Why are we scared of user research? A phony classification
summary
Most free software projects do no user research and the talk claims that tiny studies change that: a four-category taxonomy of naysayers (scratchers, squirmful, dismissive, defeatist), practical methods like six interviews or five-user usability tests with 45-minute sessions, remote tooling (gmeet, OBS Studio, YouTube) and low-cost incentives (training, stickers, thank yous). Analysis uses affinity diagrams and can be done solo in about 1.5 hours; research is framed as repeatable small studies rather than expensive labs.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (12)
- 0:00Start
- 0:05NO DESIGN WITHOUT RESEARCH
- 2:02CAN INTERACTION DESIGN EXIST WITHOUT RESEARCH?
- 3:01The itch-scratchers 2. The scornful
- 5:11When you release your code, you release your itch
- 5:36THE SCORNFUL
- 7:06THE DISMISSIVE
- 8:21Great designers are like great novelists, acute observers of human behaviour.
- 16:19DO RESEARCH PERIODICALLY (E.G. ONE USER INTERVIEW PER MONTH)
- 16:46RESEARCH IS NOT AN ACTIVITY: IT'S AN ATTITUDE
- 17:17JUST SOFTWARE
- 17:33GOOD SOFTWARE
related talks
27mUser Research for everyone
28mHow to Talk to g̵i̵r̵l̵s̵ Users at p̵a̵r̵t̵i̵e̵s̵ Your App
46mPractical UX When You Have (almost) No Time or Money
33mA Scrappy UXer's Tale of Effective Low-Tech, Low-Prep, Quick Turnaround UX Research
28mGreat User Research for Non Researchers
46mUser research: whose job is it, anyway?
33mUX Research and Design: Crucial to development
29mEasy and Affordable User-Testing
