Evaluative Research Methods

Evaluative research is all about validating your concepts, testing your prototypes, and knowing whether or not your project is on the right track. 

UX researchers use evaluative methods—which include both qualitative and quantitative methods—to answer questions about conceptual fit and the usability of a product.

The data collected through this type of research helps validate design direction, informs changes, and enables product teams to execute on user feedback.

In this module, you’ll learn all about conducting:

• Qualitative usability testing, a popular UXR method in which participants think aloud as they interact with a prototype or product.
• Preference testing. This method is used to find out which version of a design people like better.
• Surveys, a deceptively simple process for collecting data from respondents through a questionnaire.
• Tree testing, a technique for testing your information architecture (IA). Tree testing often follows card sorting.
• First click testing, which is just what it sounds like. First click studies help assess the usability of a product by whether users are able to efficiently complete a task.
• Task analysis. This method, which is often paired with other methods, helps you understand user goals and the steps they take to achieve them.
• A/B testing, for when you need to know which version of your product performs better in a test.