Reference
Last updated on 2025-08-08 | Edit this page
This page highlights linked resources and term definitions referenced in this lesson.
Resources
Throughout this lesson, we link to several external resources:
- Nielsen Norman Group’s introduction to usability
- Nielsen Norman Group’s guide to UX work during the discovery phase
- Nielsen Norman Group’s guide to affinity diagraming
- Nielsen Norman Group’s guide to writing usability task prompts
- Nielsen Norman Group’s guide to how many participants you need
- Nielsen Norman Group’s guide to obtaining informed consent
- Nielsen Norman Group’s guide to leveraging silence
- Archived copy of 18F’s guide to UX work across project phases
- A list of self-report usability test questions you might use
- Harvard Business School Online’s blog post about writing value propositions
- A template participant tracker you can make a copy of
- The Qualitative Data Repository’s advice on anonymizing qualitative data
- UK Data Service’s advice on anonymizing qualitative data
- UCSF’s guide to GDPR
- Braun and Clarke’s very abbreviated guide to thematic analysis and coding data
- Gitlab’s advice on crafting actionable insights
Glossary
Actionable insight: An outcome of UXR describing a fingind and and an achievable, concrete step you should take next
Affinity diagraming: A qualitative data analysis technique accomplished by clustering related data or ideas together
Clicks (metric): Number of clicks participants make when completing a task; a proxy for complexity or efficiency
Coding: An aspect of qualitative data analysis, also called labeling, that involves summarizing data in short phrases
Completion time (metric): Time taken to complete a task
Drop-off rate (metric): Percentage of participants who stop a task before completing it.
Efficiency: An aspect of usability referring to how quickly they can perform tasks once they’ve learned the design
Errors (metric): Number of mistakes made while attempting a task, possibly broken down by error type
Idle time (metric): Periods of inactivity during a task, indicating confusion or hesitation.
Informed consent: Permission granted by a study participant to include them in the research, requiring their complete understanding of the risks and expectations of participating
Labeling: An aspect of qualitative data analysis, also called coding, that involves summarizing data in short phrases
Learnability: An aspect of usability referring to how easy it is for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design
Memoing: A technique for capturing and organizing thoughts during qualitative data analysis involving writing short notes that highlight examples and summarize ideas
Memorability: An aspect of usability referring to how easily users can reestablish proficiency after a period of not using a tool
Metrics: The quantitative or qualitative evaluation criteria used to assess user experience and usability
Quantitative data: Numerical data
Qualitative data: Non-numerical data such as quotes
Rapid usability testing: A UXR method to inform development through observatoin of a small number participants carrying out well scoped tasks
Reverse scoring: A step in quantitative data analysis needed to invert responses to a negative statement so that a higher score represents a more positive response
Self-reported ease (metric): Participants’ rating of how easy or difficult a task was to complete (e.g., using a Likert scale).
Self-reported satisfaction (metric): Participants’ rating of how satisfied they are with the interface or experience.
Self-reported usefulness (metric): Participants’ rating of how useful the tool or service is.
Snowball sampling: A recruitment technique where a potential participant refers the researcher to additional participants
Successes (metric): Number of participants who successfully complete a task
Target population: The people you want to study
Task: The work you assign to a study participant so that you can investigate how usable a tool is
Think-aloud: A technique used during participant observation, encouraging them to narrate their thoughts outloud
Usability: A multi-faceted concept that generally refers to how easily a person can use a technology or service
User experience research (UXR): the investigation of how people interact with, make sense of, and respond to technology and services
User satisfaction: An aspect of usability referring to how pleasant it is to use the design and how positive or negative users’ feelings are about the tool
Utility: An aspect of usability referring to whether or not the tool enables users to accomplish their goals
Value proposition: A statement of benefits that your product offers, distinguishing it from the competition