UI/UX Atlas

UX Research

Methods for understanding users — choosing the right one, running it rigorously, and turning evidence into decisions.

  1. Research Foundations: Qualitative vs. Quantitative vs. Mixed Methods

    Choosing the wrong research method is the fastest way to answer a question nobody asked — learn how to match method to question, and when to combine both.

  2. Generative vs. Evaluative Research

    Knowing which research mode to use — and when — is what separates teams that discover real problems from those that polish the wrong solution.

  3. User Interviews

    Conducted well, a one-hour conversation can overturn months of assumption — learn how to plan, run, and analyze user interviews that generate real insight.

  4. Contextual Inquiry & Field Studies

    Studying users where work actually happens reveals the invisible workarounds, interruptions, and environmental pressures that lab sessions and surveys will never surface.

  5. Diary Studies

    Longitudinal self-reporting that captures behavior, context, and emotion as they unfold in real life — where no lab study can follow.

  6. Usability Testing (Moderated & Unmoderated)

    Choose the right usability testing format, run sessions that surface real behavior, and translate evidence into design decisions that stick.

  7. Surveys & Standardized Questionnaires (SUS, SUPR-Q, UEQ)

    Master validated scales like SUS, SUPR-Q, and UEQ to measure usability and experience with statistical confidence — and know exactly when to use each one.

  8. A/B Testing & Experimentation

    Run controlled experiments that turn interface decisions into evidence — from hypothesis design through statistical validity to ethical guardrails.

  9. Analytics & Behavioral Data Analysis

    Turn raw product telemetry into design evidence by understanding what behavioral data can and cannot tell you — and how to combine it with qualitative insight.

  10. Focus Groups: When and Why Not to Use Them

    Widely used but routinely misapplied, focus groups are a powerful generative tool in a narrow set of circumstances — and a source of dangerously misleading data in most others.

  11. Sample Sizing & Statistical Foundations

    Knowing how many participants you actually need — and why — is the difference between research that drives decisions and research that merely fills a slide deck.

  12. Continuous Discovery (Opportunity Solution Trees)

    Running weekly touchpoints with users and mapping the problem space as an Opportunity Solution Tree turns discovery from a periodic project into a product team habit.

  13. Research Operations (ResearchOps)

    Scaling UX research from ad-hoc effort to a reliable organizational capability — infrastructure, workflows, and governance that let insights reach decisions faster.

  14. Research Governance, Ethics & Consent (GDPR/CCPA)

    Conducting ethical UX research means navigating legal frameworks, informed consent, data minimization, and the growing threat of deceptive research practices.

  15. Participant Recruitment & Research Repositories

    Recruiting the wrong participants wastes every hour that follows — learn how to source, screen, and retain the right people, then make that work compound inside a research repository.

  16. AI in UX Research: Limitations & Responsible Use

    AI tools are reshaping how researchers synthesize data and spot patterns — but understanding where they fail is what separates signal from noise.

  17. Accessibility & Inclusive Research

    Designing for everyone starts with researching with everyone — learn how to recruit disabled participants, run accessible sessions, and embed inclusion into every phase of the research cycle.