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Plan your user research approach

User research approach

There are many ways to do user research. Consider the approach that's right for your task, your users and what you want to learn. Make sure you've identified and tested with people who have diverse needs.

You may find that you will need to use different approaches or methods at stages in the design. For example, it may be more relevant to gather qualitative evidence from users at a certain point rather than quantitative evidence.

You may not have experience in user research or know which method to use. Talk to people in your agency (or the sector) who do user research. Otherwise, hire a researcher and a service designer. Sit down with them and outline what you want to learn.

Example methods and artifacts

Create a research plan

Create a plan with your team covering:

  • the methods you will use
  • how you will collect, store, manage and dispose of user data
  • the research ethics you need to follow
  • how you will analyse and share your findings with your team to inform design decisions
  • how you will communicate the results of the research back to your participants, if at all.

You will need to comply with:

  • NSW Government policies and standards about the safe handling of data
  • State Records Act 1998
  • Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998
  • Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002
  • Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.

Resources