How to Visualize Your Qualitative User Research Results for Maximum Impact
A list of tips on qualitative data visualization of user research
Visualizing research means graphs and charts that you can look at to understand your information, but this is usually for quantitative analysis, not qualitative research. If you want to visualize qualitative research, you can’t rely on graphs because this information cannot always be transformed into numbers.
We want to help you visualize qualitative data so you can communicate all the information you have clearly.
Qualitative User Research
When communicating the results of your qualitative research, you will usually focus on understanding the target user, the problems they are having that they want a solution for, and their experiences. This can be hard to translate into numbers and regular visuals.
There is more than one way to visualize qualitative research, and we will tell you about the different methods you can use. You need to choose the best method for the type of results you are trying to communicate. This will ensure that you can share successes and let everyone understand the research and the insights it provides.
Empathy Map
You can use an empathy map to show an overview of four areas that help communicate what the target user wants and what they have experienced. This map can be used to share what the user thinks, what they feel, what they say, and what they did.
An empathy map will show different perspectives on what people might be used to. This is a great way to find out more information that can be used to improve the design and help the target users.
Creating An Empathy Map
When creating an empathy map for the user research report you have, you will first need to go through all the information you have collected from the people you interviewed and answer your questions.
The map will have four quadrants; these can be labeled think, feel, say, and do. In each part of the map, you will need to add quotes that you get from the research data you collected. You will need to add relevant sections and information to each part of the map for each person you interviewed and asked questions.
User Journey Map
The user journey map will cover a period for the user. This could be a day, a week, or whatever makes sense for your target users. You will know the right answer once you have researched your users.
Create A User Journey Map
This method will let you map out what the user will do in that period to achieve their goals. The map will have different paths for the four critical areas; these areas think, feel, and do. You will need to fill out each part of the user’s journey to understand the user’s experience and what they go through to achieve their goals.
After this is done, you must ensure that it is detailed and valuable. You will need to look at everything the user does and identify what can be improved to make their lives easier. This can involve updating certain aspects, removing them, or adding new elements to the user’s journey.
Affinity Diagram
Affinity diagrams help combine a lot of information and organize it into genuine relationships that can be easily understood. Making an affinity diagram is simple, but it may take time depending on how many different ideas and how much information you have to work with.
You could do this on paper or use software to keep everything organized and easier to handle. A UX company would usually use software to create this type of diagram if needed, as they would need to go through lots of user research data.
Create An Affinity Diagram
To create this diagram, you first need to write each idea on a sticky note or paper. Once you have written down all the ideas, you can start the next stage of this process. Make sure all the sticky notes are visible and see everything you have written down.
Identify relationships between the ideas and start sorting the pictures in groups. You can have as many groups as you want, but around 4 to 10 groups are generally related. If you have added most of the sticky notes in their groups, but there are a few left that doesn’t fit into any group, that is fine.
You are done when all of that is done, and you have given each group a name that describes it well. You now have a data visualization of qualitative user research. You can now use this affinity diagram to get insights about the user. Can you find any patterns in the charts? Are they any recurring pain points that users are having? Find everything that can be used to help improve the user’s experience.
Conclusion
Visualizing qualitative user research isn’t as simple as quantitative research. Still, if you do it right, you can gain insights that will help you improve your product and give users a great user experience. Using the methods in this article, you can now start to visualize qualitative user research and easily communicate important information.
User interface design companies use visualization like this to communicate the insights they have found to their customers and stakeholders. If you need help with this, you can hire a UX company to handle the research you have collected.
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