<aside> đź’ˇ UX designers make a lot of assumptions, but UX design is not about solving problems we assume users want solved. It's about solving problems that users actually want to be solved.
</aside>
There are two ways to categorize research: who conducts the research and the type of data collected.
The first way to categorize research is based on who **conducts the research: primary research and secondary research.
Primary research is research you conduct yourself. Information from direct interactions with users, like interviews, surveys, or usability studies, is considered primary research.
Secondary research is research that uses information someone else has put together. For example, using information from sources like books, articles, or journals is considered secondary research.
The second way to categorize research is based on the type of data collected: qualitative or quantitative.
Qualitative research is primarily collected through observations and conversations. Qualitative research is based on understanding users’ needs and aims to answer questions like “why” or “how did this happen?”
Quantitative research focuses on data that can be gathered by counting or measuring. Quantitative research is based on numerical data that’s often collected from large-scale surveys. This type of research aims to answer questions like “how many?” and “how much?”
Bias: Favoring or having prejudice against something based on limited information
Confirmation bias: Occurs when you start looking for evidence to prove a hypothesis you have
Design research: Answers the question: How should we build it?
Direct competitors: Have offerings that are similar to your product and focus on the same audience