10+ Best Articles on User Research
The most useful articles on user research from around the web—beginners to advanced—curated by thought leaders and our community. We focus on timeless pieces and update the list whenever we discover new, must-read articles or videos—make sure to bookmark and revisit this page.
Top 5 User Research Articles
At a glance: these are the articles that have been most read, shared, and saved on user research by Refind users in 2023 so far.
What is ...?
New to #user research? These articles make an excellent introduction.
A beginner’s guide to guerrilla research
This is the user research method that even the most budget-conscious stakeholders can get behind.
How to ...?
How to run a research session if you’re not a design researcher
How one UX writer took research into her own hands
How to Run an Empathy & User Journey Mapping Workshop
Introduction ¶ This article will teach you two popular design workshop techniques: empathy mapping and user journey mapping.
Trending
These links are currently making the rounds on user research on Refind.
A guide on conducting better market and user research with kids
From making it a game to letting kids be the experts, there’s a lot we can do to improve how we draw insights from children.
Short Articles
Short on time? Check out these useful short articles on user research—all under 10 minutes.
The art and science of great customer interviews
How to listen for what your customers are not telling you.
A Pragmatist’s Guide To Lean User Research — Smashing Magazine
Instead of telling you once again what the best practice is and adding to your imposter syndrome, let’s concentrate on some practical approaches to user research that we might be able to fit into our…
Five Ways to Recruit Participants for User Research (Video)
Getting representative members of the target audience as your test participants is essential for user research validity. You can outsource recruiting to an agency, or do it yourself. Each method has…
The Market for User Research Platforms
The market demands user research tools that are more real-time, contextual, collaborative, and easily digestible. We look at the current state of the user research market; the drivers pushing this…
User Research is Overrated
Design Sprints have revealed an expensive waste of time in the modern design process.
Long Articles
These are some of the most-read long-form articles on user research.
User Research: A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Customers and Making Better UX Decisions
User research is an integral part of the UX design process. It provides insight into your users’ needs and behaviors, so that you can…
Research Twice, Build Once: How to Know Your Users as You Grow
Sprig founder and CEO Ryan Glasgow explains why the key to building successful products is understanding your users and what they want.
UX Your Life: Applying The User-Centered Process To Your Life (And Stuff)
The defining characteristic of UX design is its focus on user research and on an iterative, user-centered, approach to creating solutions. But what if we applied the user-centered design process to ourselves, our lives, and our careers?
When to Use Which User-Experience Research Methods
20 user-research methods: where they fit in the design process, whether they are attitudinal or behavioral, qualitative or quantitative, and their context of use.
Essential Tools for User Research
User research is an integral part of design process. When a team conducts user research, it focuses on understanding user behaviors, needs…
Publications
We monitor hundreds of publications, blogs, newsletters, and news sources in User Research, including:
Nielsen Norman Group
User advocates offering evidence-based user experience (UX) research, training, consulting. Jakob Nielsen, Don Norman, Tog, and colleagues.
Smashing Magazine 🇺🇦 🏳️🌈
An online magazine for designers and web developers. Questions? We've got your back: @SmashingSupport, @SmashingConf. Curated by Iris, Vitaly and the team.
UX Collective
Curated stories on user experience, usability, and product design. By @fabriciot and @caioab.
a16z
we invest in software eating the world http://a16z.com/portfolio/ http://a16z.com/podcasts/ Check out our AI Canon: https://a16z.com/2023/05/25/ai-canon/
UX Planet
http://uxplanet.org official twitter account
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We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Which sources does Refind monitor on user research?
We monitor hundreds of sources on user research, including Nielsen Norman Group, Smashing Magazine 🇺🇦 🏳️🌈, UX Collective, a16z, UX Planet, and many more.
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