How to Do UX Research like a Psychologist (or Why You Should Hire One)

by Khoa D. Le Nguyen
UX Y'all Selected Series - Lightning Talks
January 12, 2021

Transcript

1. How to do UX research like a psychologist (or why we should hire one) Khoa D. Le Nguyen PhD. Candidate in Psychology at UNC-CH Interim Behavioral Science Manager at WW (Weight Watchers)
2. UNC WW • Research how people experience positive social connection and why it matters • Research behavior change to inform app design • Democratize behavioral science in design • Offer training in quantitative research
3. UX Research • Often atheoretical • Often qualitative methods • Rich picture of users Users needs, motivation, and behavior Behavioral Science / Psychology • Theory-based • Often quantitative method • Detect statistical relationship that may not be noticeable How to make UXR even better? +
4. 1. Before a project, do a literature search* • Save time and research effort • Use evidence and framework to inform our research *when appropriate
5. Exercise app
6. E.g. How many program choices to present? • Optimal number of choice: 8 - 14 • Decision difficulty (e.g. time pressure) • Choice set complexity • Decision goals: browsing vs. choosing
7. 2. Adopt validated measures and questionnaires from the research literature Why? • Save time • These measures are well-defined, valid, and reliable • Can target hidden psychological tendencies (e.g. sexism, racism)
8. E.g. Users’ strategies to stick to exercise? • Instead of / in addition to asking open-ended questions… ⇒ Look for a list of strategies studied and measured by previous researchers. Have users rate those strategies.
9. 3. Use quantitative research and inferential statistics to reveal ‘hidden’ relationships
11. What users say they need What users actually need
12. 3. Use inferential statistics (e.g. t-test, correlation, regression) to reveal ‘hidden’ relationships • Reveal statistically significant relationships • Can control for demographics and other confounding factors Desirable outcomes Behavioral or psychological factors Demographics, confounding factors
13. Exercise outcomes Frequencies of Strategies E.g. What strategies would help users stick to exercising? • Instead of / in addition to asking users what strategies are effective for them...
14. Takeaways We can effectively gain better insights about users by integrating approaches from psychology & behavioral science • Do a quick literature search and use theoretical framework to guide research & design • Use validated measures & questions • Use quantitative method & inferential statistics to reveal hidden relationships
15. Seeking opportunities Let’s connect! linkedin.com/in/khoa-le-nguyen/