Reflections on User Research Smoke & Mirrors

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As elusive as the term “user experience” already is to me, I feel slightly relieved that the author sees that user experience research seems to be an “entirely subjective, qualitative matter”, because it feels like blind men touching an elephant, something that can never be wholly grasped.

So after reading Christopher Faley’s article, I am inclined to think that there really is no such thing as objective user research. As long as users are humans, we can never be “object”ive, since we are not objects.

And as long as researchers remain humans, how they interpret the results of their findings will also depend on their own experiences and the unique perceptions, the different “looking glasses” at which they perceive matters. All these will have a certain bearing on the outcome of the research results.

But as humans, I think we are rather inclined (or “suckers”) for numbers, statistics, and bombastic looking figures to make everything look scientifically aye okay. And as the author mentioned, this will also help to convince those without design background about good decisions about designs. Kind of like what was mentioned, “bulletproofing” opinions to convince those in the top ranks who are less design inclined and more figure-driven.

Then again, layman people like me trying to grasp an inkling of the whole user experience need to start somewhere. What is good common sense? What does it mean to have a good sense of users? So standing on the side of the author, these “less-rigorous” methods are definitely very useful. Even for the so-called sophisticated methods, I think they should not be taken so seriously just because they have a bigger budget, but on the types of results that are produced.

I thought that the author was abit too harsh on the Persona room, which I think is actually a pretty cool way of bringing personas as close to reality as possible. But then again, it does seem like just an expensive extension of this low-cost methodology of persona building.

I liked how the author actually compared the impact and value of this kind of research to how a novelist researches to help create a more realistic world. However in the end, her real work is to create works of fiction based on her imaginatio, much like the designer who creates a work based on what she perceives is best from the research that she had collated.

According to Norman, design is a form of communication. And I think that this communication is often located within a bigger network of nodes, for eg. the paying client (often a HUGE node). So I guess it really depends on the goals and politics of the particular company who employs the designers, how they would want to serve their users – who are ultimately their kings.

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