Want to dig into UX Research?

Here’s some must-reads to help you get started

Credit: Daria Nepriahina via Unsplash

The worst way to know if people would pay to use a product or if they would use it repeatedly is ask them directly. Humans are very bad at predicting their future behavior.

— Tomer Sharon

UX Research and design go together like peanut butter and jelly (or other delicious combinations). No product team can get very far without a thorough understanding of the problem space and their customers.

Here’s several books to help you get a more comprehensive view of research in the context of UX design.

1. Benchmarking the User Experience (Jeff Sauro)
   A usability pro/statistical analyst takes you through quantifying whether design changes have made any measurable impact on experience.
2. Interviewing Users (Steve Portigal)
   An informative guide on how to develop the crucial skill of interviewing.
3. Validating Product Ideas (Tomer Sharon)
   Methods of research in the context of the product development lifecycle.
4. The Signal and the Noise (Nate Silver)
   Interesting cases on applied statistics that span across science, economics, and forecasting.
5. Just Enough Research (Erika Hall)
   A compact collection of research methods and advice on how to communicate the findings.
6. Field Study Handbook (Jan Chipchase)
   The ultimate guidebook to ethnographic research in emerging markets.
7. Quantifying the User Experience: Practical Statistics for User Research (Jeff Sauro)
   Another classic from Jeff, on using statistics to solve quantitative problems in user research.
8. Universal Methods of Design: 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions (Bruce Hanington, Bella Martin)
   A broad yet detailed overview across many UX research methods and when to use them.
9. User Experience Team of One (Leah Buley)
   A great overview for beginners on quick and scrappy design and research methods.

Bonus:

While these aren’t books, both Userzoom academy and UserTesting university offer free libraries of video tutorials on UX research.

Note: while they do cater to their specific platform, both still offer a great overview of mini-lessons for beginners.

Learn more

UX Research Guide [For Beginners]

How to Get Started with UX (Part 1)

5 books for bringing analytics into the UX process

5 Books Every Designer Should Read to Communicate Effectively

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Feel free to check out my design work or my handbook on UX design, upgrading your portfolio and understanding design thinking.