Just Enough Research Quotes

“You can optimize everything and still fail, because you have to optimize for the right things. That's where reflection and qualitative approaches come in. By asking why, we can see the opportunity for something better beyond the bounds of the current best.
Even math has its limits.”
― Erika Hall, Just Enough Research

“A large corporation is more like Australia: it’s impossible
to see the whole landscape at once and there are so many things
capable of maiming or killing you.”
― Erika Hall, Just Enough Research

“In design, “intuitive” is a synonym for “matches the user’s mental model.”
― Erika Hall, Just Enough Research

“Design targets are not marketing targets. Stamp that on every persona document you create. Market segments do not translate into archetypes. And the user type with the highest value to your business may not be the one with the most value to the design process. Maybe existing Fantastic Science Center members with post-graduate science degrees generate the most revenue through gift shop sales and special event attendance, but they know too much. Their existing level of knowledge and engagement is likely to be very high. Design for the users with less expertise and you can meet the needs of those with more”
― Erika Hall, Just Enough Research

“A mental model is an individual’s pre-existing internal concept of and associations with any given institution, system, or situation. Every one of us has an imperfect, idiosyncratic map of reality in our head. Without it, we would be utterly lost. With it, we rely on assumptions based on previous experiences we consider analogous. The better the analogy, the more useful the map. This is why interfaces that strive for novelty are often unusable.”
― Erika Hall, Just Enough Research

“However, when practicing industrial or interactive designers refer to design research, they typically mean research that is integral to the design work itself—inquiries that are part of designing, not about design. This research focuses largely on understanding the people for whom we’re designing, often referred to by the dehumanizing but instrumental term end users. Research is a core part of user-centered design.”
― Erika Hall, Just Enough Research

“Research is simply systematic inquiry. You want to know more about a particular topic, so you go through a process to increase your knowledge.”
― Erika Hall, Just Enough Research

“What does the failure of the Segway have to teach design research? That where humans are concerned, context is everything”
― Erika Hall, Just Enough Research

“Some websites are completely optimized for simple conversion, and it’s easy to tell. The design centers on one clear call to action, a vivid lozenge labeled with a verb.”
― Erika Hall, Just Enough Research