Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's Guide to User Research

There are many aspects of good usability engineering already in practice, and many libraries of information about how to design better products. However, none of them will work unless designers bridge the gap between who they imagine the users of their products are and who those users really are. This book offers a toolbox full of techniques to help designers gain an understanding of how the user will use the product being designed. It helps designers "walk in the shoes" of the user. This book provides in-depth coverage of 13 usability research techniques that will provide a basis for developing better products for Web users, software users, and just about anyone who comes in contact with a computer or cell phone.