User Research & Synthesis
10 weeks · 0 milestones
User research study conducted with minimum 6 participants and synthesised to professional standard. Triad: concept/ideation artifact (research plan submitted before data collection begins: research questions, methodology rationale — why interviews vs surveys vs observation, participant recruitment criteria and screening questions, discussion guide or observation protocol), technical execution artifact (research data collected from real participants: signed consent forms, session notes or recordings, and completed data set — the participant evidence is the unfakeable layer), documentation/critique artifact (synthesis report with documented thematic analysis: how raw data was coded, what themes emerged, how themes were prioritised, and what the design implications are — minimum 1,500 words of analysis). AI-fakeability countermeasure: participant consent forms and session records cannot be fabricated without real people; the synthesis process — specific themes emerging from specific quotes from specific participants — traces back to real sessions in a way that AI-generated data cannot. Studio critique: UX researcher or HCI practitioner challenges the synthesis methodology and the validity of the design implications drawn. Proof: research plan, consent forms, session records, synthesis report, critique notes. Verifier: UX researcher, HCI researcher, or senior UX practitioner with research methodology experience — no peer-only verification.
Milestone map
Milestone map
3 milestones
Define a specific product problem and design a research plan to investigate it. Choose minimum two methods from: interviews, surveys, diary studies, contextual inquiry, or card sorting. Recruit a minimum of six participants matching your target user. Conduct the sessions and document raw data (full interview transcripts, session notes, or survey responses).
Proof required
Submit your research plan (problem statement, methods, recruitment criteria, discussion guide or survey instrument) and raw data documentation (transcripts or session notes) as a PDF.
What gets checked
- Problem statement is specific and testable — not 'I want to understand users'
- Minimum six participants with documented recruitment criteria matching the target user
- Raw data is complete — full transcripts or session notes, not retrospective summaries