A breakdown of UX research types

What’s the difference between generative and evaluative research? Qualitative and quantitative? There are different types of user research to suit different goals. In order to select appropriate types of research methods, you need to understand what you are trying to achieve.

Are you trying to gather data, understand your staff, or both? Do you have a concept or idea you are wanting to test with users, or are you trying to generate ideas?

When it comes to understanding how people feel vs how they act, it’s a good idea to always try and cover your bases with both. It’s not enough to know how many people used a feature last month, it’s also important to know whether they were satisfied and felt they were able to use it effectively. You need to build in an awareness of both behaviour and attitude in all research and design. Even research with a heavy focus in one area, should include a little bit of the other.

Generative

Generative research (sometimes referred to as exploratory, foundational or discovery research) seeks to understand the broader context of a user’s experience.

It’s typically conducted when little or nothing is known about a particular area, with the intention to introduce a solution or innovation to a customer issue — ultimately to provide a customer…