Bias in user reserach is a nasty thing that can render the whole project useless. I will go through all phases of research - planning, data collection and analysis - and show examples of habits you really should avoid unless you wanna fake your own research.

1. Fake Your
Research

2. In April 2012, Czech TV launched a new logo. They ran a last-minute research. The purpose was
clear – prove that the new logo (already scheduled to launch) is good. And they succeeded!
They used several cool tricks to do that. I‘m gonna show you two of them.

3. Imagine you are taking a survey and you see this picture of a TV screen and they ask you „which
TV channel is on?“

4. Now you show you this picture and ask you „What does this remind you of?“ Hands up those
who think of TV

5. More than half associate this with a TV (hoorray!)
The survey reported that more than half people answered „TV“. More than half! What a
beautiful intepretation. What if I take the same data and say – almost half of the people didn‘t
associate the logo with a tv screen. Even after they had just seen one!

6. I will give you a set of useful tools to manipulate the results of your research
Some will directly influence the results, others will simply spread chaos (useful for covering the
former)
And for the good guys…
This is a list of things you should never do
And fire your research agency if they do them

7. Framing
Take advantage of the fact that question order and wording influence the way subjects answer

8. Answer this…
● Do you think it is easier to find work in a city?
● Is the average salary higher in a city than in the
country?
● Is it nature-friendly to use public transport to get
to work?
● Is it good to have many cultural events to choose
from?
● Do you want to be able to choose from high-
quality schools for your children to go to?
● Do you enjoy meeting new people?

9. Now tell me… Would you like to
live in a city?

10. Then answer this…
● Is the air in cities polluted?
● Do you think there is too much technology in
our lives?
● Are city streets safe for children to play?
● Do you like the nature?
● Are the people in the country more open and
friendly?
● Would you like to have a network or neighbors
you know and you can count on?

11. Now tell me again… Would you like
to live in a city?

12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=G0ZZJXw4MTA#t=30
Learn framing from Sir Humphrey

13. Lesson 1
Randomize questions in surveys
Ask open-ended questions

14. Ask What If
The anwer people choose doesn't have any real consequences, just like in a computer game
Ask people how they would behave if they were rich, how would they react if they got a
discount etc. The answer will be very inaccurate.

15. Are you racist?
Let me ask you this: Are you racist?
Now let me ask you another question: Imagine you see a white guy cutting the lock of a bike in a
park. Think what you do.
Keep the answer to yourselves and let me show you this video.

16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ge7i60GuNRg#t=32

17. Lesson 2
Ask people about past behavior. The
answer will not be 100% accurate, but
it will be much more precise than
asking about future

18. Mention Interface Elements in Wording
Now add this item into cart
When giving tasks, mention parts of the interface to make it really easy for the participants to
find the information. This will help you prove that your design is good 

19. Look at this page.
1) Find maps
2) Imagine you want to find something about Mick Jagger. Where do you click?
3) Compare how much time each task took

20. Lesson 3
Never use interface elements in
task wording

21. Ask about the Unknown

22. Great TerribleAverage
Imagine you are taking a survey and they ask you to rate a bank

23. Great TerribleAverage
And another one

24. Great TerribleAverage
And another one… Most of which you have no experience with. Imagine how useful the answers
from such survey must be.

25. Lesson 4
Ask people what they know first
and then about their experience
with it

26. Ask Irrelevant Questions
Just like this picture is totally irrelevant to this talk 

27. Imagine they show you a page. Like this one…

28. And then they ask you to select the emotions you had when looking at the page. From 41
emotion altogether! Sorted on a mysterious scale! Does that really allow you to express you
experience with the design? I doubt it.

29. Anothe popular type of survey. Look at sets of photos and select brands (banks in this case) and
select the ones that go together with the photos. My answer? None!

30. Ask People What They Want
Saying yes costs nothing. It‘s like taking children to a toy store. Participants will say yes to a lot of
stuff they would never actually want. Ask „do you want a newsletter“ or „do you want 28 new
features“ to get yourself something to work on „because people want it“

31. In 1985 Coca Cola released „New Coke“. They ran a set of focus groups asking people what kind
of coke would they want. Since they were asked (and paid to reply) people said they wanted a
different kind of coke. A new one. The product was a failure. It turned out that people didn‘t
want a new one, the like the good old coke just fine.

32. Home Simpson‘s brother asked him to help engineers develop a new car. So Homer went and
told the engineers about all the features his dream car should have. And they built it…

33. Summary
Randomize questions
Ask about past behavior
Avoid irrelevant questions

34. @adlo
www.adamfendrych.cz