Topic
Research methods
Most design disagreements stem from unverified facts. Research methods help you find them cheaply, before costly mistakes. The skill lies in asking questions that don’t quietly give you what you hoped for.
This cluster covers the ways of finding out: quick checks like the five-second and first-click tests, fuller usability sessions, expert heuristic passes, and the traps - like a leading question - that make research lie to you.
Each entry puts you in the chair, as the participant or the researcher, so you feel why a method reveals what it does - and why a sloppy version reveals nothing but your own assumptions.
The research methods entries 10
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research methods
Heuristic evaluation
A quick expert review that checks an interface against a short set of usability rules - you can see this in action right here.
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research methods
Five-second test
Show a design for five seconds, then ask what they remember. What sticks is what the layout really shouts - and what it quietly hides.
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research methods
First-click testing
First-click testing asks one simple question: where do users go first to complete a task? That first click matters more than any other - get it right and the task usually follows; get it wrong and it rarely recovers.
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research methods
Usability testing
Watching real people attempt real tasks with your design, to find where it trips them up. It is not asking whether they like it - it is handing them something to do and seeing what actually happens.
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research methods
Leading questions
A question worded so it nudges you toward a particular answer - through a loaded word, a built-in assumption, or a scale that only points one way. It measures the wording, not the truth.
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research methods
Card sorting
Card sorting is a research method where users group labelled cards into categories that feel natural to them. It shows how they mentally organise information - the raw material for an information architecture built on their logic, not yours.
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research methods
A/B testing
A/B testing shows two versions of something to two random groups and compares a metric - clicks, sign-ups, sales - to see which performs better. Done right it settles design arguments with evidence; done hastily it manufactures false winners from noise.
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research methods
Usability testing vs heuristic evaluation
Two ways to spot usability problems. Usability testing watches real people trying tasks to see what actually trips them up. Heuristic evaluation has experts review the interface against known principles. One shows what happens in reality; the other predicts it - and they uncover strikingly different issues.
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research methods
Five-second test vs first-click test
Two fast, low-cost tests that answer different questions. The five-second test flashes a screen briefly and asks what people remember - does it communicate? The first-click test asks where they’d click to complete a task and observes - can they find the way? Impression versus action.
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research methods
Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics
Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics are ten rules of thumb for spotting interface problems - keep users informed, speak their language, prevent errors, and so on. They are the checklist behind a heuristic evaluation, and the most widely used yardstick in usability.
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Know these already? Take the research methods quiz, or revise the terms with flashcards.