How a research session no-show gave us some great insight into our project
How a team at NHS Digital turned a research session no-show into an opportunity to learn.
User research lab
It's vital to test on a wide range of devices - here's how we do it
Posted by:
Ned Thistlethwaite - Senior user researcher, GDS, Posted on:
-
Categories:
Research stories, Tips and techniques, User research lab
Carrying out user research on the devices people actually use in real life - such as mobile phones and tablets - will help make the interactions you see in user research as natural as possible. Here's how we approach this.
How do you build a great user research lab? Start with user needs
Posted by:
John Waterworth, Posted on:
-
Categories:
User research infrastructure, User research lab
When GDS moved to our new offices, we needed to rebuild our user research lab. We started with the needs of the people who use the lab.
Webchat role play
Posted by:
Emma Graham, Posted on:
-
Categories:
Case studies, Tips and techniques, User research lab
![A screenshot of a webchat process for advisers and potential adviser responses. The text reads: Adviser process: Greet user / ask what their problem is Ask for car reg Ask for date they want to pay for Ask for their credit card number Ask for their expiry date Ask for their security code Try to process the transaction Process this - it works! Give them a transaction reference Close the chat Wait 10-20 seconds before responding each time Make sure you close the chat at the end! Potential adviser responses: [Hi you’re chatting with xxxxx. What can I do for you today?] (prefilled) OK. I can help. What’s your car registration? What date do you want to pay for? That will cost £2.50. Can I take a credit card number? And the card’s expiry date? And the security code - the last 3 digits on the back of the card? Thanks. Let me process this now. The transaction has been processed. Your reference number is 8QU45337.](https://userresearch.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/102/2016/12/webchat-roleplay-photo--620x562.png)
In our recent webchat alpha we looked at whether there are common webchat needs across government. We also investigated what opportunities there might be to meet those needs in a more consistent way. This involved lots of user research including …
Research with visually impaired users
Posted by:
Ed Horsford, Posted on:
-
Categories:
Accessibility, Digital inclusion, Empathy, Ethos, Research stories, Tips and techniques, User research lab
Government services should be usable by as many people as possible, including those who are disabled. It’s our sixth design principle.
Don't jump: My tips for interpreting user research
To get my confession out of the way up front - I’m not a user researcher. I’m a content designer who’s had the benefit of working with world-class user researchers. I’ve learnt a lot from my time in user research …
Labs are about people, not technology
If you're thinking about building a user research lab, here are some important things you should think about and do. And it's not about tech.
Why white is not a lab's best friend
When we built our user research lab, we avoided putting white work surfaces in the research space as much as possible. This is because white surfaces glare.
How we improved the sound in our user research lab
Posted by:
Jonathan Rodriguez, Posted on:
-
Categories:
User research infrastructure, User research lab
We had a couple issues with the sound in our lab's research studio - the space in which we research with users - which we’ve dramatically improved. In this post, I’ll share what was causing those problems and how we fixed them.
Desk chair and eye tracker combinations: valid concern or wild goose chase?
We originally published this blog post about 4 months ago on a makeshift Tumblr, which we used to journal the building of our lab.