Think Like a UX Researcher

Outline

Think Like a UX Researcher (2019) is a practical guide to understanding users and designing better products. David Travis and Philip Hodgson explain how to plan research, observe people in real settings, analyse what they learn, and persuade teams to act on the findings. Organised as short essays with exercises, the book helps researchers, designers, and product managers build a user-centred way of thinking.

• Good user research starts with a mindset of observing users and challenging your own assumptions, not with a particular tool or method.
• Research has to be planned before it begins, so the work answers a clear question.
• Watching people in their real settings reveals more about their needs than asking them to describe those needs.
• Analysing what you learn is a separate step that turns raw observations into insights a team can use.
• Findings only matter when they change decisions, so researchers must learn to persuade teams to act on them.

David Travis and Philip Hodgson are British user experience consultants and researchers who have worked with many organisations to improve the design of products and services. Together they have run training courses on user research for professionals around the world. They co-wrote Think Like a UX Researcher, drawing on decades of practical experience.