Notes: "UX Research" by Brad Nunnally & David Farkas
Tags: ux, books, notes, design
Published: 2020-09-22 22:42:40

**This article originally appeared on my [website](https://www.carmenwright.design/).**

*I'm a fan of writing notes while reading design books. The book belongs to the author(s). The notes are a quick reference for myself and others if they need it.*

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![Cover of UX Research](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/3lweqvwjfn1875dgbpf7.jpeg)

# *UX Research: Practical Techniques for Designing Better Products*
## Brad Nunnally & David Farkas

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### Good Research Starts with Good Questions

How Good Questions Go Wrong
- Leading Questions
  > "How do you use Outlook to communicate your work status?"
- Shallow Questions
  > "Do you use Yammer for team discussions?"
- Personal Bias
  > "I know I always struggle with invoices; what challenges do you have with your software?"
- Unconscious Bias
  > "Where do you guys go to unwind after work?"

Knowing When to Break the Rules
- Leading
  > "How much do your friends and family appreciate photo albums when you make one for them?
- Shallow
  > "How many times do you log in to Facebook in a day?"
- Personal Bias
  > "Do you think the Cubs actually have a chance at the World Series this year?"

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### Quantitative Research Methods

| Method Name  | Insight-Driven | Evaluative | Generative |
| ------------|:--------------:|:----------:| ----------:|
| A/B Testing |                | X          |            |
| Analytics   |                | X          | X          |
| Card Sorting| X              | X          | X          |
| Customer Feedback| X              | X          |           |
| Email Surveys| X              | X          |           |
| Eye Tracking|               | X          |           |
| Intercept Testing| X              | X          |           |
| Moderated Product Testing|               | X          | X          |
| Surveys     | X              | X          |           |
| Taxonomy Review (Tree Jacking)| X              | X          |           |
| Unmoderated Product Testing|               |           |           |
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### Qualitative Research Methods

| Method Name  | Planning | Discovery | Validation |
| ------------|:--------------:|:----------:| ----------:|
| Card Sorting|               | X          | X          |
| Contextual Inquiry |               | X           | X           |
| Diary Study |               | X           | X           |
| Heuristic Evaluation | X              | X           |            |
| Landscape Analysis | X              | X           |            |
| Moderated Product Validation|               |           | X          |
| Participatory Design | X              | X           |            |
| Stakeholder Workshop | X              | X           |            |
| Surveys     | X              |           | X          |
| Taxonomy Review |               | X          | X          |
| Unmoderated Product Validation|               |           | X          |

Heuristic Evaluation
1. Summary
   > Provide a quick summary (1 sentence) of the tasks that is performed for this heuristic violation
2. Page Identified
   > Provide the URL/page title that the violation is found
3. Strengths
   > Provide any positive factors about the task performed for the violation
4. Heuristics Violated
   > Provide the code of the heuristic it violates
5. Details
   > Provide any other detail that hasn't been captured above or short recommendation on how to resolve violation
6. Screen shot of violation

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### Faciliating Research

Key Body Signals
- Open arms and legs
  > More approachable and agreeable overall
- Closed arms and legs
  > Mindset is defensive and potentially closed off
- Spread-out arms and legs
  > Attempt to expand your personal space/assert your overall presence
- Leg positioning
  > Legs like to point in direction you want to move
- Head movements
  > Look up: accessing imagination and potentially being deceitful
  > Look down: accessing memory and potentially being more truthful

Key Expressions
- Surprise
  > Eyes wide open and jaw dropped
- Fear
  > Eyes wide, mouth barely open, and forehead wrinkled
- Disgust
  > Teeth barred, nose wrinkled, and eyes slightly closed
- Anger
  > Hard stare, closed and tense lips, and nostrils possibly open wide
- Happiness
  > Broad smile, crow's feet around eyes, and raised cheeks
- Sadness
  > Pouting lips and drawn-in eyes
- Contempt
  > Partial fake smile and squinting eyes

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### Communicating Insights

Research Artifacts & Diagrams
- Experience maps
- Personas
- Mind maps
- User flows
- Swim lanes
- Mental models
- Severity scales
- Click maps
- Actionable recommendations
- Change logs
- Design specifications

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*As written above, these are just my notes for this title. I encourage you to read a copy of your own for further insight into the text.*