Bodystorming - Acting out a 'scenario' (see below), with or without props to capture the intuitive responses to the enactment and interactions.
Contextual inquiry - A set of formal techniques for gathering and analysing information from observations, developed in the mid-1990s by Hugh Beyer and Karen Holtzblatt, and widely taken up by the US software industry.
Cultural probes - Innovative research techniques for probing attitudes and aspirations across different cultural groups, developed by Bill Gaver and Tony Dunne at the Royal College of Art. Elements of these techniques have been taken up by mainstream design practitioners.
Diary studies - Diaries completed by user groups, usually to a format and covering topics specified by the researcher. Best used to provide context for interviews and observations.
Discount usability - A range of 'expert evaluation' techniques developed as an alternative to extensive user testing, promoted by Jakob Nielsen. Developed initially to assess the usability of software packages, discount usability has been extended to web applications. There is scepticism about its effectiveness for evaluating complex multi-user applications.
Ethnographic research/ethnography - Observational research conducted in the context(s) of the people and tasks targeted in a design project. Often recorded on video (see 'videoethnography' below) for analysis and presentation to design team and clients.
Heuristic evaluation - Evaluation of a user interface by a set of expert evaluators who judge its compliance with an agreed set of usability principles or heuristics (see 'discount usability' above).
Iterative design - User-centred design approach that iterates through prototyping and user evaluation (or testing) to deliver products and services that are tailored to user need.
Observation - Immersive research, where the designer watches people carrying out tasks in their own environments and asks open-ended questions about their actions, thoughts and feelings (see 'ethnographic research' above).
Participatory design - Inclusion of users in the design team rather than gathering user feedback through observation and testing. The approach has been most influential in Scandinavia but has, in turn, been criticised because of the risk of designer-users becoming expert, rather than offering a fresh user perspective.
Prototyping - Preparation of simulations of design concepts: from written 'scenarios' (see below), through sketches, on-screen demonstrations or physical models, to fully interactive working simulations. Prototypes are essential for user feedback: allowing people to reflect on their appropriateness or try them out so that their ease of use may be evaluated.
Scenarios - Stories, based on analysis of user research, showing how people are likely to use (or misuse) future products and services. Useful to draw together practical, emotional and social aspects of use for evaluation. May be written, illustrated or acted out (see 'bodystorming' above).
Story boards - Illustrated, step-by-step sequences showing products and services in use. Used for evaluation.
Usability - Ease of use of a product or service. Usually refers to the detailed logic, flow and ergonomics of user interactions with the product or service.
Usability lab - Designated area for testing the usability of software, usually with computer-tracking and video-recording equipment to record the details of people's computer use and their responses to the product or service under evaluation. This level of sophistication is not always necessary for evaluation, and a tape recorder and observer with pencil and paper may suffice.
User evaluation/user testing - Testing prototypes of new products and services (or the products and services themselves) with the people who will use them to establish their fit to users' needs, and how usable they are.
User needs/user requirements - Analysis of the needs of people who will use products and services, ideally based on observation. User needs may have been expressed directly by users or picked up through observation without direct expression (latent needs).
Videoethnography - Ethnographic research recorded on video (see 'ethnographic research' above).