UX Practice
Practical guides for doing the work. Research, interviews, workshops, critique and synthesis, with checklists, templates and trusted references.
Guides
Craft guidance- How to run a user interviewA conversation to learn what people do, need and struggle with. It tells you what people report, not what they would do with a design: for that, run a usability test.6 steps, 7-item checklist, 3 references
- How to run a usability testWatch people try to do realistic tasks with your design. You learn where it fails, which is something no amount of asking will tell you.6 steps, 7-item checklist, 5 references
- How to facilitate a workshopA workshop is a structured session where a group produces something together: a decision, a shared map, a prioritised list. If nothing needs producing together, hold a meeting or send a document.6 steps, 8-item checklist, 3 references
- How to run discoveryDiscovery is the work of understanding a problem well enough to decide what to do next. Its job is to reduce uncertainty, not to produce deliverables.7 steps, 6-item checklist, 3 references
- How to synthesise research and write findingsTurning what you saw and heard into things a team can act on. The discipline is keeping three things apart: what happened, what you think it means, and what to do about it.7 steps, 7-item checklist, 3 references
- How to run a design critiqueA critique analyses whether a design meets its objectives. It is not a review for approval, and it is not a vote on taste.5 steps, 6-item checklist, 1 reference
- How to recruit research participantsRecruiting decides what your research can tell you. The right five people teach you more than the wrong fifty.6 steps, 7-item checklist, 1 reference
- How to take research notesNotes are the raw material of every finding. Write down what happened and what was said; leave what it means for later.5 steps, 6-item checklist, 1 reference
- How to map a user journeyA journey map shows what one kind of person goes through to reach one goal, step by step, with what they think and feel on the way. It is a picture of research, not a substitute for it.6 steps, 6-item checklist, 1 reference
- How to prioritise design workPrioritising is agreeing what not to do yet. A method does not make the decision; it makes the reasons visible so the team can argue about the right things.5 steps, 7-item checklist, 1 reference
- How to present research findingsResearch is only useful if the team can use what you learned. Presenting is the step that decides whether they do.6 steps, 6-item checklist, 1 reference
- How to set up a research repositoryA research repository is one place where findings and the evidence behind them are kept so people can find them later. Its job is to stop the same question being researched twice.6 steps, 7-item checklist, 1 reference
- How to run a retrospectiveA retrospective is a regular meeting where the team looks at how it worked, not what it built, and agrees one or two things to change.5 steps, 6-item checklist, 1 reference
- How to run an ideation workshopAn ideation workshop produces many possible answers to one well-framed problem, then narrows them. Its quality depends almost entirely on the question it starts from.6 steps, 6-item checklist, 1 reference
- How to run a remote workshopA remote workshop is a workshop where everyone joins from their own screen. The facilitation is the same; the logistics are harder, attention is scarcer, and almost everything has to be decided before the call starts.8 steps, 11-item checklist, 4 references
Before your next session
Run an interview
- Objective written down
- Participants match the experience you need
- Guide piloted
- Consent information ready
- Recording tested
- Note-taker briefed
- Time for a debrief booked after each session
Plan usability testing
- Tasks written as goals, each with a success criterion
- Prototype tested end to end
- Backup paths ready
- Introduction script printed
- Recording and consent ready
- Observers briefed to stay silent
- Note-taking sheet per task
Host a workshop
- Goal written as an output
- Decision method agreed
- Right people invited, including the decider
- Pre-read sent
- Each activity has a purpose and a time
- Board or room prepared and tested
- Note-taker assigned
- Time held afterwards to write up
Templates
All 13 templatesOpen Design Library
All 19 resourcesFree and open design systems, research guides, accessibility tools, icons and fonts. Each shows the licence its own repository reports, or says it was not checked.
What senior colleagues tell you
Senior designer note“Do not run a workshop simply because collaboration sounds good.”
Senior designer note“Research questions and interview questions are not the same thing.”
Senior designer note“Do not ask users to design the solution for you.”
Senior designer note“Separate evidence from interpretation.”
Senior designer note“More participants do not fix a badly designed study.”
Senior designer note“A polished research deck cannot rescue weak research.”
Senior designer note“Your workshop should end with a decision, an output or a next step.”