Research
Research is the systematic investigation of a subject through gathering and evaluating information or evidence to develop understanding or answer questions.
Design for Developers
User research is the systematic study of users, their needs, behaviors, and responses to inform product decisions.
- How it is used
- Grounds website and application decisions in target-user needs before and throughout design, development, and iteration.
- How deep it goes
- Defines research, compares qualitative, quantitative, attitude, and behavior approaches, and gives procedural card-sorting guidance; defers deeper methods and testing.
- Examples
- Uses Google Glass, a late-tested client web application, competitor review, interviews, surveys, and open or closed card sorting.
- What you can do after
- Apply it through interviews, surveys, competitor analysis, card sorting, metrics, and testing to guide iterative product decisions.
Effective Data Analysis
Research is the systematic investigation of a topic through study or experimentation to obtain new information.
- How it is used
- Uses research to inform hypotheses, choose investigations, and give stakeholders context for analytics decisions.
- How deep it goes
- Defines two meanings of research and outlines evidence gathering and method choice; defers detailed statistical testing.
- Examples
- Uses a shopping-cart A/B test and a wearable-device health study to frame evidence gathering and research risks.
- What you can do after
- Practice/perform research by synthesizing background evidence, forming a quantified hypothesis, choosing a method, and documenting decisions.
Architecture Modernization: Socio-technical alignment of software, strategy, and structure
User research is the systematic study of users' behaviors, needs, experiences, and feedback to inform product or service decisions.
- How it is used
- Informs product, service, policy, and domain decisions during modernization through user-centric discovery.
- How deep it goes
- Connects research to discovery and feedback-driven evolution, but does not specify individual research methods or procedures.
- Examples
- Uses government tax-service discovery and the Energy Performance of Buildings Register’s feedback-driven redevelopment.
- What you can do after
- Apply it through continuous discovery to find better requirements and improve services iteratively.
Effective Platform Engineering
User research is the systematic investigation of users’ needs, behaviors, experiences, and challenges to inform product decisions.
- How it is used
- Guides platform priorities by revealing developer workflows, pain points, requirements, and opportunities for improving user experience.
- How deep it goes
- Details interviews, surveys, observation, response analysis, and feedback, but stops short of prescribing a single research method.
- Examples
- Uses interviews, surveys, observational studies, survey-analysis scripts, personas, prototypes, and deployment-workflow investigations.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate platform priorities through user evidence, summarize findings, and translate validated pain points into roadmap features.
Everyday Data Visualization
The systematic study of users' needs, behaviors, expectations, and experiences to inform design decisions.
- How it is used
- Uses direct observation and questioning to inform visualization decisions that support independent data exploration.
- How deep it goes
- Explains mental models and outlines interviews, observation, comparison tasks, and recording, but defers fuller research treatment.
- Examples
- Uses an interactive dashboard with selectable indicators, generation filters, and familiar-versus-unfamiliar visualization sessions.
- What you can do after
- Practice user research by questioning, observing, and recording users as they explore visualizations.
Related concepts
- user testingincludes · User testing is an evaluation method that observes or measures representative users interacting with a product or system while performing relevant tasks.
- contextual inquiryincludes · Contextual inquiry is a qualitative research method that studies users' activities and interactions in their natural environment.
- interviewuses · An interview is a structured or semi-structured conversation in which questions elicit information about a participant’s experiences, views, needs, qualifications, or requirements.
- platform product managerused by · A platform product manager is a product-management role responsible for understanding platform consumers, prioritizing value, and guiding platform strategy and evolution.
- assumptioncontrasts with · An assumption is a proposition or condition provisionally accepted as true or applicable as a basis for reasoning, planning, modeling, or action.
- continuous discoveryused by · Continuous discovery is the ongoing practice of researching users, needs, and opportunities throughout a product's design and development cycle.
These guides are generated from the text of Manning books by Manning's knowledge graph and link to the sections they draw on. The full books are available on liveBook and at manning.com.