Card sort studies help shape information architectures; tree-testing studies evaluate them.

Even though surveys may be faster and cheaper than other research methods, they are not suited to all research goals.

Clickable or static? Axure or paper? No matter which prototyping tools you use, the same tips apply to preparing a user interface prototype for the most effective user research.

Open-ended questions result in deeper insights. Closed questions provide clarification and detail, but no unexpected insights.

Modern day UX research methods answer a wide range of questions. To help you know when to use which user research method, each of 20 methods is mapped across 3 dimensions and over time within a typical product-development process.

The Wizard of Oz is a type of user-research method that involves interaction with a mock interface controlled by a human. It is used to test costly concepts inexpensively and to narrow down the problem space.

Watching users' actual behavior helps us gain insights to improve the user experience.

You don't have to do all UX research yourself. You should learn from existing published work, which will save you much time, especially when beginning a new project.