Product Cafe - How do you do User research?
Hey everyone!
Welcome to this week's edition of Product Cafe. Every week, we curate everything interesting around product management and send it right into your inbox 📩
As product managers, our end goal is to serve users, and keep them happy. How do you do that when you barely know your users? 🤔
This is where user research comes to our rescue.
There are many ways to collect data about your users. Who they are, what do they want from your product, and what solution would likely provide them the most value. Sounds straightforward?
User research is more of an art than a methodology you can follow to success every time. So, we went out there and did what we do best — researched the internet and dug out some kick-ass content pieces to help you understand user research better. This edition of Product Cafe is all about user research.
Product Good read 📖
User research — what’s tomato ketchup got to do with it? 🍅
The iconic glass Heinz ketchup bottle was once a staple in family kitchens around the world.
Thump, thump…and perhaps one last thump and the red sauce spurted out onto fries, burgers or whatever else was sitting on the dinner plate.
But in the late 1980s, the giant food company decided to monumentally switch up its packaging design. The motivation behind this change reveals a lot about the importance of user research and, particularly, observational user research.
Curated lists ✨
1. 6 Books on User Research for Product Managers
A collection of the best books on user research. Learn how to go about gathering feedback from your users and understanding what it’s telling you.
Find out the list of books here —> 6 Books on User Research for Product Managers
2. How to ask good questions and level-up your user research skills
User interviews are one of the most powerful methods of user research, but they’re also one of the simplest ways to learn about users — they’re just conversations. This blog touches upon how to conduct user interviews effectively.
Read the blog here —> How to ask good questions and level-up your user research skills
3. A matrix for prioritizing user research
Here is a guide on how to focus one’s efforts regarding research based on various situations, especially with limited time and resource.
Read the blog here —> A matrix for prioritizing user research
4. User interviews 201: Leveling up your interviews with Therese Fessenden of NN/g
In this episode of Awkward silences, Therese Fessenden talks about how to take your interviews to the next level. She is the Senior User Experience Specialist at NN/g. She talks about how to:
Master the basics
Hone your skills
Become an A+ interviewer
Comic strip 😁
Here is a story of user research gone wrong. Enjoy!
Tweets worth mentioning 🎯
Top pick from our collection 🔥
How Entrepreneurial Mindset helps Product Managers
Job board 💻
Walmart is looking for an entry-level product manager in Bengaluru.
AJIO is looking for a product manager primarily for building great customer experience of their e-commerce product.
Indian e-commerce company, Meesho is on the lookout for a Senior Product Manager - User Growth with 5+ years of experience.
Twilio is looking for a Staff Product Manager for their Identity Platform Team in Bangalore. This job is suitable for folks with 5+ years of experience building products and services.
Other helpful resources 📚
2. The Essential Guide to User Research
3. The Ultimate Guide to UX Research
That’s a wrap! Did you find this week’s edition of Product Cafe helpful? Let us know in the comments. Would you like for us to talk about any topic in specific? Put it in the comments :)
Until we meet next week, here is a cat gif.