Research protocol

Q: What does a UX research protocol contain?

We bring together everything needed to describe the objectives, the hypotheses, the conditions and the resources of the study. We cover any recruitment criteria, the topics addressed, how we are going to gather the information, and the purposes of the analyses. In keeping with the scientific approach, we have to make sure the study is described faithfully.

Q: Why formalise a protocol before launching user research?

The first answer is perhaps the most important one for a project: alignment. We have to be perfectly clear about what is in scope and what is not, and about what we are trying to obtain. And second, to make our own work easier as researchers. The protocol lets us anticipate what we are going to collect, and it is the right moment to define how we are going to use it!

Q: Do we need a protocol for every user study?

Yes, and we mainly adapt the level of detail to the stakes and the specifics of the study. The more elaborate the study, the more detail the protocol has to record. For guerrilla testing, the document is very concise. For an experiment with a tightly framed protocol and multiple measurements, the experimental design will be very detailed.

Q: What format should a protocol take?

Protocol formats vary with the method. An interview protocol is not the same as an observation protocol or a user-testing protocol. We can build an interview guide with semi-open questions, an observation outline with more exploratory questions, describe the navigation scenarios for a user test, write the instructions for the different sequences of a session with users, and so on.

UX method

Framing user research within a research protocol

The research protocol, or experimental design, is the document that gives traceability to a research process. User studies rely on the experimental method, which aims to answer research questions or validate hypotheses using methods that fit the goals. The research protocol gathers the description of the conditions, how the session runs and the setup in place to collect data during an experiment or a test in order to answer those questions.

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What is a research protocol for?

Stating the questions being asked and the goals of the study
Spelling out the methods and the related goals
Controlling biases (as much as possible) by precisely describing the instructions and the conditions under which data is collected
Describing the resources used, the type of data collected and the analyses envisaged

Why build a research protocol?

At kick-off, to frame a user study
During preparation, to anticipate the data analysis
For the analysis step, to make sure the questions asked are properly answered
Once the study is complete, the protocol is an important record for history and for revisiting the results in the future

Familiarising with the topic

The first step when planning to launch a UX study is to gather the data and knowledge (readily available) on the topic, to kick off the thinking.

Research questions

In consultation with the project teams, the first task is to define what falls inside and outside the scope of a study.

The data collection setup

Once the research questions are clear, we can pin down which methods to favour. At this step, it's essential to factor in time constraints, budget, and also access to data (and sometimes to the users themselves). The protocol also describes the data that will be collected and the analyses envisaged.

Data data collection materials

We know what we're looking for and how we're going to look for it. What's left is to define the flow of a data collection session more precisely. At this step, we produce the data collection materials such as an interview guide, an observation grid, a user-testing scenario, and so on.

Whenever we ask a user to share information about their practices, we owe them complete transparency. First, we make sure to respect the principle of informed consent. This means clearly explaining the objectives of the request and confirming that the user is volunteering to take part. We then have a responsibility to protect any personal data we may collect. For this we rely on our GDPR charter, a data processing document specific to each study, an anonymisation procedure and managed archiving of the results.

What does a UX research protocol contain?

Why formalise a protocol before launching user research?

Do we need a protocol for every user study?

What format should a protocol take?

Related methods

User testing

User testing has target users assess the usability of your product or service. Depending on the goals, several approaches exist.

UX questionnaire

The UX questionnaire collects self-reported data at scale. Well designed, it measures satisfaction and usage. Badly designed, it confirms what you wanted to hear.

UX audit

Systematic, detailed analysis of an interface (web, mobile, business tool) against a set of criteria, used to surface friction points and produce illustrated recommendations.

Atomic research

Atomic Research breaks your UX studies down into facts, insights and recommendations that can be reused from one project to the next.

Quantitative research

Quantitative research measures the scale of UX problems. It answers how many and where, alongside qualitative research, which explains why.

Eye tracking

Eye tracking measures where users are looking and makes it possible to derive indicators related to perception

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