Understand your users

One of our goals at Peak Usability is to increase awareness and adoption of good usability and user centred design practices. The following is a list of sites and articles we hope you will find useful.

Title	Author/Company	Comment
User survey for design	Usability Net	Overview of the survey method
User Interviews	Usability Net	Overview of the interview method
Task Analysis	Usability Net	Overview of the task analysis
Focus Groups	Usability Net	Overview of the focus groups
Field Studies Done Right: Fast and Observational	Jakob Nielsen	Discusses how simple field studies are fast and easy to conduct
Crafting a User Research Plan	Mike Kuniavsky	Discusses three major parts of a user research plan: goals, budget and schedule
User-Centred Requirements Handbook (PDF 630K)	Maguire HUSAT Research Institute	This document describes the RESPECT framework for user requirements specification. Includes a process for identifying users and stakeholders and also includes data gathering methods for needs identification and requirements gathering.
5 Things to know about your users	Jared Spool	A good case study and overview.
Are your users S.T.U.P.I.D? How good design can make users effective	Stephen Turbek	A candid article that dissects the users mental condition and environment when approaching design and trying to use a website.
Personas and the five W's: Developing Content that Meets Reader Needs, Pt. 2	Geoff Hart	Demonstrates how personas are a tool you can use to provide insights into your audience.

Resources