This past fall the IDSA Human Factors section conducted an online survey to gather data on technologies used to conduct user research. We had nearly eighty responses. The information was used in a recent Usability Professionals Association presentation in New York on Technologies for User Research (TURe). Edited presentation materials, that describe the survey results, may be downloaded from that site (the presentation breaks-down the results between product design and interaction design). The research will also be discussed in an upcoming IDSA podcast (TBA).
Thanks to everyone who responded. I have summarized some of the findings below, and attached two files with more detailed data.
Key Findings:
78 respondents (39 in product design, 47 in interaction design; small overlap between groups)
Overall technology utilization in user research:
- Video Cameras - 61%
- Surveys - 58%
- Software Analytics - 60%
- Computer-Based Video - 35%
- Journals/Diaries/Blogging - 30%
- Remote Testing Tools - 22%
- Physiological Data Tools - 15%
- Eye Tracking - 11%
General Feedback:
48% feel limited by current user research technology
53% believe user research lags behind technology that is subject of research
51% plan to upgrade user research technology within year
33% have created custom technology tools or solutions for user research
Data Files:
MIT's Technology Review (a HIGHLY recommend newsletter) has an interview with Rick Rashid, Director of Microsoft Research. Rashid gives some thoughtful answers to some rather confrontational questions regarding the state of innovation at Microsoft, and singles out interface adaptation as a key feature for improving usability. He also refers to Microsoft's SenseCam project, a wearable camera for capturing everyday life events, as a memory-aid or "black box". It has clear value to ethnographic research, although it's current design seems to be a bit too bulky and obtrusive.