Benefit Drawback

• Research Methods Benefits/Drawbacks

  • Secondary Research

    • Benefits
      • “Save team time and money”
      • Immediately accessible
      • Backs up primary research
      • Provides existing stats/facts
    • Drawbacks
      • No direct user observation
      • No product feedback

  • Interviews

    • Benefits
      • “Understand what users think and why”
      • Allow follow-up questions
      • Deep user experience understanding
    • Drawbacks
      • Time consuming
      • Expensive
      • Small sample size
      • “Risky for new products”

  • Surveys

    • Benefits
      • Large sample size
      • Fast and inexpensive
      • Quick user perspectives
    • Drawbacks
      • Limited feedback depth
      • No in-depth responses

  • Usability Studies

    • Benefits
      • “Observe first-hand user interaction”
      • Prevents assumption bias
      • In-depth feedback
    • Drawbacks
      • Only measures ease of use
      • Expensive (lab/user costs)
      • “Lab environment different than real life”

• Key Selection Principle

  • “Method chosen depends on question to answer”
  • Example: Budgeting app
    • Secondary research for spending trends
    • Primary research for app feedback