User Research

User research can produce mountains of findings, making it difficult to sift through the data. To meet current business and design needs, it’s no longer effective to produce a lengthy research report, throw it over the cubicle wall, and hope that the report’s findings make it into the product.

At Bigger Ideas, I balance both user research and design to help make research actionable. While producing both longer- and shorter-term user research, I’ve found it’s best to derive a list of design criteria and principles from each project to inform design. Bigger Ideas is a social process and, like any bigger idea, requires collaboration to
get results.

Work Examples

Client: World Vision

Project: User Experience Modeling, [Sample Report in progress...]
Research Methodology: Field Study, Modeling

Project: Card Sort, [Sample Report in progress...]
Research Methodology: Exploratory Summative Study in preparation for a
complete site redesign

Project: Heuristic Evaluation, [Sample Presentation in progress...]
Research Methodology: Evaluation in preparation for a
complete site redesign

Client: Washington Mutual Bank

Project: Metadata Tool, Sample Report
Research Methodology: Field Study

Project: Learning Central, (Executive Summary) Sample Report
Research Methodology: Heuristic Evaluation

Project: Web Application, Anti-Money Laundering Dashboard, Sample Report
Research Methodology: Best Practices
Purpose: To connect business goals to user behaviors

Building Use Cases from User Research

 

Client: Microsoft Security User Experience

Project: Zeno, Cloud Computing Model
Research Methodology: Conceptual Modeling derived from empirical research. (Thumbnail view only).

GlobalScholar Web Application