Using psychology to leverage user research
User research is based on a collection of methods and frameworks for collecting, presenting and gaining insights about new and existing online and offline services.
Innovation builds on our understanding of psychology to deepen our understanding and improve predictions from research with users…here are some examples
- Obtaining deeper insights about user thinking and emotions
- Linking user research outputs to team and organisation behaviour
- Developing psychological models of behaviour and choice
Unlocking thoughts and emotions from interviews with users
Empathy maps are widely used to categorise what user’s say, do, think and feel about an existing service or new product. Collecting and interpreting this information is challenging enough to ensure what is said and observed is accurately recorded. However, inferring what users think and feel can be difficult without the use of a domain-specific psychological framework and methodology.
Predicting impact on teams and organisations
Much user research rightly focuses on individual needs particularly where the individual is the customer for a service or product. However many online systems play a part in both team and organisational performance. We have worked within organisations where teams interact online and for businesses who need to consume external online services. Innovation has been applied both in scenario-building to elicit user research and modelling team and organisation-wide effects.
Psychological predictors of behaviour and choice
User research methods are often rooted in qualitative approaches for collecting evidence based on cognitive psychology. Where quantitative methods are used (A/B modelling or surveys) with larger numbers of users the focus often shifts to significant differences between effects or groups. Innovation here involves using an individual differences perspective alongside a focus on behaviour and making use of psychometric tools to provide a predictive framework.