User Experience Research: Discover What Customers Really Want

The Fuzzy Front End Gets Demystified in This Next-Generation User Research Guide

The first phase of the design thinking process is arguably the most crucial, as this is when human insights are leveraged to define value for customers.  Yet this so-called "empathize" phase is often deemed optional or is executed poorly. This degrades the entire innovation process that follows by permitting preexisting biases and guesswork that make value creation a precarious bet.

In User Experience Research: Discover What Customers Really Want, a human factors psychologist and an industrial designer have devised a foolproof first phase that addresses the shortcomings of the design thinking process. Based on their forty years of generative research experience in multiple industries, this is the definitive guide to user experience research. This repeatable approach is grounded in six key principles that connects users’ desired emotional states to an actionable articulation of an experience. It also provides guidance on creating ideal experience frameworks that communicate clearly with all stakeholders, from business leaders to design practitioners.

User Experience Research: Discover What Customers Really Want is an indispensable, fully illustrated, step-by-step manual for anyone seeking a more predictable pathway to the design of new or improved experiences that users truly desire and would find valuable.

About the Author

Marty Gage (Columbus, Ohio; https://www.lextant.com/) is VP of User Experience Research at Lextant, a national design consulting firm. Marty has been innovating and evolving upfront user research for over 30 years. His work has impacted industries from Consumer Products, Automotive, Financial Services, and Healthcare. Marty has helped clients such as P&G, ConAgra, Kohler, Microsoft, Ford, GM, HP, and many more win in the marketplace.

Spencer Murrell (Delaware, Ohio; (www.lextant.com) is a Partner at Lextant, and a design leader whose work has been recognized by ID magazine, IDSA, the Chicago Athenaeum, and Business Week. He has been awarded dozens of US and foreign patents. He works with clients like Samsung Electronics, Procter & Gamble, Cardinal Health, Stryker Medical, Conagra, and others. He spent 17 years at Fitch, Inc, an international design consultancy, where he headed the Product Development Practice.