by Patrick Hunt is a co-founder and principal of Strategux Consulting, Inc.

"Oh no. Not another methodology." "More research? Can't we just get on with it?" "We don't have the budget for research."

These responses to recommendations for user-centered design and user research are not uncommon. To the uninitiated, user-centered design may indeed sound like yet another consultant's term for the same old process. And user research sounds time-consuming, expensive, and perhaps intimidating.

It doesn't have to be that way. User research can be an inexpensive way to ultimately improve the performance of your website or web application.

· Value: good user research doesn't have to cost a lot of money; in fact, it can save money during the design and development process be reducing rework and errors.
· Valued: presented properly, user research is valued by users (who appreciate being asked), designers and developers (because there is a basis for decision-making), and business managers (who like the impact it has on ROI).
· Valuable: user research also pays for itself in the long-run by contributing to the design and development of a website that is more relevant, useful and usable.

User Research Defined

User research is a means of identifying the users of a website or web-based application and understanding their needs, attitudes and behaviors. It is helpful to understand more generally how users think and behave, but in particular with regards to the problem the website is trying to solve. Is the website intended to make buying hard-to-find items easier? Should it simplify a business process? Is it supposed to enhance users' knowledge or skills?

User research can be quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative user research may tell you how many users there are, how many use the site, and how many meet various demographic or other characteristics. This information can be assembled through site surveys, telephone surveys and intercept interviews. Achieving a statistically valid sample and a low margin of error, however, can sometimes be cost-prohibitive.

Good qualitative user research is often the most cost-effective means of gaining the kind of insight required to make websites useful and usable. The various forms of user research allow a depth of inquiry not necessarily available through quantitative research or statistical analysis. But the biggest benefit is the ability to truly understand users' motivations, and the real thinking behind their actions.

There are a number of different techniques for gathering qualitative user data, four of the more common of which are:

· Interviews
· Field Observation
· Contextual Inquiry
· Focus Groups

Making User Research Affordable

When timeframes and budgets allow, it is best to contract with consultants or contractors who specialize in user research for some very important reasons:

· Elimination of bias: Third-party researchers can provide a level of objectivity that most insiders do not have due to organizational politics, historical bias or other hindering factors.
· Experience: Nothing can replace on-the-job training, and experienced user researchers learn over time how best to establish a proper rapport essential for achieving the desired results.
· Expertise: Similarly, user researchers should have a strong sense for what works and what doesn't, and how to ask questions that elicit meaningful responses.

However, when you have to know now, and you really don't have the budget to fund an independent user research initiative, there are a few things you can do to conduct cost-effective and beneficial user research.

Implement a Site Survey

Work with the existing site managers to implement a brief site survey and include a few questions about them and their lives as it relates to the problem the site is attempting to solve. If your technical team doesn't have the capability to develop and implement a survey tool, there are some inexpensive and free options with the minimum amount of functionality you need. SurveyMonkey.com is a good example of a quality, affordable online surveying tool.

Create User Profiles and Personas

Once you have identified your users, create user profiles and/or personas, and make sure that everyone on the team knows that these documents represent the site's users. A good persona is a narrative description of a fictitious, yet realistic, person (e.g., "Janice is a 35-year-old attorney and mother of two…"). These can be simple word processing documents that describe the essential characteristics of your users, whether they are female, busy executives, parents or all of these. This can help to reduce internal biases, and keep your project and management teams focused on who the site is for.

Examine Log Files

Enlist the support of your Web Master in analyzing your website's log files. Be sure to examine the more meaningful statistics, like entry/exit pages, most/least visited pages, typical user paths and pages with the longest/shortest time viewed. You can make an immediate assessment about their needs, and where they get hung up.

Make a Few Phone Calls

You should be able to identify a few people who are representative of your user population, even if they are co-workers, friends or family. Just be sure to talk with people who are as close to your real users and as far from the project team as possible. Ask them a few informal questions to get a sense for how they think about the problem you are attempting to solve. Remember, don't necessarily ask them about the site (that's usability testing, which will be covered in another column), but rather about how to make their lives easier.

Attend a Meeting or Event

Are there meetings or events that your users typically attend? Probably so. Whether on the soccer field on a Saturday morning or at the weekly sales meeting, these are often situations where people chat about their frustrations, successes and wishes. A little eavesdropping can go a long way.

One is Better Than None

Whatever form it takes, user research is an essential element of creating a truly successful website or web application. What you learn from users will likely surprise you, and will almost certainly lead you to consider new ways of approaching the problem.

If you don't have the time or money, the least you can do is ask one end user how you can make their life a little easier, or their work life a little better. At worst, you will gain the appreciation of someone because you value his or her opinion. More likely, you will also gain valuable insight into how your users think and behave. Ultimately, the work you do will be more valued by your users, technical team and business managers.

Patrick Hunt is a co-founder and principal of Strategux Consulting, Inc., a boutique user experience consulting firm located in Baltimore, Maryland. He may be reached via email at patrick@strategux.com.