User Research

Frameworks for building deep user understanding through structured research methods. Covers personas, journey mapping, interviews, usability testing, and Jobs-to-be-Done.

Research Method Selection

Choose the right method for your question:

Method	When to Use	Sample Size	Time	Output
User Interviews	Early discovery, deep understanding	5-8	2-3 weeks	Qualitative insights
Usability Testing	Validate designs, find issues	5-10	1-2 weeks	Actionable fixes
Surveys	Quantify attitudes, preferences	100+	1-2 weeks	Statistical data
Card Sorting	Information architecture	15-30	1 week	IA recommendations
A/B Testing	Compare alternatives	1000+	2-4 weeks	Statistical winner

Rule of thumb: Start with interviews (5-8 participants) to discover unknowns. Switch to surveys once you have hypotheses to validate.

Persona Quick Reference

Personas are fictional composites built from research synthesis. Keep to 3-5 max.

## Persona: [Name]

### Demographics
- Age: [Range]
- Role: [Job title]
- Company: [Type/size]
- Tech savviness: [Low/Medium/High]

### Quote
> "[Characteristic statement that captures their mindset]"

### Goals
1. [Primary goal - what success looks like]
2. [Secondary goal]

### Pain Points
1. [Frustration with current state]
2. [Obstacle they face]

### Key Insight
[The most important thing to remember about this persona]

Incorrect — vague persona without goals:

Persona: Sarah, Age 35, Marketing Manager. Likes social media and coffee.

Correct — actionable persona with goals and pain points:

Persona: DevOps Dana
Quote: "I don't have time for tools that create more work than they save."
Goals: Reduce deployment failures, give devs self-service capabilities
Pain Points: Alert fatigue from false positives, context-switching between 10+ tools
Key Insight: Evaluates tools by "time saved vs. time invested" — needs immediate value.

Journey Map Structure

Maps the end-to-end experience for a specific persona and scenario.

## Journey Map: [Journey Name]

### Persona + Scenario
[Which persona | What they're trying to accomplish]

### Stages: Aware → Consider → Purchase → Onboard → Use → Retain

For each stage:
- **Touchpoints:** [Channel/interaction point]
- **Actions:** [What user does]
- **Emotions:** [Satisfied / Neutral / Frustrated]
- **Pain Points:** [Friction]
- **Opportunities:** [How we improve]

Common B2B SaaS stages: Awareness → Evaluation → Purchase → Onboarding → Adoption → Expansion → Advocacy/Churn

JTBD Framework

People don't buy products — they hire them to do specific jobs.

JTBD Statement Format:

When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome].

Example:

When I'm preparing for a board review, I want to quickly see revenue trends,
so I can answer questions confidently without scrambling for data.

Job Dimensions:

Dimension	Description
Functional	Practical task to accomplish
Emotional	How the user wants to feel
Social	How the user wants to be perceived

Opportunity Score: Importance + (Importance - Satisfaction) — scores > 10 indicate high-opportunity areas.

Empathy Map

Quick tool for building shared understanding in workshops:

+-------------------------+-------------------------------+
|         SAYS            |            THINKS             |
| Direct quotes           | Worries and concerns          |
| Questions asked         | Aspirations                   |
+-------------------------+-------------------------------+
|         DOES            |            FEELS              |
| Observable actions      | Emotional state               |
| Workarounds             | Frustrations and delights     |
+-------------------------+-------------------------------+
|         PAINS           |            GAINS              |
| Fears and obstacles     | Wants and needs               |
+-------------------------+-------------------------------+

Interview Best Practices

Do	Don't
Ask open-ended questions	Ask leading questions
Ask "why" and "how"	Accept surface answers
Follow interesting threads	Stick rigidly to script
Take verbatim notes	Paraphrase or interpret

Standard interview arc: Warm-up (5 min) → Context setting (10 min) → Deep dive (25 min) → Wrap-up (5 min)

Rules (Load On-Demand)

Read these files for detailed guidance:

research-personas.md — Persona template, empathy map, maintenance schedule
research-journey-mapping.md — Journey map template, service blueprints, experience curves
research-user-interviews.md — Interview structure, usability testing, NPS/SUS, card sorting

References

interview-guide-template.md — Ready-to-use interview guide template
journey-map-workshop.md — Workshop facilitation guide
user-story-workshop-guide.md — User story writing workshop

Related Skills

ork:write-prd — Translate research insights into structured product requirements
ork:product-frameworks — Full PM framework suite (business cases, prioritization, metrics, OKRs)

Version: 1.0.0

user-research