User Research: From Planning to Execution
This course is the only course that brings you from start to finish of a research project, explaining every single choice and step and giving you access to the real project data.
Experience the challenges and process of a research project alongside me.
Real data, real challenges, real people.
Take your user research knowledge to the next level through an in-depth look at how an experienced user researcher plans, executes, and synthesizes a real-life project, with access to real data, real challenges, and real people.
By the end of this course, you will be able to…
Confidently plan & execute a research project
See opportunity areas and improve your skills
Benchmark and improve your current processes & mindsets
Taking your user research knowledge from theory to practice can be intimidating. Without reference for what user research looks like in real projects, it’s hard to improve your planning and execution skills. If you want an in-depth look at how an experienced user researcher plans, executes, and synthesizes a real-life project so that you can benchmark your work then this course is for you.
This course is best for:
The user research team of one, who have little guidance or feedback from a manager or colleagues
Those who just transitioned into user research to see how research looks, feels, and acts in real life
Anyone who wants to practice with actual user research data. Do you know the theory? Now apply it through this course.
If you feel like you are alone in your research process and feel uncertain about how user research should look or how you can improve your skills, this course can help. You will see an expert in action and learn skills and mindsets to fill your gaps in development or knowledge.
What is the User Research: From Planning to Execution Course?
The User Research: From Planning to Execution Course is an experience that immerses you in an actual diary study I conducted and free access to the tool I used, dscout. You will get a behind-the-scenes explanation of every step I took during this project, from writing the research plan all the way through to synthesizing 25 diary study entries. I will explain every choice I made and why I approached each step in the way I did. You will also get to watch me perform real generative research interviews.
You not only get free resources and templates that are relevant to the course, but you get access to the raw data from the project - real data from real people.
Experience the challenges and process of a research project alongside me.
How it works:
You'll get access to a video course walking you through how a professional UX researcher plans and executes a real-life research project.
You'll see how I made decisions about each phase of the project, but more importantly, you'll get access to:
all the data collected during the project, including interviews, diary study tasks, screener surveys, and analysis
all the assets I developed to execute the project and synthesize my findings (along with my templates)
a platform where you can manipulate the data yourself to practice your skills having mine as a benchmark
What is the course content?
Plan a project
You will learn how to plan a user research project from beginning to end. No more second-guessing if you are doing the process “right.” And no more wondering if your manager or stakeholders know better than you do. Instead, I will bring you step-by-step through an entire project, from planning to synthesis, so you can understand where your opportunity areas are and how to improve your research-planning skills. Planning a project is the first step in its success, so let's take away the mystery. Learn how I tackle a real research problem, including all the stages of planning, recruitment, and writing an interview guide.
Execute a project
No one gets a look into how researchers research – until now. Through this course, you will see an expert in action. You can use this course to learn new skills, such as generative research, writing proper diary study tasks, or the mysterious synthesis process. This course will help you fill in your gaps in development by showing you how to do the skills rather than describing the theory. You will be able to watch me conduct 1x1 interviews, wrangle with a considerable amount of qualitative data, and decide which deliverables would be helpful. I take away the mystery in this course and show you how to think about and execute a project correctly. Use this knowledge to benchmark and uplevel your research skills.
Move beyond the theory.
Feel more confident and comfortable with your process by applying the theory you learned with actual user research data. Of course, the best way to learn is by doing, but we seldom can play with real data. This course gives you access to a user research platform, dscout, and all the data from my project, including 25 diary study participants and five interview participants. You will experiment with tagging and coding, using a research platform, and how you would change or approach this same project. Move beyond the theory and practice with data from real users to advance your skills.
The data
During the course, you will get access to data from a real project I ran on the research platform, dscout. This particular project is about body, positivity, body neutrality, and health at every size. With this project, we aimed to explore participants’ philosophies, paths into, and everyday experiences within these movements.
The data consists of a research plan/discussion guide, screener survey, a large-scale diary study, 25 diary study participants (307 entries), five one-on-one interviews, and the synthesis of the data. You will be able to manipulate the data yourself to practice your skills, having mine as a benchmark.
All of the participants in this project consented to this material being used for learning purposes.
The topics
We will cover these major topics:
Introduction to dscout and the course
Planning:
Context on the project and the process of creating a research plan
How I recruited participants through a screener survey
How I chose the participants who responded
Diary study tasks
Interview guide
Execution:
Introduction to the interviews
How I reviewed the data, what my tags mean
How I analyzed and synthesized the data
Practice:
How you can use the data to practice
What makes this course special?
You get real data
This is the only course in user research that gives you access to real data from a research project. You can use this data to practice skills like tagging and writing screener questions or to improve your skills in writing diary study tasks or conducting one-on-one interviews. Never before has a researcher revealed their process in such depth.
The entire process unveiled
You get to see exactly how and why I approach a project, step-by-step. Often, people will talk about their process but rarely do people show you exactly what they did and why. You get to see every choice I made in this project and I will explain why I made these choices. This includes the mysterious synthesis process. Use this course to benchmark your skills, find actionable areas of opportunity for improvement, and actually practice those skills.
Investment
£225
In this course you get:
13 videos of me walking you through the challenges and process behind the research project
Real data from real people that you can work with, learn from, and manipulate
Recommended articles, books, and templates to go with each video, so you can get started immediately – and feel like a pro while at it.
If you can, I recommend asking for company budget, as I have seen many employers cover the cost for this course. Check out my guide to asking your manager/company for a budget.
FAQs
I just graduated or am looking into transitioning into user research, is this course for me?
This course is most effective when you understand the foundations of user research. I have an in-depth course that will help you transition into the field of user research and feel confident and comfortable as a user researcher. These courses together will give you the theory and the practice you need to break into your first role. Check out the User Research Master Course + User Research: From Plan to Execution bundle option here.
I’ve been in user research for a few years. Will this be helpful for me?
Yes, absolutely. Even after I conducted my own studies, I was still learning and tweaking my process. Not only that, but I was always hungry to know how others did it. The actual planning and execution of user research projects are usually gated. I couldn’t gauge if I was conducting research similar to experts in the field. With this course, I am taking the veil off the mysterious user research process and giving you an inside look into how I approached this project. This course will help you better understand and grow your approach, benchmark against an expert, and give you more confidence as a user researcher. This is fundamental for your career development, especially if you feel like you are operating alone, with little guidance or feedback.
What can I expect from this course?
You can expect an experience that immerses you in an actual diary study I conducted and free access to the tool I used, dscout. You will get a behind-the-scenes explanation of every step I took during this project, from writing the research plan all the way through to synthesizing 25 diary study entries. I will explain every choice I made and why I approached each step in the way I did. You will also get to watch me perform real generative research interviews. In addition, you get access to the real project data to practice and manipulate, and all resources and templates that are relevant to the course.
Is this real project data? What is the project? What kind of data is included?
Yes! This is real project data from a project I ran on dscout. This particular project is about body, positivity, body neutrality, and health at every size. With this project, we aimed to explore participants’ philosophies, paths into, and everyday experiences with the body positivity, body neutrality, and health at every size movement.
This project consists of a screener survey, a large-scale diary study, 25 diary study participants, five one-on-one interviews, and the synthesis of the data.
Is this course only for user researchers? Or could I, as a product manager, designer, developer, use this course?
I made this course for anyone who does user research at an organization or freelancing career. Through this course, you will gain access to my approach and mindset for an actual research project, which is valuable for anyone conducting research. Students from many different industries and roles, such as market researchers, engineers, product managers, business developers, designers, and many others, find value in this course.
Can I get a certificate for this course?
No. Since I am not assigning any tasks or reviewing any work, I will not offer certificates for completing this course.
Do I need to sign up for any additional software to access the data? Is that free?
You will need to sign up with dscout for access. An account is free and you'll get to actually practice your analysis and synthesis skills using the software -- which would be hard if I was just providing the interview videos or transcripts. Instead, I teamed up with dscout to allow you access to this particular project. All of the participants in this project consented to this material being used for learning purposes.
Additionally, to view the analysis, it is best to sign up for a free Miro account.
Can I run my own interviews or diary study on dscout?
You can, but you will have to sign up for a paid dscout account. This course grants you access to all the data from this particular project. You can play around and view the project within that access but cannot run a study.
Is this just theory on how to run a UXR project?
Nope! This is a behind-the-scenes look at how I approached a real project, step-by-step. You will get to listen to and understand every decision and step I took during this project, and why I approached it in this way. In addition, you will be able to manipulate the data yourself to practice your skills, having mine as a benchmark.
Is this helpful to me even if I'm not running diary studies?
Absolutely. Since this project also includes creating a research plan, screener surveys, one-on-one interviews, and analysis techniques, you can learn so much regardless of the methodology. Plus, diary studies are a great way to level up your career!
Do I get any access to Nikki in this course?
You won’t get direct access to me in the course. If you are looking for personalized guidance and feedback on your path as a user researcher, check out my mentorship program.
How long will I have access to the content I receive from the course?
Great news! You will have access to the modules, templates, and all other content forever! As long as the course exists, you will be able to access the material!
I will add each person to dscout manually, so please expect that to take up to 24 hours.
Do you offer any discounts or financial aid?
I don’t offer any regular discounts or financial aid. However, I have seen many employers pay the full price or pay part of it because they realize how valuable the skills are. If you are interested in asking your company to sponsor the course, check out this guide I made to get buy-in from your employer!
I’ve been in user research for a long time. Will this help me?
It depends! How confident do you feel about your end-to-end research process? Do you want to see how someone else approaches a problem? If so, this course might give you some additional tips and tricks to add to your repertoire.
However, if you are looking for more personalized guidance and feedback, my personalized mentorship program would be a better fit for improving your skills.
I have a question that isn’t answered here!
Feel free to contact us at hello@userresearchacademy for any questions that are not listed here!
Meet your instructor
Hi, I’m Nikki (and that’s Poncho)! When I started my career in user research, I had no idea where to start. I spent countless hours on Google searching for how to properly conduct an interview and how to create a persona. Spoiler alert: my interviews were so awkward and my personas looked horrendous. In fact, I completely bombed my first generative research interview.
After years of trial and error, I eventually figured things out. I've been a user researcher for about eight years, leading projects within the B2B and also the B2C space, ranging in industries such as social media, e-commerce, hospitality, and academia. I have done both freelance and in-house user research for companies such as Zalando, N26, Wiley Publishing, and HelloFresh. In addition to being an operational user researcher, I have managed and currently manage four direct reports. I'm also a contributing author at DScout where I write all about my experiences with user research. I hold a MA in Psychology and Education.
Learn even more about user research.
Want to hear about the coolest and most useful user research resources every two weeks? And about new courses and opportunities, I’m offering? Sign-up for my newsletter and be informed on all things user research!