User Research practice problems — updated
Because practicing whiteboarding, research plans, survey writing, and portfolio pieces makes perfect.
Updated March 2020
After teaching many classes and mentoring many students, the mantra “practice makes perfect” has become one of my most common sayings. During my courses and mentoring sessions, I only have so much time to go through practice examples. With that limitation, I thought it might be helpful to brainstorm a list of problems that many people can use to practice.
Some of the problems on this list are from my brain, and others from various things I may have seen over the internet. I’m sure some people have imagined these problems before me, and I will do my best to link to anything I take directly from another website. I will include these resources at the bottom of the article.
I will do my best to update this with new problems as much as possible. If you have any suggestions, please email me: nikki@userresearchacademy.com
How to use the list
The reason I put this list together is so you can practice various skills:
- Whiteboarding sessions (read how to tackle a whiteboard session)
- Writing research plans (read more about research plans, with a template)
- Survey writing (read about writing survey questions)
- Research portfolio pieces (how I structure a user research portfolio)
And anything else you think about!
You won’t have all the answers since these are static problems, and I can’t answer all the questions you may have about each problem. I also didn’t go into crazy detail for each problem. In this case, write down the questions you have or the assumptions you make. And then how you would tackle these. This is good practice regardless, as this happens a lot in real life!
Now on to the problems…
List of practice problems:
Problem statement
How can we better understand the way people travel?
Project brief:
Your client is a leading travel brand who sees new opportunities emerging in the digital space around how people plan travel. They want you to focus your research on one group of the travel experience, either leisure travel or business travel. The client expects you to deliver insights on how people travel, in order to start designing something relevant for users.
Problem statement
How can we better understand the way people adopt a pet?
Project brief:
Your client is a non-profit animal shelter who wants to better understand the process people go through when trying to adopt a new pet, specifically in the digital space. They want you to focus your research on people who have adopted a pet in the past 1–2 years. The client expects you to deliver insights on how people adopt pets, in order to start designing a digital solution relevant to users.
Problem statement
How can we better understand the way people digitally communicate with each other?
Project brief:
Your client is a messaging platform that wants to better understand how people digitally communicatee with each other. They want you to focus your research on people who use platforms such as iMessage, WhatsApp and Facebook Messanger to communicate with others on a daily basis. The client expects you to deliver insights on how people communicate with each other, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Problem statement
How can we better understand the way people find their way around a new city?
Project brief:
Your client is a tourist agency who wants to better understand how people find their way around a new city. They want you to focus your research on people who have traveled, at least once, to a new city in the past six months. The client expects you to deliver insights on how people navigate a new city, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Problem statement
How can we better understand the way people organize their wardrobe?
Project brief:
Your client is a retail platform that want to better understand how people organize their wardrobe. They want you to focus your research on people who purchase new clothing on a regular basis (at least once a month) and care about organizing their wardrobe. The client expects you to deliver insights on how people organize their wardrobe, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Problem statement
How can we better understand the way people set and stick to their goals?
Project brief:
Your client wants to better understand how people set and stick to their goals. They want you to focus your research on people who have set a goal in the past six months and have either followed it through or have not been able to complete the goal. The client expects you to deliver insights on how people set and stick to their goals, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Problem statement
How can we better understand the way people keep up to date on the weather?
Project brief:
Your client wants to better understand how people stay up-to-date with the weather. They want you to focus your research on people who currently use weather apps, or listen to the weather channel. The client expects you to deliver insights on how people stay up-to-date with the weather, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Problem statement
How can we better understand how to make women feel safe when traveling alone?
Project brief:
Your client wants to better understand how women currently travel alone, and the concerns they have. They want you to focus your research on women who have traveled alone at least once in the past six months. The client expects you to deliver insights on women traveling alone, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Problem statement
How can we better understand how people order food takeaway online?
Project brief:
Your client wants to better understand how people order food takeaway online. They want you to focus your research on people who have ordered food online at least three times in the past month. The client expects you to deliver insights on online food ordering, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Problem statement
How can we better understand how people decide and plan to move?
Project brief:
Your client wants to better understand how people decide to and plan to move. They want you to focus your research on people who have moved to a new house or apartment in the past six months. The client expects you to deliver insights about moving, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Problem statement
How can we better understand how to reduce homelessness in major cities?
Project brief:
Your client wants to better understand how to reduce homelessness in major cities. They want you to focus your research on major cities that are dealing with a homelessness crisis (ex: NYC, LA, SF). The client expects you to deliver insights about how to reduce homelessness, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Problem statement
How can we better understand how people find and keep roommates?
Project brief:
Your client wants to better understand how people find and keep roommates. They want you to focus your research on either someone who has just found a new roommate, or people who have been roommates for more than one year. The client expects you to deliver insights about how people find and keep roommates, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Problem statement
How can we better understand how people recycle?
Project brief:
Your client wants to better understand how people choose and understand recycling. They want you to focus your research on either people who have recycled consistently over the past six months or people who have tried recycling and gave up. The client expects you to deliver insights about how people choose and understand recycling, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Problem statement
How can we better understand how people buy clothes online?
Project brief:
Your client wants to better understand how people choose and buy clothes online. They want you to focus your research on people who have bought clothes online at least five times over the past six months and have returned at least three items. The client expects you to deliver insights about how people buy clothes online, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Problem statement
How can we better understand how people respond to and gather information about a pandemic? (COVID-19 bonus!)
Project brief:
Your client wants to better understand how people respond to a pandemic. They want you to focus your research on people who have lived through a pandemic and have experienced a lockdown/quarantine during that pandemic. The client expects you to deliver insights about how people respond to and gather information about a pandemic, in order to help them to start designing a relevant solution.
Resources
- 100 Example UX Problems by Jon Crabb
- 100 Days of Product Design by Susan Rits Design LLC
- Designercize by Mezzotent
- WeWork Interview Exercises
If you are interested, check out more free content and my offerings on www.userresearchacademy.com and join our slack channel