Introduction to User Research

User or customer research is one of the most important and in-demand areas of human-centred design. This course introduces modern methods for getting valid user or customer insights to inform design projects. During the day, you will learn the principles behind best practice qualitative design research and put these into action as you design and implement a research project.

This course is a practical introduction to user research, a pillar of human centred design. Learn the theory and practice the methods of qualitative research as you design a research project from scratch, implement it, analyse the findings, and communicate the insights you discover.

The course covers:

• The most common methods used for design research
  
• The difference between design research and academic research
• How to identify if research is required
• How to identify and recruit a suitable sample group
• A structured method for designing observational and interview-based researchBest practice when constructing surveys
• Best practice for conducting field work
• Methods for unpacking and analysing research data
• Presenting research findings in the way most likely to get traction in an organisation
  

On the Day:

• We start at 9:30am and wrap up at 4:30pm with an hour for lunch at 12:30pm
  
• Lunch is not provided, but we do provide coffee and healthy snacks
• All materials are provided. This course is process focused, not tool focused, so you don’t need to bring a laptop or other device, although you are welcome to do so if you wish.

What will you do?

• Design a research plan
• Practise observational and semi-structured interview-based field work
  
• Unpack and analyse your research findings
  
• Try various methods for presenting your findings
  

On completion of the course you will:

1. Have a good grasp of basic design research principles
2. Be able to identify research needs and design a programme of work to meet those needs
3. Be able to conduct observational and semi-structured interview-based field work
   
4. Be able to analyse the data collected from your field work
5. Be able to present those findings in the manner most appropriate for their intended use and audience
6. Receive a certificate of completion that can be shared on CVs and social media
7. Get an hour of post course contact time with the facilitator
8. Get discounts on subsequent courses in the same year

Who is it for?

All are welcome and no prior knowledge is required to do this course. However, the course is particularly useful for:

• Decision makers - Anyone involved in making decisions for product, UX, or service design who wants to learn how to generate reliable evidence-based insights to inform those decisions.
• Product owners and managers - Product owners and project managers who want a better understanding of how research decisions are made.
• UX designers, product designers, and design graduates - Product, service, and UX designers who want to add research to their skill set, or collaborate more effectively with researchers.
• Strategists and analysts - Senior practitioners who want to gain an understanding of generating user or customer insights.
• People exploring career transition - People from other professional backgrounds who want to explore transitioning into user or customer research.