User Research – Methods and Best Practices

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100 % booked
Intermediate
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5 Stars

In This Course, You'll

  • Get excited as you learn the business superpower: user research! Master it, and you'll solve meaningful problems, create better experiences, and drive success in any field. Why? User research empowers you to become a detective of human behavior. You'll discover what people truly need so that you can create products and services they love. You can use user research to reduce abandoned carts in online shopping, improve patient outcomes in healthcare, and solve challenges in any industry. It's easier than you think! With step-by-step guidance, you'll master User Research quickly—no matter your background. Studies show that user research can improve time to market by up to 330% and increase revenue by up to 320%. So get on board, do work you're proud of, and get paid what you're worth.

  • Make yourself invaluable with timeless human-centered skills. At the heart of great design is understanding people: What they need, what holds them back, and what keeps them coming back. As AI becomes part of how teams build and iterate, this deep understanding of people turns AI from a tool into your superpower. Effortlessly transform insights into Return on Investment (ROI) as you design solutions people love. You'll learn to make data-driven decisions that eliminate guesswork as you design products and services based on real user needs. That drives loyalty and outperforms competitors. You'll easily translate research into visuals that win over stakeholders, managers, and clients. Discover exactly what motivates people and build solutions that consistently deliver results.

  • Gain confidence and credibility with hands-on experience in usability testing, contextual inquiries, semi-structured qualitative interviews, and observational methods. Master how to ask the right questions and create actionable personas from your research. You'll plan, conduct, and analyze research in real-world scenarios, fast-tracking your success with 40+ ready-to-use templates like interview guides, affinity diagrams, and customer journey maps. If you want to leave assumptions behind and create with precision, purpose, and impact, this course is perfect for you. If you're interested, we'll even help you build your portfolio around an app, so your new superpowers shine clearly.

It's Easy to Fast-Track Your Career with the World's Best Experts

Master complex skills effortlessly with proven best practices and toolkits directly from the world's top design experts. Meet your experts for this course:

  • Frank Spillers: Service Designer and Founder and CEO of Experience Dynamics.

  • Ann Blandford: Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at University College London.

  • Alan Dix: Author of the bestselling book “Human-Computer Interaction” and Director of the Computational Foundry at Swansea University.

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Is This Course Right for You?

  • You want to land a job in design – or get a promotion.
  • You want to learn real-world design skills that are valuable in any job and any industry.
  • You want timeless human-centered skills AI cannot replace and turn AI into your superpower.
  • You're tired of wasting time on influencers and want to learn from real experts.
  • You want actual career outcomes, like increasing your salary potential and job opportunities.
Explore Course Content

Loved by People Around the World

View full testimonial from Ramiro Cotarelo
Ramiro Cotarelo
Ramiro Cotarelo
Senior UX Researcher | Concept developer

They have industry experience and they share it during the videos. Most of those "stories" resonate with my own work and corporate environme...

IxDF Course Certificate awarded to Ramiro Cotarelo for completing the "User Research – Methods and Best Practices" course
View full testimonial from Khari Golson
Khari Golson
Khari Golson
UX Designer

The course broke down complex UX research topics into digestible, well-paced modules, making it easier to absorb concepts like task modeling...

Certificate
View full testimonial from Anika Schmidt
Anika Schmidt
Anika Schmidt
IT Project Coordinator

Overall, the course strikes a well-balanced mix of knowledge, practical application, and reflection – and encourages learners to actively ap...

IxDF Course Certificate awarded to Anika Schmidt for completing the "User Research – Methods and Best Practices" course
View full testimonial from Alecia Mitchell
Alecia Mitchell
Alecia Mitchell
Product Designer

All of the instructors are very knowledgeable about their fields, and I learned a great deal from each of them. I’ve been a huge fan of Alan...

IxDF Course Certificate awarded to Alecia Mitchell for completing the "User Research – Methods and Best Practices" course
View full testimonial from Eugenia Bakchinow
Eugenia Bakchinow
Eugenia Bakchinow
Senior Consultant - Service Design and Digital strategy

They have in-depth academic knowledge combined with a great deal of practical experience. All instructors are amazing speakers - interesting...

IxDF Course Certificate awarded to Eugenia Bakchinow for completing the "User Research – Methods and Best Practices" course

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Course Overview:

  • Each week, one lesson becomes available.
  • Study flexibly. Take as much time as you want.
  • 30h, 15m over 6 weeks (est.).

Lesson 0: Welcome and Introduction

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour, 43 mins.

  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 0.1 An Introduction to Courses from IxDF (33 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 0.2 Get Help, Career Advice, and Job Opportunities (6 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 0.3 How to Get Your Course Certificate (19 mins)
  • Community-based learning and networking. 0.4 Grow Your Global Network and Build Your Brand (12 mins)

Lesson 1: Why do User Research and How to Fit User Research into Your Everyday Work

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 3 hours, 51 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 1.1 Welcome to User Research – Methods and Best Practices (16 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 1.2 User Research: What It Is and Why You Should Do It (23 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 1.3 When to do User Research (21 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 1.4 How to Involve Stakeholders in Your User Research (21 mins)

Lesson 2: The Basics of Qualitative User Research

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 2 hours, 28 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 2.1 Welcome and Introduction (6 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 2.2 The Basics of Recruiting Users for Usability Testing (19 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 2.3 Planning a User Research Project (1 hour, 7 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 2.4 Best Practices for Qualitative User Research (27 mins)

Lesson 3: Usability Testing

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 4 hours, 32 mins.

  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 3.1 Welcome and Introduction (11 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 3.2 Introduction to Usability Testing Methods and Metrics (1 hour, 3 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 3.3 Planning a Usability Test (1 hour, 20 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 3.4 Running a Usability Test (1 hour, 2 mins)

Lesson 4: Semi-Structured Qualitative Interviews

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 4 hours, 50 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 4.1 Welcome and Introduction (8 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 4.2 Pros and Cons of Conducting User Interviews (33 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 4.3 How to Prepare for a User Interview and Ask the Right Questions (52 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 4.4 How to Moderate User Interviews (1 hour, 55 mins)

Lesson 5: Contextual Inquiry

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 6 hours, 45 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 5.1 Welcome and Introduction (7 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 5.2 Introduction to Contextual Inquiry (1 hour, 50 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 5.3 Planning a Contextual Inquiry (1 hour, 0 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 5.4 Running a Contextual Inquiry (1 hour, 55 mins)

Lesson 6: User Observations

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 5 hours, 52 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 6.1 Welcome and Introduction (8 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 6.2 Introduction to Observational Methods (1 hour, 39 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 6.3 Planning an Observational Study (34 mins)
  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 6.4 Running an Observational Study (1 hour, 22 mins)

Lesson 7: How to Make Your Research Matter

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 1 hour, 57 mins.

  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 7.1 Welcome and Introduction (8 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 7.2 How to Visualize Your Qualitative User Research Results for Maximum Impact (20 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 7.3 Creating Personas from User Research Results (44 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 7.4 Workshops to Establish Empathy and Understanding from User Research Results (17 mins)

Lesson 8: IxDF Course Certificate and Course Wrap-up

To be scheduled. Estimated time to complete: 12 mins.

  • In-depth video lesson with experts, animations and templates. 8.1 How to Add Your IxDF Certificate to LinkedIn (6 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 8.2 Help Us Help You: Course Evaluation (4 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 8.3 Six Steps to Your Career Success (3 mins)
  • Multimedia lesson: E.g. templates, animations, illustrations, graphs, and text. 8.4 Get Your IxDF Course Certificate (2 mins)

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  • Learn human-centric skills AI cannot replace and how to turn AI into your superpower.
  • Build your salary potential with industry-recognized certificates.
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Ulrike Bruckenberger
Ulrike Bruckenberger

I enjoyed the mix between video and text very much and I am sure that it improved my learning experience. In general the content of the course was very interesting to me and I consider it very useful for improving in doing user research. I really like the possibility to download templates about different methods because they enable me to easily look up the most important information.

Ramiro Cotarelo
Ramiro Cotarelo
Senior UX Researcher | Concept developer

They have industry experience and they share it during the videos. Most of those "stories" resonate with my own work and corporate environment.

Sankar Pitchumani
Sankar Pitchumani
Lead UX Designer

The course's greatest strengths were its structured learning path, real-life UX scenarios, and the instructor's ability to connect theory with hands-on practice.

Daniele Cossalter
Daniele Cossalter
Product manager

There is great expertise, experience and passion on the subject afforded.

Khari Golson
Khari Golson
UX Designer

The course broke down complex UX research topics into digestible, well-paced modules, making it easier to absorb concepts like task modeling, cross-cultural research, and qualitative coding.

Anika Schmidt
Anika Schmidt
IT Project Coordinator

Overall, the course strikes a well-balanced mix of knowledge, practical application, and reflection – and encourages learners to actively apply what they’ve learned, rather than just consume it.

Alecia Mitchell
Alecia Mitchell
Product Designer

All of the instructors are very knowledgeable about their fields, and I learned a great deal from each of them. I’ve been a huge fan of Alan Dix since I took his HCI course. He is great!!

Eugenia Bakchinow
Eugenia Bakchinow
Senior Consultant - Service Design and Digital strategy

They have in-depth academic knowledge combined with a great deal of practical experience. All instructors are amazing speakers - interesting, engaging, funny and yet highly informative and educative.