Amanda Stockwell is President of Stockwell Strategy, a UX research practice focused on lean research methods and integrating user knowledge with business goals to create holistic product strategies for businesses large and small. She has focused most of the last decade focused on finding innovative ways to understand end users and embed that knowledge into overall process. She's lead teams that provide research, design, and UX strategy services and frequently writes and speaks about her experience. She has a human factors background and an engineering degree from Tufts University.
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As more and more organisations become focused on creating great experiences, more teams are being tasked with conducting research to inform and validate user experience objectives.
UX research can be extremely helpful in crafting a product strategy and ensuring that the solutions built fit users’ needs. But it can be hard to know how to get started. This article covers all the basics: from setting research objectives to choosing the method so you can uncover the information you need.
Amanda’s last article covered how to “guerilla-ise” traditional UX research methods to fit into a short timeline, and when it makes the most sense to use them.
Now, she’s back to walk us through some of the most popular guerilla methods—live intercepts, remote and unmoderated studies, and using low fidelity prototypes. She covers pros, cons and tips to make sure you make the most of your guerilla research sessions.
As more and more companies realise the value of UX research, “guerilla” methods have become a popular way to squeeze research into limited budgets and short timelines. This often means reducing scope and/or rigor. The key to successful guerilla research is to strike the right balance to hit time and budget goals, but still be rigorous enough to gather valuable feedback.
So when is the best time to tackle your research guerilla style?
Freelancing is well-suited to the work of UX professionals, with many considering the move as a next career step. They usually say they’re looking for freedom, more money, the ability to work on more interesting problems or learn new things – or even just the chance to work in their pyjamas regularly.
Here are a few important tips to consider before you quit your day job.
The Lean Startup approach is gaining popularity in organisations of all sizes, which means teams must adapt their processes. More and more, UX professionals are being asked to take on Lean experiments – which are fantastic – but differ slightly from traditional UX research. This guide will help you get the most out of your experimentation cycles and understand whether you should pivot or persevere with your MVP.
Ah, the holidays. A time to reflect, connect with friends and family, and agonise over the awkwardness of exchanging gifts with colleagues and clients.
Looking for gift ideas for fellow UXers, clients or colleagues? Read on…
Finding and scheduling research participants is one of the biggest logistical challenges of UX research. Not to mention then getting those participants to fully engage in research activities. But what about the motivations behind why people take part. How does this affect research results? And what can you do about it?
One of the best ways to guarantee quality results from your user experience research is to recruit the right kind of people for your studies. But finding the right participants? That can be a frustrating logistical challenge. Participant screeners are a vital step in UX research design so you can filter through potential recruits and find your target users.
Amanda Stockwell shares her best tips to write screeners so you only recruit users who will provide valuable insights for your product.
Finding users for testing in a short sprint can be a daunting task. But just because you don’t have much time, doesn’t mean you have to skip the research. Amanda Stockwell explains how you can quickly find recruits.
Working as part of an Agile team means you don’t always get the time you’d like to carry out your research. But Amanda Stockwell shows how, with a little flexibility, high-quality UX research in an Agile environment is possible. This is the first in a series of posts that will discuss the impact of Agile software development on UX practices.
