This article originally appeared on my website.

I'm a fan of writing notes while reading design books. The book belongs to the author(s). The notes are a quick reference for myself and others if they need it.

UX Research: Practical Techniques for Designing Better Products

Brad Nunnally & David Farkas

Good Research Starts with Good Questions

How Good Questions Go Wrong

• Leading Questions > "How do you use Outlook to communicate your work status?"
• Shallow Questions > "Do you use Yammer for team discussions?"
• Personal Bias > "I know I always struggle with invoices; what challenges do you have with your software?"
• Unconscious Bias > "Where do you guys go to unwind after work?"

Knowing When to Break the Rules

• Leading > "How much do your friends and family appreciate photo albums when you make one for them?
• Shallow > "How many times do you log in to Facebook in a day?"
• Personal Bias > "Do you think the Cubs actually have a chance at the World Series this year?"

Quantitative Research Methods

Qualitative Research Methods

Heuristic Evaluation

1. Summary > Provide a quick summary (1 sentence) of the tasks that is performed for this heuristic violation
2. Page Identified > Provide the URL/page title that the violation is found
3. Strengths > Provide any positive factors about the task performed for the violation
4. Heuristics Violated > Provide the code of the heuristic it violates
5. Details > Provide any other detail that hasn't been captured above or short recommendation on how to resolve violation
6. Screen shot of violation

Faciliating Research

Key Body Signals

• Open arms and legs > More approachable and agreeable overall
• Closed arms and legs > Mindset is defensive and potentially closed off
• Spread-out arms and legs > Attempt to expand your personal space/assert your overall presence
• Leg positioning > Legs like to point in direction you want to move
• Head movements > Look up: accessing imagination and potentially being deceitful > Look down: accessing memory and potentially being more truthful

Key Expressions

• Surprise > Eyes wide open and jaw dropped
• Fear > Eyes wide, mouth barely open, and forehead wrinkled
• Disgust > Teeth barred, nose wrinkled, and eyes slightly closed
• Anger > Hard stare, closed and tense lips, and nostrils possibly open wide
• Happiness > Broad smile, crow's feet around eyes, and raised cheeks
• Sadness > Pouting lips and drawn-in eyes
• Contempt > Partial fake smile and squinting eyes

Communicating Insights

Research Artifacts & Diagrams

• Experience maps
• Personas
• Mind maps
• User flows
• Swim lanes
• Mental models
• Severity scales
• Click maps
• Actionable recommendations
• Change logs
• Design specifications

As written above, these are just my notes for this title. I encourage you to read a copy of your own for further insight into the text.