Video

Comparing Qualitative and Quantitative UX Research

Nielsen Norman Group Free Beginner

Nielsen Norman Group has run user research for decades, and this short video lays out plainly which questions each method answers: qualitative interviews tell you why, quantitative surveys tell you how many. It is the calmest, least opinionated resource on this list, useful for seeing the interview versus survey debate as a matter of fit rather than one method being universally better. Ten minutes well spent before you pick a method.

  • Qualitative interviews answer why, quantitative surveys answer how many.
  • Use qualitative research first to know what to ask, then quantitative research to size it.
  • A handful of interviews reveals most usability problems, a survey cannot do that job.
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The question it answers

  1. Should I do customer interviews live over a call, or is survey data good enough at the start?

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