CRyder Design

User research is essential in the world of User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI). Without conducting user research, designers would have no data to use when creating products or services. Three key elements that are included in the user research phase of design are competitive analysis, empathy maps, and personas. Each step requires information from the others in order to be conducted correctly, and are usually completed in that order. For example, empathy maps require information on pain points from competitive analysis, and personas require information from empathy maps in order to properly represent your target audience.

Competitive analysis is the observation and study of your competition’s brand, products, and services and it is typically one of the first steps in the user research process. In the article “How To Do a UX Competitor Analysis: A Step By Step Guide” author Steven Douglas states, “Getting to grips with the ins and outs of a UX competitor analysis can help you know your market, product, and goals better. You will also understand the competition, get actionable insights and boost your brand.” As a designer, when you thoroughly understand the market that you are working in, you will be a better fit to design a product that fits within that market and fills in gaps that have been previously left empty. Gaps can be defined as elements that your competition has not included in their product. Understanding those gaps, and filling them in can lead to a highly successful product if completed successfully. However, it is easy to get caught up in the massive amounts of competitors in your market. “Try to identify the top three to five competitors and figure out what it is that they are doing right” (“A Product Designer’s Guide to Competitive Analysis”). When a goal is set for the number of competitors to analyze, you are less likely to get caught up in numbers, ratings, descriptions, and reviews and more likely to truly understand the competition at hand.

Following competitive analysis is typically empathy maps. “An empathy map is a collaborative visualization used to articulate what we know about a particular type of user” (“Empathy Mapping: The First Step in Design Thinking”). Empathy maps help designers to gain a deeper understanding of their users by identifying things they say, think, feel and do. In most cases, a designer would observe a user while they were using the product that is being designed, and fill out an empathy map while they were doing so. By filling out this empathy map the designer is able to identify successes and pain points that exist in the design of the product that can be improved upon in the final or updated design. “As UX professionals, it is our job to advocate on behalf of the user. However, in order to do it, not only must we deeply understand our users, but we must also help our colleagues understand them and prioritize their needs” (“Empathy Mapping: The First Step in Design Thinking”). The information that is synthesized from empathy maps can be extremely helpful when creating personas in the next step.

Personas commonly follow empathy maps, in that they use some of the information found from empathy mapping. “Personas are fictional characters, which you create based upon your research in order to represent different user types that might use your service, product, site, or brand in a similar way” (“Personas – A Simple Introduction”). When creating a persona, it is crucial to keep your target audience in mind, because that is who you are trying to represent through creating a persona. They have the ability to put a face and a name to your research and bring it to life by giving it context in the situation that it exists in.