About User Research
Author: Matt Carrano | Last edit: August 22, 2024
About the team
Our researchers use a variety of methods to create products by and for our users. They get to know our users as people and use data to inform the product design and direction.
When do you need us? We can help answer questions at every stage of the design and product development cycle.
Questions that define the problem (generative)
- Who are the users?
- What do they need, want?
- What are their most important goals?
- How do users’ goals align with business and product outcomes?
- What environment do they work in?
Questions that test the solution (evaluative)
- Does it meet users’ needs and expectations?
- Is it usable?
- Is it efficient?
- Is it effective?
- Does it fit within users’ work processes?
A sample menu of our research services
| Phase: | Discovery | Exploratory | Testing | Listening and measuring |
| When you need to: | Find out how people are doing things now
Learn about the real users and environment | Understand opportunities and gaps
Prioritize who you are supporting and what their goals are | See how people will react to something
Find ways to make something more user-friendly | Understand why they feel the way they do
Establish metrics to measure the impact of changes |
| Appropriate tools can include: |
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| Outputs can include: |
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Our work
For our latest research studies and insights visit our user research repository on EnjoyHQ. This including project folders with details about specific studies and stories that are a compilation of user insights across studies.
For a complete listing of current and past research studies including:
- A running list of all completed studies with links to summary decks
- Alignment of researchers with products/focus areas
- A running list of presentations and publications
See UXD Research and User Engagements.
To track our current projects, check out our Jira project "UXDR".
Collaborating with UX Research
Working with UX Research is a cooperative effort between the researcher and the person requesting that work (a designer, a project manager, or an engineer). Here are some high level roles and responsibilities for each party:
Your Role
- Come with questions you’d like to answer
- Identify your target audience (types of individuals you need to hear from)
- Collaborate on test materials needed. This includes being available for feedback and reviews
- Make time to attend sessions to observe and/or take notes, and later to review the findings and provide context
Researcher’s Role
- Define research questions and goals based on the needs of the team
- Select the appropriate type of study for your needs
- Craft tools and questions to reduce bias and yield reliable, clear results
- Comprehensively analyze and synthesize the data
- Work with you to understand the findings so you are prepared to act on and share them
- Collaborate with the appropriate stakeholders to review findings before broad communication
Typical Deliverables
- Recordings will be available to review for sessions
- Report will be created and readout delivered as soon as 1-2 weeks after data are gathered
For a more detailed list of researcher and stakeholder roles, see the UX Research Process RACI.
With general questions about research
- Email the team: uxdresearch@redhat.com
- Ask us on RHUX Slack Channel #uxd-research
We also have a Research Ops team to support you! If you have any suggestions or needs regarding tooling, best practice, recruiting participants, etc., reach out.
Key contacts
Leslie Hinson, Senior Manager
Amber Asaro, Associate Manager
Melissa Grimes, Associate Manager