A brief history of user research: why we work with data, not assumptions

What do you imagine when you think about user research? Tiresome corporate surveys, perhaps. Boring data. 

But to me, as a content designer, user research is an integral part of good design. It’s the first step towards building a rapport with your audience and creating something that people actually want to use.

User research has its roots in a strong scientific tradition of inquiry dating back over the last two centuries. In this article I’ll explain how the idea of user research grew out of early social sciences to transform, and potentially democratise, the way we provide services to people today. 

It’s a compelling story which explores the influence of ethnographic research on modern user experience (UX) design, paving the way for us to discover real people’s needs through an understanding of their motivations and context.

Discovering the “native point of view”

More than 100 years ago, anthropologists seeking to understand the mysteries of human behaviour pioneered new methods to get insights into remote or little-understood communities of people. 

They did this by doing ethnographic fieldwork, where a researcher would immerse themself in a community and study their habits, language, beliefs and routines. 

The anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski would spend hours observing and interviewing tribal communities, and attending their ceremonies. This holistic approach, which he called “adopting a native point of view”, led to the kind of data and insights that would be impossible with traditional surveys. 

Malinowski’s principal rule was to avoid making any assumptions that were not backed up by real data.

“The main endeavour must be to let facts speak for themselves”

Bronislaw Malinovski, Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea

From Malinowski’s work it became clear that to really understand people – their motives, their behaviour, their worldview, their needs, even – you had to understand and speak their language, and immerse yourself in their reality and customs.

The appeal of this revolutionary immersive approach to research was obvious to governments and colonial institutions. It could provide them with a better understanding of the psychology of the people they ruled (or wished to rule). 

But ethnographic research would soon spread to other disciplines, where it could be put to more balanced use.

Using ethnographic research to help urban communities in the 1930s

In the 1930s, a group of sociologists in Chicago began using ethnographic fieldwork in their research into urban communities. Using a qualitative approach to data research helped them get new insights into the problems facing citizens, such as exposure to crime, poor housing or unregulated labour. 

The sociologists used the knowledge they gained from ethnographic fieldwork to propose possible solutions to many of these urban problems. Their work would have an enormous impact on policy-making in urban planning and social services. 

The influential work done by the Chicago sociologists showed that ethnographic research was not just useful for understanding people – it could also be used to pinpoint the issues they faced, and ultimately, help them. 

Using ethnographic research for big business

Over time the value of ethnographic research was recognised by other types of organisations wanting to know more about specific groups of people. This included politicians seeking data about their constituents, or big business trying to target certain audiences with their products. 

Importantly, companies also saw how they could design better products or services based on the findings of user research and cognitive psychology.

Meeting people’s needs through usability testing

In the 1970s, researchers such as Don Norman and Jakob Nielsen explored cognitive psychology to understand how users interact with computers. As a result, their “usability testing” methodologies would form the bedrock of modern user research.

“Design is really an act of communication, which means having a deep understanding of the person with whom the designer is communicating.”

Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things

Over the next two decades usability testing would lead to the era-defining concepts of user-centred and user experience (UX) design. An important step forward was taken in 1999, when the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) released guidelines for applying user-centred methods to design.

As with ethnography, the emphasis of usability was on collecting data through exhaustive research, not on prescriptive hypotheses. 

Radical early anthropologists such as Malinowksi saw that preconceived assumptions about people’s behaviour were misleading and harmful to their work. 

Now companies and organisations of every description started realising that data could unlock the truth about their audience’s needs. As a result, they could provide more efficient services and sell more products.

The rising importance of content design and user experience (UX) experts

The digital age has fast-tracked the need for better online services. These online services are impossible without in-depth user research and iterative design work done by content design and user experience (UX) experts. Tools and platforms for remote usability testing and user feedback have become integral to the user research process.

Just look at the groundbreaking success of Government Digital Services’s work on GOV.UK. This has shown public institutions how to create more efficient services that take the burden off front-line workers.

The work we do as content designers is often invisible, but has become instrumental to every company or public institution’s goals as an organisation. 

The future of user research

Unsurprisingly perhaps, the future of user research is tied in with the latest developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

Take data analysis. AI can rapidly analyse and make sense of huge quantities of information. It can also make suggestions about design changes based on this information. Rapid AI analysis and results means we can not only identify patterns and algorithms on an unprecedented scale, but also use AI to help us decide how to incorporate any changes to our designs. 

We’re beginning to see, for example, how GenAI tools can use data to create automated user personas and adaptive user interfaces (products that adapt in real-time to a person’s needs based on their data). However, the need for human empathy and judgement in preparing and interpreting research is still as crucial as ever. 

Find out how to use AI so it doesn’t use you.

Conclusion

Working quietly and diligently like ethnographers in the shadows, we have the power to make a real difference … and bring organisations and audiences closer together. 

That, in a nutshell, is why we’re passionate about working with data, and not assumptions.

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