Search for Rigor in User Research - An Analysis of User Research Literature in Design

Designing pleasant user experiences requires a wide spectrum of knowledge and input from a broad range of theories and research methods from various disciplines. In the field of user research, social sciences have informed and reshaped the once intuitive design process into a systematic activity by bringing more rigor into design research. In this process, various new methods have entered into design territory. These methods sometimes lose their connection to their origins; at other times, they gain additional meaning in their new context. In order to better frame user research in design, this paper provides an analysis of research methods from the perspective of the systematic conduct of research. A new classification scheme is introduced as a first step for the refinement of methods and concepts in user research. The proposed scheme extends from intuitive research to systematic research. The mapping on this scheme is project specific. While this approach to analyzing user research landscape provides an alternative taxonomy, this taxonomy is not exhaustive. Nonetheless, it aims to develop an overarching framework for design disciplines to better focus user studies