The difference between User Research and Usability Testing?
User research studies and usability testing are two fundamental phases of an interaction design process. When I’m out at conferences or meetup groups talking about my process, I often hear people confusing the two terms. So, what are these phases?
Simply put, the biggest difference is when they are used in the process.
User Research
User research is done at the beginning of an iteration, before you design or build anything. The data you collect during this period is used to drive your design and development. We often interview key people, do card sorting exercises, develop personas, assemble mental models and create use cases.
In an ideal situation, the user research will help define the scope of the project you are building. It will confirm that the features you think are necessary actually are, or it will prove that they really aren’t necessary after all.
Usability Testing
Usability testing is conducted at the end of an iteration. The purpose of usability testing is to make sure that the work completed in the current iteration can be easily consumed by the user. You will be collecting feedback from users which will help you determine what you should accomplish during the next iteration.
The Iteration
Each iteration begins with user research and ends with usability testing. That is why we call it User-Centered Design.
About Josh Walsh
Josh Walsh is a Managing Partner at Designing Interactive. He's also an award winning designer, author and speaker on the topics of User Experience Design, User Interface Design and Usability Research. You can follow him on twitter at: @joshwalsh
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Bilcare Research
this post is great about difference between Usability Testing & User Research,
Thanks
September 11, 2009
Angela Colter
I disagree. The difference is the focus of the research (users vs. the interface); it isn’t solely when you do the testing.
You can certainly do usability testing at the beginning of an iteration to identify problems in the current design, test the current or competitor sites to establish a benchmark, etc.
Are you trying to figure out user needs, preferences, motivations or processes? That’s user research. And yes, it tends to happen at the beginning of an iteration cycle, but not always.
Are you trying to find out whether your interface is easy to use, and serves the needs of your audience? That’s usability testing. Again, it usually happens at the end of an iteration, when you have something to test. But as the examples mentioned above demonstrate, there are exceptions.
September 16, 2009
Harry
Sorry, I disagree. There are lots of different types of user research. Usability testing is one type.
September 29, 2009
Tony Tulathimutte
I’d generally agree with Harry—”usability research” is a type of user research, but it is still valuable to note that there is a distinction between usability research and user research. Lots of non-UX people still assume that all user research is about making things easier to use. “Formative research” or “design research” are the names that’s often given to the pre-iteration research methods you describe here.
October 21, 2009
Josh Walsh
Harry and Tony – Thanks for the comments, I appreciate the clarification. Some people I’ve spoken to here use these terms in different and looser ways.
Regardless, it’s the process that matters more than the names.
October 21, 2009