Resources
As we discussed in the Introduction, this book deliberately avoids getting into the fundamentals of individual user research methods. This appendix compiles some of the best resources that you can use to learn more about these methods, as well as professional organizations that you may find helpful in your role as a user researcher.
Please check our website (http://www.modsurvivalguide.org/resources) for additional and updated resources.
Usability study | Dumas, J. S., and Loring, B. A. (2008). Moderating Usability Tests: Principles and Practices for Interacting. Boston: Morgan Kaufmann. Krug, S. (2010). Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems. Berkeley, CA: New Riders. Rubin, J., and Chisnell, D. (2008). Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests, 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishers. |
Interview | Portigal, S. (2013). Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights. Brooklyn: Rosenfeld Media. |
Contextual inquiry | Beyer, H., and Holzblatt, K. (1998). Contextual Design. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann. Hackos, J., and Redish, J. (1998). User and Task Analysis for Interface Design. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Holtzblatt, K., Burns Wendell, J., and Wood, S. (2004). Rapid Contextual Design: A How-to Guide to Key Techniques for User-Centered Design. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann. |
Multiple methods | Bolt, N., and Tulathimutte, T. (2010). Remote Research: Real Users, Real Research. Brooklyn: Rosenfeld Media. Courage, C., and Baxter, K. (2005). Understanding Your Users: A Practical Guide to User Requirements. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann. Hanington, B., and Martin, B. (2012). Universal Methods of Design: 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions. Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers. Kuniavsky, M. (2012). Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's Guide to User Research, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann. Patton, M. (2002). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Schumacher, R. M. (2010). The Handbook of Global User Research. Boston: Elsevier. Sharon, T. (2012). It's Our Research: Getting Stakeholder Buy-In for User Experience Research Projects. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann. Tullis, T., and Albert, B. (2008). Measuring the User Experience: Collecting, Analyzing, and Presenting Usability Metrics. Boston: Morgan Kaufmann. |
Prototypes for user research | Snyder, C. (2003). Paper Prototyping: The Fast and Easy Way to Design and Refine User Interfaces. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann. Warfel, T. (2009). Prototyping: A Practitioner’s Guide. Brooklyn: Rosenfeld Media. |
Professional organizations | These organizations have annual conferences as well as a number of online resources. They also have local chapters so you may be able to find a group somewhere nearby. User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA): http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/uxpa/ ACM’s Special Interest Group on Computer–Human Interaction (SIGCHI): http://www.sigchi.org/ Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES): http://www.hfes.org Interaction Design Association (ixDA): http://ixda.org/ |
Conferences | In addition to the conferences provided by the organizations above, the following sites can help you find other events that focus on improving the user experience. Interaction Design Foundation’s list of conferences and events: http://www.interaction-design.org/calendar/ Lanyrd’s list of user experience conferences and events: http://lanyrd.com/topics/user-experience/ |
At the time this book was written, these web resources were available.
Online magazines | Johnny Holland: http://johnnyholland.org/ The UX Booth: http://www.uxbooth.com/ UX Magazine: http://uxmag.com/ UX Matters: http://www.uxmatters.com/ |
Usability measurement | Jeff Sauro’s Measuring Usability blog and articles: http://www.measuringusability.com/blog.php Tom Tullis and Bill Albert’s Measuring User Experience website: http://www.measuringuserexperience.com/ |
Interesting anecdotes | Steve Portigal’s “War Stories” from the field: http://www.portigal.com/series/warstories/ |
Emergency preparedness | FEMA’s guidelines on what to do in case of emergencies: www.ready.gov |