ux-research

name	ux-research
description	Use when conducting user research, usability analysis, or validating design decisions. Covers user personas, journey mapping, usability heuristics, A/B testing, feedback analysis, and research methodologies.
user-invocable	false
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Edit","Grep","Glob"]

UX Research -- Validating Design Decisions with Evidence

1. User Persona Template

## Persona: [Name]
**Role**: [Job title]  |  **Experience**: [Novice/Intermediate/Expert]  |  **Tech Comfort**: [Low/Med/High]
**Uses system**: [Daily/Weekly/Monthly]  |  **Device**: [Desktop/Tablet/Mobile]

### Goals
1. [Primary goal]  2. [Secondary goal]  3. [Tertiary goal]

### Pain Points
1. [Frustration]  2. [Inefficiency]  3. [Missing capability]

### Scenarios
- **Happy path**: [Typical successful workflow]
- **Edge case**: [Unusual but important scenario]
- **Failure recovery**: [What happens when things go wrong]

Example: Sarah (Accounts Manager) -- Processes 30-50 invoices/day, prefers keyboard shortcuts, pain points: multi-screen switching, slow reports, poor search. Ahmed (Warehouse Supervisor) -- Uses tablet, needs large touch targets, simple forms, high contrast.

2. Journey Mapping

## Journey Map: [Task Name]
**Persona**: [Name]  |  **Goal**: [Outcome]  |  **Duration**: [Time]  |  **Trigger**: [Event]

| Stage | Action | Thinking | Feeling | Pain Points | Opportunities |
|-------|--------|----------|---------|-------------|---------------|
| 1. Navigate | | | | | |
| 2. Fill form | | | | | |
| 3. Review | | | | | |
| 4. Complete | | | | | |

Map the emotional journey (1-5 scale) alongside actions. Identify the lowest-satisfaction moments as design priorities.

3. Nielsen's 10 Heuristics (Enterprise UI)

#	Heuristic	Good Example	Bad Example
1	Visibility of status	Loading spinner: "Generating report..."	Form submits with no indicator
2	Match real world	"Invoice", "Due Date"	"Sales Document Type A", database column names
3	User control	Undo after delete, cancel with unsaved warning	Permanent deletion without confirmation
4	Consistency	Same icon/position for edit across modules	Save button left in one form, right in another
5	Error prevention	Disable submit until valid, date picker constraints	Free-text date field, no validation until submit
6	Recognition > recall	Recent customers in selector, breadcrumbs	Must remember customer codes
7	Flexibility	Keyboard shortcuts, bulk actions, saved filters	Every action requires multiple menu clicks
8	Minimalist design	Progressive disclosure, summary cards	20+ KPIs visible at once, 30-field single-page form
9	Error recovery	"Invoice date cannot be in the future. Select today or earlier."	"Error 422"
10	Help	Tooltip: "Days from invoice date until payment is due"	No help text anywhere

Evaluation Template

Rate each heuristic 0-4 (0=no problem, 4=catastrophe). Score >= 3 must fix before release.

4. A/B Testing

Hypothesis Template

IF we [change/add/remove] [specific element],
THEN [metric] will [increase/decrease] by [amount],
BECAUSE [reasoning based on research/data].

Test Spec

• Primary metric: Task completion time / conversion rate / error rate
• Guardrail metrics: Must not decrease (e.g., completion rate)
• Sample size: Calculate via power analysis. Min detectable effect: 10%
• Confidence level: 95% (p < 0.05)
• Duration: Minimum 7 days to account for day-of-week effects
• Segmentation: By role, branch size, experience level

Result Template

Metric	Control	Treatment	Difference	p-value	Significant?
[metric]	[val]	[val]	[+/-X%]	[val]	Yes/No

Decision: Ship / Iterate / Abandon -- [Reasoning]

5. Feedback Analysis

Classification

Category	Subcategory	Example
Bug	Functionality/Display	"Save button broken on Firefox"
Feature Request	New/Enhancement	"Export invoices to QuickBooks"
Usability	Navigation/Clarity	"Cannot find tax settings"
Performance	Speed/Responsiveness	"Report takes over a minute"

Prioritization Matrix

              High Frequency
    Quick Wins (P2) | Must Do (P0/P1)
  Low Impact -------|------- High Impact
    Deprioritize (P3)| Strategic (P2)
              Low Frequency

6. Usability Testing Script

### Introduction (2 min)
"We are testing the [feature], not you. Think aloud as you work."

### Tasks (15-20 min)
**Task 1: [Name]**
Scenario: "[Realistic description]"
Success criteria: [What constitutes completion]
Observe: Found starting point? Understood labels? Errors? Time: ___

### Post-Task (5 min)
1. Ease rating 1-7 (Single Ease Question)
2. Most confusing part?
3. What would you change?

### SUS Questionnaire (3 min)
10 alternating positive/negative statements rated 1-5.
Score: (odd items: score-1, even items: 5-score) * 2.5 = 0-100.
80-100=Excellent, 68-79=Good, 50-67=Needs improvement, <50=Unacceptable.

7. Task Success Metrics

Metric	Definition	Target
Task completion rate	% who complete	>90%
Time on task	Avg completion time	Varies
Error rate	% with at least one error	<10%
Learnability	Improvement attempt 1 to 3	>30% faster
SEQ (post-task)	Ease rating 1-7	>5.5

8. Information Architecture

Card Sorting

Use open sort to discover natural groupings. Report similarity matrix (e.g., Invoice+Credit Note+Payment grouped by 85% of participants).

Tree Testing

Validate navigation structure. Measure success rate, directness, and time per task. If success <70%, restructure that path.

9. Analytics-Driven UX

Metric	Insight
Bounce rate per page	Pages that confuse users
Funnel drop-off	Where users abandon workflows
Search queries	What users cannot find via navigation
Session recordings	Actual behavior patterns
Click heatmaps	Where users click and miss

Funnel Template

Step	Users	Drop-off %
1. Open form	1,000	--
2. Fill fields	920	8%
3. Submit	780	15%
Biggest drop-off: Investigate which fields cause abandonment.

Monthly UX Scorecard

Metric	Target
Task completion rate	>90%
Avg SUS score	>75
Support tickets (UX)	<20
Feature adoption (new)	>40%
Form error rate	<5%