CIA User Research and Analysis 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A UX researcher wants to understand the sequence of steps users take to complete a task across multiple systems. Which artifact best captures this?
- Empathy map
- Service blueprint (Correct answer)
- Affinity diagram
- Heuristic evaluation report
Correct answer: Service blueprint
A service blueprint maps the end-to-end sequence of user actions alongside backstage processes across multiple touchpoints.
Question 2: During a card sorting session, participants consistently group items differently than the existing navigation structure. What is the most appropriate next step?
- Discard the card sort results as outliers
- Revise the information architecture to reflect users' mental models (Correct answer)
- Conduct a heuristic evaluation instead
- Increase the number of cards in the next session
Correct answer: Revise the information architecture to reflect users' mental models
Card sort results revealing mismatches indicate the IA should be restructured to align with how users mentally categorize content.
Question 3: Which statistical measure is most appropriate for summarizing the central tendency of task completion times that contain extreme outliers?
- Mean
- Mode
- Median (Correct answer)
- Standard deviation
Correct answer: Median
The median is resistant to outliers and better represents the typical user experience when timing data is skewed.
Question 4: A researcher codes interview transcripts and notices the same themes appearing repeatedly with no new insights emerging. This is called:
- Triangulation
- Theoretical saturation (Correct answer)
- Axial coding
- Member checking
Correct answer: Theoretical saturation
Theoretical saturation occurs when additional data collection no longer produces new categories or themes.
Question 5: An information architect needs to test whether users can predict where to find content before clicking. Which method is most appropriate?
- First-click testing (Correct answer)
- Eye tracking
- Think-aloud protocol
- Desirability study
Correct answer: First-click testing
First-click testing measures where users click first to find specific content, directly revealing navigation predictability.
Question 6: In contextual inquiry, the researcher's primary role is best described as:
- Expert evaluator who identifies usability flaws
- Apprentice who learns from the user as master (Correct answer)
- Moderator who guides users through scripted tasks
- Observer who remains completely invisible
Correct answer: Apprentice who learns from the user as master
Contextual inquiry uses the master-apprentice model where the researcher learns from users performing real tasks in their own environment.
Question 7: When comparing two navigation designs using A/B testing, what is the minimum requirement before declaring a winner?
- At least 100 participants per variant
- Statistical significance at a defined confidence level (Correct answer)
- Equal representation of all user personas
- Completion of at least 5 task scenarios
Correct answer: Statistical significance at a defined confidence level
A/B test results must reach statistical significance (typically 95% confidence) to rule out results being due to random chance.
CIA User Research and Analysis 2
A UX researcher wants to understand the sequence of steps users take to complete a task across multiple systems.
Which artifact best captures this?