Customer Reviews

Understanding Your Users: A Practical Guide to User Requirements Methods, Tools, and Techniques (Interactive Technologies)

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This is, in my opinion, one of the best books on usability ever written.

I originally read it when I had the opportunity to interview for an internship with one of the authors. Although the internship didn't materialize, I still feel that I have spent many late nights in focus groups and requirements gathering sessions with the authors, through the comprehensive and crisp detail of this book.

My big gripe about many usability books is that they often consist of overgeneralized research-based claims presented as broad truths rather than the personal opinions that they are (e.g. Nielsen). Other usability books don't even attempt to ground their knowledge claims in scientific or other substantive scholarship (e.g. Kuniavsky).

Baxter and Courage avoid both of these perils. What makes this book most valuable to me is that it's grounded not only in sound theory and research, but also in the extensive experience of the authors -- and the authors present a wealth of background to enable you to independently assess the rigor of their arguments. You don't have to turn off your brain and take their word for it.

I have relied on this book in my later work as a usability researcher, and have always recommended it to our consulting clients interested in better understanding how qualitative user research works. It's also a worthwhile introduction to give insight into what we do as researchers -- it's accessible without being oversimplified, and intellectually rigorous without being off-putting.

Finally, the visual communication used throughout the book is exemplary, making the book easy on the eyes and especially scannable -- a big help in those late nights preparing for a usability session.

Courage and Baxter did an amazing job writing this book, thank you! I really liked the fact that this book is based on years of realworld experiences from commerial high technology company.
They have very good examples from real projects - which is a plus. Like the book said, it's very practical! You can use it out of the box from day 1. As a product design professional with years of experience in this field, book confirmed some of the techniques and approaches that I have been using (but I couldn't share it due to commerical reasons). It also covered topics that I wasn't very familiar with. I especially enjoyed reading the section on group task analysis.

Book is organized very well, high quality paper, with great visual examples and photos!

I would also highly recommend this book for product managers, so hopefully they can write better requirements and specifications.

Baxter and Courage provide a rich, accessible toolbox of diverse yet interrelated usability methods that will enable a designer (UI, UE, IA, etc.) to understand user goals, values, and purposes. As a design professional without a human factors background I find this incredibly useful at the office! A handy reference guide with case studies and sample projects, there is also an undercurrent of strategic thought in terms of how to approach and intepret usability methods, thus complementing the designer's iterative art. This book should also benefit design students and educators, who may be seeking a robust compilation of methods that speaks to the "real world" of adroitly performing usability to advance a design's evolution.

I've found this book to be a terrific resource. It's comprehensive, practical and approachable. Kathy and Catherine take you through a wide variety of usability methods, explaining why and when to use each one. Highly recommended.