Research Guides

Building the right thing

Chandra and Webb composite of the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula.
Guide

Heuristic Evaluation

✓ a ranked list of problems in an afternoon

Webb · Pillars of Creation · 2024 · NASA
August 17, 202610 min

Heuristic evaluation: the complete guide

Heuristic evaluation is an expert review of an interface against usability principles. Learn the 10 heuristics, how to run a session, how to rate severity, and when to test with real people instead.

Webb image of celestial fireworks of gas and light around a forming star.
Guide

Product Discovery

✓ research that can still change the answer

Webb · Celestial Fireworks · 2024 · NASA
August 17, 202610 min

Product discovery: how to decide what's worth building

Product discovery is the work of figuring out what to build before you build it. Here's the loop, the methods that answer each question, and how much is enough.

Composite image of the Crab Nebula supernova remnant in X-ray and infrared light.
Guide

Qualitative Analysis

✓ automation for the repetition, judgment for the rest

Webb · Crab Nebula · 2024 · NASA
August 17, 202611 min

Qualitative data analysis with AI: a practical method

A six-step method for analyzing qualitative research data, with a clear call on which steps AI handles well and which ones it quietly gets wrong.

Webb field of candidate young brown dwarfs outside the Milky Way.
Guide

Synthetic Users

✓ no citation, no claim

Webb · NGC 602 · 2024 · NASA
August 17, 202622 min

Synthetic users: the complete guide

Synthetic users are AI-generated research participants built from your own data. What they are, how to build one, why accuracy cannot be measured, and where they fit.

Webb detail of an actively forming star system with bright outflows and dark dust lanes.
Guide

User Personas

✓ patterns you can trace, not characters you invented

Webb · Lynds 483 · 2025 · NASA
August 17, 202611 min

How to create user personas from research data

A method for building user personas from actual research evidence instead of workshop assumptions, plus how to keep them useful after launch week.

Delicate, wispy ribbons of red, blue, and gold filaments from the Veil Nebula supernova remnant stretching across a star-filled field.
Guide

UX Audit

✓ a prioritized list, not a 40-slide deck

Hubble · Veil Nebula · 2025 · NASA
August 17, 202611 min

How to run a UX audit

A practical UX audit process, from gathering evidence to rating severity, so the findings actually get fixed instead of sitting in a deck.

Webb COSMOS-Web deep field crowded with galaxies of every shape.
Guide

Voice of Customer

✓ a program, not a score in a deck

Webb · COSMOS-Web · 2025 · NASA
August 17, 202611 min

Voice of Customer: how to build a VoC program that changes decisions

Voice of customer analysis is more than NPS. How to choose your source mix, run VoC as a program, and close the loop so findings change decisions.

The bright young stellar object IRAS 05506+2414 cloaked in thick gas and dust, with a fan-shaped spray of glowing material streaming outward across the frame.
Guide

Contextual Inquiry

✓ the real workflow, not the described one

Hubble · IRAS 05506+2414 · 2022 · NASA
July 7, 20266 min read

Contextual inquiry: what it is and when to use it

Contextual inquiry is watching users do real work in their actual environment. Here's what it reveals that interviews can't, and when it's worth the extra effort.

The Cosmic Cliffs of NGC 3324, a ridge of gas and dust glowing against young stars.
Guide

Panel migration

✓ the panel moves, the participants stay

Webb · Cosmic Cliffs · 2024 · NASA
June 30, 20266 min

Research panel migration: a best practices guide

Best practices for migrating your research panel to a new tool without losing participants: planning, communication, a phased rollout, and a checklist.

The Egg Nebula, a pre-planetary nebula, with a central dust-shrouded dying star casting symmetric searchlight beams through concentric arcs of dust.
Guide

User Interviews

✓ Plan, run, and synthesize without a research team

Hubble · Egg Nebula · 2026 · NASA
June 8, 20267 min

The product builder's guide to running user interviews with AI

You don't need a UX researcher to run good user interviews. Here's how product builders use AI to plan, run, and synthesize interviews without a research background.

A powerful protostellar jet from the high-mass star-forming region G35.2-0.7N carving a glowing orange cavity through surrounding dark dust clouds.
Guide

Research Operations

✓ the systems that let research scale

Hubble · G35.2-0.7N · 2023 · NASA
June 8, 202615 min

UX research operations: Processes, strategies & tools for 2026

Research operations (ResearchOps) is the processes, tools, and strategies that support UX research in an organization. Read our updated guide for 2026.

Webb near-infrared view of the Flame Nebula, glowing dust columns against deep space.
Guide

Prototype Testing

✓ catch the flaws before you build them

Webb · Flame Nebula · 2025 · NASA
June 7, 202621 min

Prototype testing: The complete guide for 2026

Prototype testing is a key phase in product design and development that involves validating concepts, evaluating functionality, and refining user experience.

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