Reasons why I need literature review to do UX research
UX research practices in my country did not involve literature review most of the time. Literature review is seen as a rigor process which can only be applied to empirical, academic research. However, from my experience as a UX researcher for almost one and a half years, I found literature review very useful and beneficial for the research itself. Here are the ways of how I put literature review in my research journey.
Literature review is done during the research planning phase. I usually read scientific papers that are related to my research topic. I find two to three publications are enough to get me started on formulating the research hypothesis. If it wasn’t enough, some free research reports from various marketing agencies are also useful.
Most of the time, I combine both academic and professional publications to understand the research area better. For example, from the literature review I found out several variables have been proven to affect customers’ purchase decisions in a certain context. This knowledge helps me build strong hypotheses and realign my discussion guidelines.
Below is the detailed explanation of why I find literature review very helpful.
1. It helps to understand the context within the research scope
A research topic sometimes can be as wide and wild as possible from the stakeholders. Facing an unfamiliar topic might be daunting as we might not have previous knowledge of the area. Here is where I find literature review very helpful. Through it, I get a clear understanding of the research area. Hence, I know where to direct my focus on the research. 1.
2. Literature review serves as the basis of hypothesis formulation
Starting a research with sets of assumptions is okay. One of the purposes of research is to validate those hypotheses, whether they are supported by evidence or not. The research can be aimless and baseless when we do not have any kind of hypothesis we want to test out.
How can we formulate testable hypotheses? Through literature review, be it from academic sources, commercial or non-commercial sources, a strong hypothesis can be made. Some variables that happen to be related to the research topics can be unveiled and known.
The discussion guidelines, survey or interview questions, now are stronger because they are intended to test out several hypotheses. However, the assumptions need not be explicitly stated in the questions. Some implicit techniques can also be used both for testing out hypotheses and at the same time, exploring unknown realms from the participants’ point of view.
3. Source of explanation of unexpected findings
During data collections, our hypothesis might not be supported. In other words, it should be rejected. During which, explanations of why the findings are not as we expected can be very enlightening. Sometimes, this kind of findings will lead us to better understanding and a great insight. However, the explanation from the literature should also be supported by the researcher’s abductive thinking skill to make sense and connect both data sources.
4. Improving overall credibility of the research
Literature review can support the findings as it makes a great other source of evidence. When there is previous research which leads to the research conclusion, it only adds the credibility of the findings. Not only by one data source (primary data collection) the findings are supported, but also by another rigorous research that has been done before.
Literature review is an essential part of research, be it academic research or product/user experience research. Some of the benefits are helping the researcher understand the research area better, formulate better and grounded hypothesis, and be more confident in the reasoning process to synthesize the findings.
