This is a lookup handbook — when you encounter a UX research method term, come here to find out in one sentence "what it is and what questions it answers". To learn the method itself in depth (how to run it, sample size, common pitfalls), go to the corresponding topic wiki:NNGroup UX Research Method Selection (Quick Reference for 23 Methods / Four-Quadrant Positioning / Selection by Question-Stage-Budget / Five Families: Qualitative Exploration, Quantitative Validation, Expert Evaluation, IA, Behavioral Analytics)(Method Selection) / NNGroup Qualitative Research and Research Methods Toolkit (Full Method Landscape / Interviews / Empathy Maps / Sample Size / Task Design / Moderation / Expert Evaluation / Workshops / Ethics)(Qualitative Toolkit) / NNGroup Quantitative Research (A/B Testing · Sample Size · Confidence Intervals · UX Metrics · Conversion Analysis · Benchmarking · Learning Curves)(Quantitative and Statistics).
Two axes for positioning any method:Attitudinal(what users say) vs Behavioral(what users do);Qualitative(discover problems, answer "why") vs Quantitative(measure metrics, answer "how severe").
Quick Reference: Method Classification
| Category | Meaning | Methods in this category |
|---|---|---|
| Attitudinal | Collect "users' stated opinions/feelings" | Survey · User Interview · Focus Group · Concept Testing · Desirability Study |
| Behavioral | Record "what users actually do" | Usability Testing · Analytics · Clickstream · Eyetracking · First-Click · Five-Second Test |
| Information Architecture (IA) | Test content grouping / findability structure | Card Sorting · Tree Testing |
| Controlled Experiments | Compare versions to evaluate metrics | A/B Test · Multivariate Test |
| Context | Study behavior in real environments | Field Study · Contextual Inquiry · Diary Study · Ethnographic Study |
| Prototyping and Early Validation | Low-cost workflow testing before development | Paper Prototyping · Prototype Testing · Wizard of Oz · Participatory Design |
| Moderation / Verbalization Formats | How tests are organized | Moderated / Unmoderated · Remote · Think-Aloud · Retrospective Think-Aloud |
| Cross-cutting labels | Modifiers applicable to any method | Formative (improve during the process) vs Summative (overall evaluation after finalization) · Remote (geographically distributed) |
| Comprehensive | Structured across tasks | Task Analysis · Usability Benchmarking |
A–Z Entries (Bilingual Chinese-English)
| Term EN / CN | One-sentence explanation |
|---|---|
| Attitudinal Methods | Use surveys/interviews/focus groups to collect "opinions and feelings users state out loud" (how they think/how they express themselves), to understand attitudes rather than actual behavior |
| A/B Test | Randomly show two versions to different user groups, compare conversion rate/click-through rate to judge which performs better; data-driven decision making |
| Analytics (Data Analytics) | Continuously collect real usage behavior (visits, clicks, completion rates) based on tracking events/logs, observe trends and issues in natural settings |
| Behavioral Methods | Use usability testing/analytics to record "what users actually do" (steps, paths, failure points), objective behavioral data |
| Card Sorting | Have participants group labels according to their own understanding (open = name groups themselves / closed = place into predefined groups), used for information architecture and navigation grouping |
| Clickstream Analytics | Analyze page visit sequences and paths to identify typical routes, drop-off points, and content commonly viewed before and after key tasks |
| Concept Testing | Show concepts (descriptions/sketches) to users at the idea stage, collect attitudes and expectations to judge whether the direction is worth further investment |
| Context Methods | Focus on "in what scenario/environment the user does this thing"; can involve on-site observation or having users keep diaries |
| Contextual Inquiry | Observe and ask questions alongside users in their real environment, watch them complete tasks while probing "why did you do it that way", to deeply understand workflows |
| Desirability Testing (Word Choice Method) | After use, have users pick words from a set of adjectives that best represent their feelings, to evaluate emotional atmosphere/aesthetics/brand fit; can be qualitative or quantitative |
| Diary Study | Over days to months, have participants record relevant activities/feelings/issues in diaries; suitable for long-term behavior, habits, cross-scenario experiences |
| Ethnographic Study | In social science, refers to long-term deep observation of a group; in UX, generally refers broadly to "long-term observation and recording in real environments", approximately equivalent to field research |
| Eyetracking | Use an eye tracker to record fixation points/sequence/dwell time, to judge which elements attract attention and which are ignored; commonly used for layout and visual hierarchy |
| Field Study | Observe users completing tasks in their real environment (pure observation or with added interviews), to understand real workflows, environmental constraints, and collaboration |
| First-Click Test | Give a clear task, stop the user immediately after they make their choice of "where to click first", to evaluate whether information architecture and entry points match intuition |
| Five-Second Test | Show an interface for about 5 seconds then remove it, ask users what they saw/what they think it is for, to test first impressions and key information communication |
| Focus Group | 6–9 people guided by a moderator to discuss a product/topic, to understand experiences, attitudes, expectations; commonly used for early exploration |
| Formative Method | Evaluate multiple times during design/iteration to identify "what works, what doesn't, and why", for continuous optimization; opposite of summative (final overall evaluation) |
| Moderated (Synchronous) Usability Testing | A moderator interacts in real time, assigns tasks, observes, and asks follow-up questions; suitable for digging into reasons, adjusting questions, and handling complex tasks |
| Multivariate Test | Set multiple versions for multiple interface elements (copy/color/layout) at the same time, automatically combine and compare which combination yields the best key metrics |
| Participatory Design | Give users "design building blocks" (components/cards/Lego bricks) and have them participate in creating solutions; the solutions may not launch, but they provide insight into needs and mental models |
| Paper Prototyping | Use hand-drawn/printed paper to represent the product; users point where they want to click, and the moderator acts as the "computer" to switch pages; ultra-low-cost testing of structure and workflow |
| Prototype Testing | Use interactive prototypes (paper or clickable) instead of the real product for testing, to identify workflow and interaction issues before development and compare solutions |
| Qualitative Method | Collect "descriptive" non-numeric information (behavior patterns, pain points, mental models) through observation/open discussion, to discover problems and answer "why" |
| Qualitative Usability Testing | During testing, emphasize observation and interviews rather than pursuing large-sample statistics, to identify key problems and their causes; suitable for rapid correction during iteration stages |
| Quantitative Method | Collect numeric metrics such as task success rate/satisfaction/time/visits, perform statistical analysis for comparison, answer "how severe is the problem/how large is the change" |
| Quantitative Usability Testing | Use standardized tasks + large samples to collect success rate/time/error rate/satisfaction, to evaluate overall performance and version differences |
| Remote Research Method | Researcher and participant are not in the same location; complete interviews, tests, focus groups, etc. via video conferencing/remote desktop/online tools |
| Remote Moderated Usability Testing | Moderator and participant connect synchronously online, assign tasks in real time, observe the screen, and ask questions; retains guidance while saving on-site costs |
| Retrospective Think-Aloud | After completing tasks, replay/recall operations and narrate what was being thought at the time; suitable for scenarios where concurrent think-aloud would interfere with the task |
| Summative Method | After finalization/launch, conduct a "summary evaluation" of the overall experience; commonly used to compare against competitors or the previous version to measure improvement magnitude |
| Survey | Distribute multiple-choice + open-ended questions to a large number of users online/on paper/by phone, collect self-reported attitudes/preferences/experiences; can be used for qualitative exploration or quantification |
| Task Analysis | Break down a task's goals, step sequence, required information, time, and environment; often combined with interviews/context/diary studies to provide a structural basis for complex workflows |
| Think-Aloud Protocol | During testing, require users to verbalize their thoughts while operating (why they clicked here, what they are looking for), to fill in "the thinking behind actions"; commonly used in qualitative research |
| Tree Testing | Abstract the navigation structure into a plain-text tree, have users find specified information in the tree, see if they can find it smoothly, to evaluate whether IA matches expectations |
| Unmoderated Usability Testing | Online tools automatically present tasks and interfaces, the researcher is not present, and users complete tasks independently; suitable for quickly collecting larger samples |
| Usability (UX) Benchmarking | Use fixed tasks + quantitative metrics to compare product performance periodically/between versions, and can also compare against competitors, to establish a "UX KPI baseline" |
| User Interview | One-on-one questioning and follow-up to understand experiences, motivations, needs, pain points; commonly used for early exploration or combined with other methods |
| Usability Testing | Have users complete real tasks on an interface, observe behavior and collect feedback, discover usage difficulties, and can also quantitatively evaluate experience quality |
| Wizard of Oz Testing (Human Simulating the System) | Users think they are using a real system, but in reality a person manually controls responses behind the scenes; validates interaction flows, conversational experience, and expectations when functionality has not been developed |
Sourced from NNGroup Topics / UX Templates and Guides - UX Models (1 glossary article, 39 entries). This is a lookup entry point; for expanded method details see NNGroup UX Research Method Selection (Quick Reference for 23 Methods / Four-Quadrant Positioning / Selection by Question-Stage-Budget / Five Families: Qualitative Exploration, Quantitative Validation, Expert Evaluation, IA, Behavioral Analytics) / NNGroup Qualitative Research and Research Methods Toolkit (Full Method Landscape / Interviews / Empathy Maps / Sample Size / Task Design / Moderation / Expert Evaluation / Workshops / Ethics) / NNGroup Quantitative Research (A/B Testing · Sample Size · Confidence Intervals · UX Metrics · Conversion Analysis · Benchmarking · Learning Curves) / NNGroup Usability Testing and the Ten Usability Heuristics (Complete Table of 10 Heuristics · Complex Application Use · User Pleasure Hierarchy · Testing Methods: 5-User Rule/Recruitment/Remote/Task Scenarios/Step-by-Step Tasks/Attitudinal vs Behavioral/4-Step Analysis/Small-Sample Error/Competitive Evaluation).
Sources and Related Materials
- NNGroup UX Research Method Selection (Quick Reference for 23 Methods / Four-Quadrant Positioning / Selection by Question, Stage and Budget / Five Major Categories: Qualitative Exploration, Quantitative Validation, Expert Evaluation, IA, and Behavioral Analysis)
- NNGroup Qualitative Research and Research Method Toolkit (Full Landscape of Methods / Interviews / Empathy Maps / Sample Size / Task Design / Moderation / Expert Evaluation / Workshops / Ethics)
- NNGroup Quantitative Research (A/B Testing · Sample Size · Confidence Intervals · UX Metrics · Conversion Analysis · Benchmarking · Learning Curves)