Practice UX research methods vocabulary: qualitative vs quantitative, moderated vs unmoderated, A/B testing, tree testing, card sorting, and first-click testing.
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What is the key difference between qualitative and quantitative UX research?
Qualitative methods (interviews, ethnographic observation, diary studies) generate insights about user motivations, mental models, and pain points. Quantitative methods (surveys, analytics, A/B tests) generate measurable data about behaviour and frequency. Mixed-methods studies combine both — e.g., quantitative analytics identifies the problem ('30% drop-off on step 3'), qualitative interviews explain why ('users don't understand what 'verify' means').
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In usability testing, what distinguishes 'moderated' from 'unmoderated' sessions?
Moderated testing allows for deep probing ('what were you expecting to happen there?') but is expensive and introduces facilitator bias. Unmoderated testing (tools: Maze, UserTesting, Lookback) scales well — you can run 50 sessions overnight — but you can't ask follow-up questions. Choose moderated for exploratory research and complex flows; unmoderated for validation and benchmark testing.
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A product team runs a tree test. What are they evaluating?
Tree testing (reverse card sort) evaluates navigation structure. Participants are given a task ('Where would you find your billing history?') and navigate a tree of categories — no visual design. Metrics: success rate, directness (did they go straight there?), time. Tool: Optimal Workshop Treejack. Use tree testing before designing a new navigation or after card sorting to validate an IA.
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What is 'card sorting' as a UX research method?
Card sorting comes in two forms: Open card sort — participants create and name their own groups, revealing mental models. Closed card sort — participants sort cards into predefined categories, testing whether an existing IA is intuitive. Results inform navigation labels, menu structure, and taxonomy. Common tools: Optimal Workshop OptimalSort, Maze, Miro.
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From a UX research perspective, how does A/B testing differ from usability testing?
A/B testing is quantitative and comparative — it tells you that version B had 12% higher conversion, but not why. Usability testing is typically qualitative and diagnostic — it tells you users are confused by the label 'Proceed', but doesn't tell you whether changing it will improve conversion by 5% or 20%. Both are valuable: usability testing generates hypotheses; A/B testing validates them at scale.