provide more detailed insights into their
experience.

2.4 Ask the Same Question from Different Angles

 Multiple Perspectives: It can take time for participants to become comfortable during
interviews. Asking the same question from different angles helps in obtaining more
detailed data. For example:
 o Start with: “How often do you walk your dog?”
o Later, ask: “How many times a week does your dog need a walk?”
o This approach might yield richer information about user habits and preferences.

2.5 Don’t Mention Other Users

 Privacy Concerns: Mentioning other users' experiences can lead to privacy violations
and bias in responses. Always focus on the current participant’s individual experience.

2.6 Avoid Leading Questions

 Neutrality: A leading question suggests a particular response, which can skew the data.
For example, “Was it easy to find the checkout cart?” could lead the participant toward
saying “yes.” Always ask neutral, open-ended questions to avoid influencing responses.

3. Structure of the Script for Usability Study

3.1 Welcome and Introductions

 Welcome the Participant: Begin the session by welcoming the participant and thanking
them for their time.
 Informed Consent: Inform the participant that the session will be recorded, and request
consent to record the study for later analysis.
 Basic Information: Ask basic demographic questions, such as:
o What is your name?
o What is your age?
o What is your occupation?

3.2 Remind the Participant of Study Purpose

 Clarify the Study’s Intent: Let the participant know that they are not being tested. The
goal is to gather honest feedback about the prototype or product being tested. There are
no right or wrong answers.

3.3 Provide Opportunity for Questions

 Open the Floor for Queries: Before diving into the usability tasks, give participants a
chance to ask any questions they may have about the study.

3.4 Usability Tasks

 Task Instructions: Usability tasks should be clear and based on the research goals
outlined in your research plan. These tasks should make participants take action, while
 avoiding giving any clues on how to complete the task. Present tasks in a way that
doesn’t intimidate participants—consider calling them "activities."
 Example Task: For a dog walking app, a task could be: "Book a dog walker for Friday at
2:00 p.m."

3.5 Clarifying Questions

 Ask for Clarifications: After the tasks are completed, feel free to ask any clarifying
questions to better understand the participant’s experience.

3.6 Wrapping Up the Study

 End the Recording: Stop the video recording at the end of the session.
 Thank the Participant: Always thank the participant for their time and valuable
feedback.

4. Final Thoughts
4.1 The Seven Elements of a UX Research Plan

By now, you’ve covered the following essential elements of your UX research plan:

1. Project background
2. Research goals
3. Research questions
4. Key performance indicators
5. Methodology
6. Participants
7. Script

4.2 Completing the First Step of UX Research

You’ve now completed the first step of a UX research study—planning the study.
Congratulations! Next, we’ll move on to respecting privacy and user data when conducting
research, which are important considerations as you move forward in your research journey.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 4: Build a UX research plan (part 2)
25:8. Assignmetn
//////////////////////////////////

Course 4 Module 1
Section 4: Build a UX research plan (part 2)

26:9. Reading

Example Research Plan: Script

You’ve learned that a script, also referred to as a discussion guide, is a list of tasks and follow-up
questions a researcher presents to participants in the interview portion of a usability study. Using
a script in your research plan gives you a clear understanding of what a user is trying to do, how
they think and feel, and what their problems are. Making a habit of writing scripts for your
research plans will improve your ability to understand your users and identify solutions that
address their needs. The tasks and follow-up questions in the script should be based on the
research questions and KPIs you chose earlier in the study plan.

Example Research Plan: CoffeeHouse App Usability Study

This review will go through the script for the CoffeeHouse app usability study, which you
explored in earlier course items. Refer to this review when you write your own UX research
study plans, and use the example for reference and comparison. Before moving on to the
example, you can review the CoffeeHouse business scenario. If you don’t have a Google
account, you can download the scenario directly from the attachment below.

CoffeeHouse Research Plan: Script

Introduction

 Title: Creating CoffeeHouse ordering app

 Author: Ali, UX researcher, ali@coffeehouse.design
 Stakeholders: CoffeeHouse customers, Gael Esparza–CTO, Linda Yamamoto–VP of
Design
 Date: 12-14-2020
Project Background

We’re creating a CoffeeHouse app to help people place and pick up multiple CoffeeHouse orders
together at once, so they can skip in-store lines and the payment process is streamlined. Some
patrons place orders for groups, and ordering individually takes too long.

Research Goals

 Figure out if collaborative ordering in the app actually saves people time when placing
group orders.

Research Questions

1. How long does it take for 4–5 people to make a collaborative group order?
2. What can we learn from the steps users take to order as a group, versus on their own?

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

 Time on task
 User error rates
 Conversion rates

Methodology

 Study Type: Unmoderated usability study

 Location: United States, remote (participants will go through the usability study in their
own homes).
 Date: Sessions will take place on February 8 and 9.
 Participants: Five participants complete the collaborative ordering tasks on their own.
One of the participants is randomly chosen to submit the group order. Each participant
completes a questionnaire on their experience privately.
 Duration: Each session will last 45 minutes, which will include an introduction, a list of
tasks, and a short questionnaire.

Participants

 Participants are people who place group coffee orders at least twice a month, whether it’s
a business task or a social task. The orders could be for office meetings, friend groups, or
family.
 Participants don’t have to be coffee drinkers themselves.
 Demographics: 2 male, 2 female, 1 non-binary, all aged 20–75 years old.
 1 user of assistive technologies (keyboard, screen reader).
 Incentive: $10 CoffeeHouse gift card redeemable at any location or online.
Script
Intro:

1. Before we begin, do I have your consent to take both audio and video recordings of this
interview?
2. I want you to know that this isn’t a test. There is no “right” answer, and none of your
responses will be considered wrong.
3. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
4. This data is being collected to help create an app that makes ordering coffee easier. Your
answers will help us make the app easier for people to use.

Basic Questions:

1. Do you live in an area with lots of coffee shops?

2. Do you have a favorite coffee shop?
3. How many times a week do you order coffee from a store?
4. Do you usually order for yourself, or for a group?
5. Can you talk me through a normal day in your life?
6. Great! If you’re ready, let’s move on to the tasks you’ll be working on.

Prompts:

Prompt 1:

 Open up the CoffeeHouse app on your phone and customize a drink order for yourself.
Do your best to talk me through your thought process.
o Prompt 1 Follow-up: How easy do you feel it is to customize a drink the way
you like it? What was easy and what was challenging?

Prompt 2:

 If I said, “start a new group order,” would you know what to do?
o Prompt 2 Follow-up: Try it out now, please.
o Prompt 2 Follow-up: Did you find anything confusing?

Prompt 3:

 From the existing group order screen, add your custom drink from a moment ago, then
add multiple other custom drinks to the same order and proceed to the checkout screen.
o Prompt 3 Follow-up: How do you feel about the process of purchasing multiple
drinks in the same order? What was easy and what was challenging?

Prompt 4:

 Finally, check out and complete the group order.

 o Prompt 4 Follow-up: How do you feel about paying for different orders in the
same transaction? What are your feelings about the amount of time it took to
complete?

Prompt 5:

 How do you feel about the CoffeeHouse app overall? What did you like and dislike about
it?

Script Analysis
Introduction

The introduction starts by:

1. Asking for the participant’s consent to record the interview.

2. Informing the participant that the interview is not a test, and that no answer is wrong.
3. Assuring the participant that it’s okay to ask questions.
4. Explaining why the participant’s data is being collected.
5. Asking for basic information about the participant’s relationship with the product.

These elements help the researcher achieve three important objectives:

 Gather important demographic data about the participant.

 Set a professional tone for the interview.
 Help participants feel comfortable during the interview.

Prompts and Follow-up Questions

The researcher has created a series of prompts and follow-up questions that will help them
investigate the KPIs they chose earlier in their research plan. Each prompt outlines a task for
participants to complete, so the researcher can record how each participant responds. After these
tasks are complete, the prompt’s follow-up questions will help the researcher learn what the
participant’s experience was like.

Key Characteristics of the Prompts and Follow-up Questions

1. Open-ended: Encourage action, discussion, and reflection rather than short “yes or no”
responses.
2. Objective: Avoid giving clues about how to complete a task, leading participants toward
particular answers, and revealing the researchers’ biases.
3. Goal-oriented: Relate directly to the research plan’s KPIs and research goals.
When prompts and follow-ups meet these criteria, they help researchers gather rich information
that leads to actionable insights about users’ experience. Actionable insights are key for iterating
and improving designs, both in your portfolio project usability study and in professional design
projects.

Questions to Assess Your Research Plans

When you create research plans (either in your portfolio project or on the job), consider using the
example for reference and comparison. Ask yourself whether your UX research study plan script:

1. Starts with an introduction that gathers demographic data and sets the right tone.
2. Contains prompts and follow-up questions that can be read the same way to all
participants.
3. Encourages open-ended action, discussion, and reflection.
4. Remains objective and avoids leading participants or introducing bias.
5. Directly addresses your research plan’s KPIs and research goals.

If you can answer “yes” to each of these questions, well done! If there are questions to which
you were unable to answer “yes,” then these are areas in which you can improve your script
writing skills for UX research study plans. Think of this as an opportunity to build a great
process for approaching interviews. Consider going back and reexamining your script with these
four criteria in mind.

Key Takeaways

 Writing a well-rounded script is an important step in a research study plan. Thoughtful

questions and appropriate tasks will help you gain actionable insights into your user’s
needs, behaviors, and motivations.
 Without the script, the next steps of your design process may be based on guesswork
rather than data.

////////////////////////////////

Course 4 Module 1
Section 4: Build a UX research plan (part 2)

27:10. Reading
Example UX Research Plans
Here are two new examples of UX research plans using the template that was provided earlier in
the course.

As a reminder, you can use these templates to plan your own UX research study.

For the Dog Walker App Completed Research Study Exemplar

Click the link below and select “Use Template.”

Link to Exemplar:

 Dog Walker App Research Study

OR

If you don’t have a Google account, you can download the exemplar directly from the
attachment below.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 5: Respect user data and privacy

28:1. Video

Make Privacy a Part of UX Practices

Introduction

In this video, we’ll shift our focus and discuss the importance of respecting user privacy and
data. We'll explore why privacy is crucial, the types of data that need protection, and the actions
designers can take to ensure user privacy. This part of research is vital, so let’s get started.

Why is it Important to Keep User Data Private?

It's simply the right thing to do. For ethical reasons, we should always act with integrity when
conducting research, and this includes protecting users' privacy. There are several reasons why
privacy is critical:

1. Privacy Laws and Ethics:

Maintaining user privacy is essential because failing to do so could violate privacy laws.
In the United States, there are several regulations on information privacy, and in other
parts of the world, privacy is more thoroughly legislated.
2. Risk of Hacking:
Securing sensitive data is crucial to avoid the risk of hackers accessing and sharing users'
data without their consent. Several recent high-profile cases of data breaches highlight
the importance of protecting user data.
3. Brand Protection:
Protecting user data helps maintain a positive perception of your brand. Ensuring data
security builds trust with your users, even if they are not customers. The way users
perceive your company is important, and data protection plays a significant role in that.

What User Data Needs Protecting?

There are two main types of data that need protection:

1. Personally Identifiable Information (PII):

This includes specific details that can be used to identify a user. Examples include:
o Names
o Home addresses
o Email addresses
o Phone numbers
2. Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (SPII):
This type of data is even more critical to protect. If compromised, SPII could cause
financial harm, embarrassment, or discrimination. Examples include:
o Social security numbers
o Driver's license numbers
o Passport numbers
o Financial account numbers
o Date of birth
o Race, disability status, gender, sexuality
o Criminal history
o Medical information

It’s easy to imagine the harm that could result if these pieces of data fall into the wrong hands,
especially if used together.
How to Protect User Data

You can safeguard your users' data by incorporating privacy and security practices into your UX
design and research. Here’s how to do it:

1. Be Transparent About Data Collection:

Let users know what data you are collecting from them.
2. Collect Only Essential Data:
Only ask for the data that is absolutely necessary for your study. For example, don’t
request a participant’s date of birth if it’s not required.
3. Obtain Active Consent:
Ensure that users actively choose to participate in the study. This is usually done through
a consent form that participants are asked to sign and return. Include details about how
their data will be used and how you will protect their privacy.
4. Allow Users to Withdraw at Any Time:
Users should know that they can withdraw from the study at any time. This right should
be explicitly stated when obtaining consent, and withdrawing should be an easy process
(e.g., through written or verbal communication, or simply by not showing up).
5. Inform Users of Data Access:
Clearly state who will have access to the collected data. For example, you might tell users
that their feedback will be shared with your immediate team, but it won’t be shared
beyond that.
6. Explain How Data Will Be Stored and Deleted:
Clearly outline how user data will be stored and when it will be deleted. For example, let
users know that their videos will be stored on a secure cloud storage site until the study is
complete, and then deleted.

Conclusion

Remember, it's your responsibility to take care of user data, security, and privacy, and doing so is
the right thing to do. In the next video, we will dive into a couple of specific privacy concerns
and the tools we can use to ensure data remains safe.

This video has highlighted the importance of user privacy in UX practices and has provided
practical steps for safeguarding user data throughout the research process.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 5: Respect user data and privacy
29:2. Video

Understand Privacy Issues

Introduction

Hello again. I'm Michael. You may remember me from an earlier course. I'm briefly filling in for
Jason to talk more about privacy concerns. Are you ready? Let's get started.

In the previous video, you learned how important it is to receive user consent to collect data. In
this video, we'll explore privacy concerns in more detail, focusing on vulnerable populations,
safety of research data, and tools to protect privacy.

Vulnerable Populations

Certain groups of people have limited ability to provide their consent or have special privacy
concerns. These groups are referred to as vulnerable populations. There is no established list of
vulnerable populations, and some individuals may have vulnerabilities you're not aware of.
Different populations can be vulnerable depending on the type of research you're doing and the
various cultures you're interacting with.

Some populations that might be considered vulnerable include:

 Minors
 People with disabilities
 Elderly people
 People who are currently incarcerated
 Individuals who are members of the LGBTQIA+ community

If you're planning to conduct research with vulnerable participants, consult a research expert to
understand the additional steps you need to take to ensure ethical compliance with privacy laws
and guidelines.

Safety of Research Data

In addition to considering vulnerable populations, we also need to address the safety of research
data. This includes three main concerns:

1. Data Recording
It's essential to document your study and results in a manner consistent with UX research
standards. Consistent documentation helps compare the results of future studies and
 provides protection in case of an audit. An audit is an external review to ensure that
research involving people is ethical and follows study protocols.
2. Data Storage
Data should be stored securely to protect it from hacking and physical damage. It’s
critical to have a safe environment for storing research data.
3. Data Retention
Data retention refers to how long research data is kept. Some companies set limits on
how long records are retained, while others may have to comply with regulations that
require records to be kept for a certain period.

Additionally, ensure there is an agreement in place with your company regarding who will retain
the research data if you leave the company.

Tools to Maintain Privacy

Here are a couple of tools you can use to maintain privacy in your research:

1. De-Identification
De-identification involves removing any identifying information from a user's data that
you collect during a study. For example, when sharing insights with your team, instead of
attributing a quote to a participant by name, you might say "Participant 1" and change all
pronouns to "they." This helps reduce the amount of identifiable information shared.
Alternatively, you can allow participants to choose their own fictitious name, which
keeps the human element intact rather than just numbering participants.
2. Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
An NDA is a contract that offers legal protection against the theft of ideas. When you
have research participants test a new product or feature, you're allowing them to
experience something before it's publicly released, which puts you at risk of idea theft.
By having participants sign an NDA before starting the study, you protect your
intellectual property. If someone breaches the NDA, they might be required to
compensate you for the loss of your idea and any associated profits.

Conclusion

We’ve covered several important privacy concerns, including the importance of considering
vulnerable populations and safeguarding research data. Additionally, we discussed tools like de-
identification and NDAs to maintain privacy and protect your work.

In the next video, we will explore more privacy tools and best practices.

///////////////////////////
Course 4 Module 1
Section 5: Respect user data and privacy

30:3. Video

Vanessa - Ethics, Privacy, and Data in the Real World

Introduction

Hi, my name is Vanessa, and I am a user experience researcher at Google. A user experience
researcher really focuses on the user. We aim to understand how people are using our products,
whether our products or services are working well for them, and what kind of pain points they
have. Our goal is to improve and make products better.

Ethics, privacy, and data play a huge role in our profession. These considerations begin as early
as deciding who to speak to when conducting research.

Representation in Research

Historically, certain voices have been marginalized or excluded from research. As a woman and
as a Black individual, I have experienced many things that have made me realize that the
experiences I have had were not always designed with me in mind. Because of this, it is
personally important to me that the people we engage with and hear from in research represent
our user base, essentially anyone in the world.

We must be respectful and mindful of this representation. Every step of the process—from
recruitment to conducting interviews, making recommendations, interpreting information,
sharing it, and using it to build products—can either lead to great outcomes or unintended
consequences for the people who use the products.

Privacy and Data Considerations

When it comes to privacy and data, there are a variety of topics that come up in research. These
topics can vary depending on the type of product or service you are working on. As researchers,
we often look at data across a large number of users and identify patterns based on how people
are using things.

However, this approach can raise concerns among the public. People may feel uncomfortable
with the idea that others know how often they log into a specific account or what websites they
visit. These concerns are valid, and it’s important for us as researchers to respect them and
approach the handling of data with caution.

Respecting User Data

It's crucial to approach privacy and data with respect and care. We must be mindful of the many
ways in which people's data and stories are handled. A personal approach can help: asking
ourselves, "If that were my data, would I want someone using it in this way?"

By designing products and conducting research in a way that recognizes the importance and
gravity of our actions, we can make a meaningful difference in how products and services impact
users.

Conclusion

In conclusion, being a responsible user experience researcher involves ensuring proper

representation in research, being mindful of privacy concerns, and treating data with respect. It’s
not just about collecting data, but about considering how we can make ethical decisions and
design experiences that truly benefit users in a respectful and thoughtful way.

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 5: Respect user data and privacy

31:4. ASSIGNMENT
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Course 4 Module 1
Section 6: Module 1 review

32:1. Video
Wrap-up: Planning UX Research Studies

Overview

Great job! You're making your way through this course and the steps of a UX research study.
Here's a recap of what you've learned so far:

Steps of a UX Research Study

1. Four Steps in a UX Research Study

You began by learning about the four main steps in a UX research study.
2. Planning a Study
You then dove deep into the first step: planning a study.

Seven Elements of a UX Research Plan

In this section, you explored the seven essential elements of a UX research plan:

1. Project Background
2. Research Goals
3. Research Questions
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
5. Methodology
6. Participants
7. Script

Data Privacy in User Research

Lastly, you investigated why and how to include data privacy in user research.

What's Next

Coming up next, you'll move from the first step of planning a research study to the second step:
conducting the research. Specifically, you'll dig into one popular method, usability studies.

See you there!

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Course 4 Module 1
Section 6: Module 1 review

33:2. Reading

Glossary terms from course 4, module 1

Terms and definitions from Course 4, Module 1

Conversion rate: Measures the percentage of users who complete a desired action

Data recording: Document your study and results in a way that's consistent with UX
research standards

Data storage: Ensure data is held in a way that's safe from hacking and physical
damage

Data retention: How long you hold on to research data

De-identification: Removing any identifying information from a users’ data that is

collected

during a research study

Drop-off rates: The number of users who abandon the experience

Design research: Helps designers understand how to build the product

Foundational research: Helps designers understand why or if they should build

the product and to better understand the user problem they are trying to solve

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Critical measures of progress toward an

end goal

Methodology: The steps to take to conduct research, collect data, and analyze data
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA): A contract that gives one party legal
protection against

another party stealing their ideas or revealing proprietary information before a product is

launched

Personally Identifiable information (PII): Specific details that could be used

to identify a user

Project stakeholders: People who are involved in the project or who will be
affected by its

results

Post-launch research: Helps designers understand if the product worked as

expected

Qualitative research: Focuses on observations about why and how things happen

Quantitative research: Focuses on data that can be gathered by counting or

measuring

Research study: A step-by-step examination of a group of users and their needs,

which adds

realistic context to the design process

Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information: Data that if lost,

compromised, or stolen, could cause your users financial harm, embarrassment, or
discrimination

System Usability Scale (SUS): A questionnaire that measures the usability of

designs

Time on task: The amount of time it takes for a user to complete a task

Usability study: A research method that assesses how easy it is for participants to
complete

core tasks in a design

Use of navigation vs. search: The number of people who use a website or app’s
navigation,

compared to the number of people who use the search functionality

User error rates: Indicate the parts of a design that cause users to make errors

Vulnerable populations: Groups of people who have limited ability to provide

their consent or

have special privacy concerns

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Course 4 Module 1

Section 6: Module 1 review

34:3. Assignment
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Course 4 Module 1
Section 6: Module 1 review
35:4. Assignment

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