Master user interviews, usability testing, surveys, and research synthesis. Use when planning research, gathering user insights, or validating assumptions.
Guide to qualitative and quantitative research methods for understanding users, validating ideas, and informing product decisions.
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research-ops - For research methods, planning, and best practicesUse when you need:
Quantitative <-- --> Qualitative
(What & How Many) (Why & How)
|
Behavioral --+-- Analytics Usability Testing
(What they | Surveys Field Studies
do) | A/B Tests Diary Studies
|
Attitudinal -+-- Surveys Interviews
(What they | NPS Focus Groups
say) | Questionnaires Concept Tests
Understand problems, validate solutions, assess products. Use open-ended questions, listen more than talk (80/20 rule), and ask "why" 5 times. 5-8 participants per segment.
Test product usability with moderated or unmoderated sessions. Recruit 5-8 participants, use think-aloud protocol, measure task completion, time on task, and satisfaction.
Observe users in their natural environment through contextual inquiry, shadowing, or diary studies. Best for understanding context and discovering workarounds.
Understand mental models and information architecture. Open (users create categories), closed (sort into given categories), or hybrid.
6-10 participant moderated discussions. Good for exploring opinions and generating ideas. Avoid for validation (groupthink risk).
Comprehensive guide: references/qualitative-methods-guide.md
Measure attitudes at scale with NPS (0-10), CSAT (1-5), CES (1-7), or custom questions. Keep short (<10 questions), avoid leading/double-barreled questions. 100+ respondents for directional insights, 384+ for statistical significance.
Track behavioral data: engagement (DAU/WAU/MAU), conversion funnels, retention cohorts, feature adoption.
Test variants with statistical rigor. Requires a clear hypothesis ("Changing CTA color from blue to green will increase click-through by 10%"), a single variable change, sufficient sample size (use an online calculator -- typically 1,000+ per variant for small effects), and a 1-2 week runtime. Only test when you have enough traffic; for early-stage products with <1,000 weekly visitors, use qualitative methods instead.
Key pitfalls: Stopping tests early when results look promising (peeking problem), testing too many variants at once (diluted significance), and ignoring segment effects (overall neutral but positive for one cohort).
Combine findings across studies to identify patterns. Three core approaches:
For deeper synthesis methods, see synthesis-frameworks.
Comprehensive guide: references/quantitative-methods-guide.md
Confirmation Bias: Seek disconfirming evidence Leading Questions: Ask neutral questions Selection Bias: Recruit diverse participants Observer Effect: Users behave differently when watched
Qualitative:
Quantitative:
Combine Methods:
Weekly Touchpoints:
Avoid:
Do:
Research Platforms:
Analysis:
Analytics:
assets/research-plan-template.md - Research plan template with goals, methods, questions, and deliverablesreferences/qualitative-methods-guide.md - User interviews, usability testing, field studies, card sorting, focus groupsreferences/quantitative-methods-guide.md - Surveys, analytics, A/B testing, research synthesis methodsreferences/research-planning-guide.md - Defining research questions, choosing methods, recruiting participantsBooks:
Online:
Need to understand why? -> Interviews
Testing usability? -> Usability Tests
Measure satisfaction? -> Survey (NPS/CSAT)
Understand behavior? -> Analytics
Validate solution? -> Prototype Test
Deep context? -> Field Study
Always: Define questions, recruit right users, synthesize, act on insights
"I don't know which research method to use": Start with your question type. Exploring "why" = interviews. Testing usability = usability test. Measuring satisfaction = survey. If you're unsure, default to 5 user interviews -- they're the highest insight-per-hour method.
"I can't recruit enough participants": Lower the bar. For qualitative research, 5 is enough. Use your existing users, social media, or offer small incentives ($25 gift cards). For guerrilla testing, find people at coffee shops or coworking spaces.
"Leadership wants data but we have no budget for research": Use free methods: 5-second tests (UsabilityHub free tier), unmoderated testing (Maze free plan), or analyze existing support tickets and app reviews as proxy research data.
interview-frameworks - Deep-dive interview techniques and question designusability-frameworks - Usability testing methodology and heuristic evaluationsynthesis-frameworks - Turning research data into actionable insightsvalidation-frameworks - Experiment design for validating assumptionsnpx skills add slgoodrich/用户研究技术下载完整 Skill 目录，包含 SKILL.md 及所有相关文件
Google Workspace CLI for Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Contacts, Sheets, and Docs.
Manage Apple Notes via the `memo` CLI on macOS (create, view, edit, delete, search, move, and export notes). Use when a user asks OpenClaw to add a note, list notes, search notes, or manage note folders.
Work with Obsidian vaults (plain Markdown notes) and automate via obsidian-cli.
Use when you need to control Slack from OpenClaw via the slack tool, including reacting to messages or pinning/unpinning items in Slack channels or DMs.
Manage Apple Reminders via remindctl CLI (list, add, edit, complete, delete). Supports lists, date filters, and JSON/plain output.
Manage Trello boards, lists, and cards via the Trello REST API.
Category:productivity