How to Successfully Execute Remote Online User Research

There are many techniques used in practice to investigate user interaction with web sites, often with the objectives of better understanding the user and of improving the design. This paper presents three methods that target a variety of objectives with complementary strengths and weaknesses. The purpose is not to encompass the wide scope of methods that are available to practitioners, but rather to demonstrate one complementary set that has proven useful for conducting online user research. The three methods described are Prototype Testing, True Intent, and Competitive Assessment. The descriptions outline some of the major issues for implementing the methods. The insights are based on an organization’s use of poststudy quality assessment to continuously improve and build on its remote online user research methods.