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User Research: What It Is and Why You Should Do It

User research is an essential part of UX design. Unless we understand who we are designing for and why, how can we even know what to create or where to begin? Depending on your project, requirements and constraints, you can choose different types of research methods, from surveys and tests to interviews and the most common method — usability testing. Here, we’ll look at what user research is, and the three most common reasons for doing user research — namely, to create designs that are truly relevant, to create designs that are easy and pleasurable to use, and to understand the return on investment of your user experience (UX) design .

What is User Research?

User research, or “design research,” as it’s sometimes called, covers a wide range of methods. It can mean anything from doing ethnographic interviews with your target group, to classical usability studies, to quantitative measurements of return on investment (ROI) on your user experience design. What all user research has in common is that it helps place people at the center of your design process and your products . You use user research to inspire your design, to evaluate your solutions, and to measure your impact. User research (and other kinds of research) is often divided into quantitative and qualitative methods.

Surveys and formal experiments such as A/B testing and tree testing are examples of quantitative research tools. Quantitative user research methods seek to measure user behavior in a way that can be quantified and used for statistical analysis.

Interviews and (to some degree) usability tests are examples of qualitative research tools. These are often more exploratory and seek to get an in-depth understanding of the experiences and everyday lives of individual users or user groups.

Each research method has benefits and drawbacks. As such, each can be used for achieving different goals. Which method you choose depends on what you want to achieve as well as a number of practical concerns, such as what type of project you are working on, your budget and your time constraints. With that in mind, let’s look at some different reasons for why you should involve users in your design process.

Three Good Reasons for Doing User Research

“ Empathy is at the heart of design. Without the understanding of what others see, feel, and experience, design is a pointless task.” — Tim Brown, CEO of the innovation and design firm IDEO

The type of user research you should do depends on your work process as well as your reason for doing user research in the first place. Here are three excellent reasons for doing user research:

1. To Create Designs That are Truly Relevant

If you understand your users, you can make designs that are relevant for them. If you don’t have a clear understanding of your users, you have no way of knowing whether your design will be relevant. A design that is not relevant to its target audience will never be a success .

The first step and core of the design thinking process is to empathize with your users. User research is one of the best ways to do that. Conducting different types of interviews and observing people in the contexts where they will use your design is a common method of doing this type of user research. We often place this type of research at the very beginning of a project to ensure that the overall direction for the project is relevant to potential customers and users. In order to ensure that your design continues to be relevant as your project progresses, validating your ideas with prospective users on a continuous basis is a vital habit to stick to. Talk to them about how they perceive your design and how they could imagine using it, or involve them directly in your design process, to ensure that you are still on the right track.

Let’s look at an example: In 2005, Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung did a number of ethnographic user studies that completely changed the way it thought about designing TVs. Together with the innovation and strategy consultancy ReD Associates, Samsung representatives visited people in different countries to observe how they live and to talk to them about their homes and the TV’s role in their homes. What they found surprised them. At the time, Samsung and most other TV manufacturers primarily designed their TVs with technical specs such as high-quality picture and sound in mind. The TVs were designed to show off their technical capabilities, but what Samsung found when visiting people was that they viewed a TV more like a piece of furniture . As a TV is turned off most of the time, people do not want it to dominate their living room. So, rather than show off their expensive TV with all its technological capabilities, they tried to hide it away as much as possible.

Following this insight, Samsung changed its design strategy radically, moving the inbuilt speakers to make the TV slimmer and creating a subtler, minimalistic design that would fit more seamlessly into people’s living rooms. Technical capabilities were still important, but they had to be balanced with design choices that made the TVs fit into people’s homes. “Home” was the watchword here, and Samsung got hard to work on the transformation. The challenge involved getting away from treating a living room like a showroom or sports bar, and going for “harmony” instead. By 2007, Samsung had doubled its share in the global TV market because it had proven to understand how to make its TVs relevant to its customers.

User research made Samsung change its TV design strategy to focus on making more minimalistic designs that fit into the customer’s home. Although TVs have not become smaller, everything extraneous has been removed. As we see here, the TV functions as a gallery-sized moving picture — with all the “bells and whistles” discreetly housed — light-years away from the old notion of “peacocking” its technical prowess as if it were a James Bond gadget.

2. To Create Designs That are Easy and Pleasurable to Use

“If the user is having a problem, it’s our problem.” — Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computers

All products should have a high level of usability (i.e., be easy to use ), and usability tests can be a big help in achieving that. The days when programmed technology was a tool only to be used by experts are long gone. People expect products to be easy to learn and easy to use. They expect to pick them up and do things with them while only thinking about what they hope to achieve, not having to think about the products themselves. If your user experience is not good, chances are that people will move on to another product . Unless you work in a field with no competitors, a high level of usability (and a matching high-quality user experience) is essential in making any product a commercial success. Not to mention that your users will love you for creating a great user experience. Even if you are designing products for — e.g. — a highly specialized work environment where the users have no alternatives, products with a high level of usability will make work processes faster, safer and more efficient.

Wikiwand is a good example of a company that operates solely on providing a great user experience. Their product is a browser plugin which changes the design of Wikipedia articles to make them more appealing and user-friendly. Wikiwand does not provide different content from the classic Wikipedia webpage, but the company has thousands of users who praise it for the awesome user experience it delivers.

To the left is the classic Wikipedia interface; to the right is the Wikiwand version of the same article. The content is the same, but the experience is different.

When you are designing or developing a product, you become the primary expert on how to use it and what functionalities it has. Because you know your own product so well, however, you can become blind to functionality in your product that is difficult to use. As designers, we need that level of understanding of our products, but it also means that we can all too easily shift far away from the same perspective as our users. The author has personally participated in many projects where the designers know the ideas behind the interface and functionality of a product so well that separating the understandable from the not-so understandable is really difficult for them. This tendency of seeing things from the point of view of one’s profession — what we call “déformation professionnelle” — and not stepping back to catch the reality of what’s going on from a fresh, generalist angle is a natural one, incidentally.

Happily, though, you can avoid a lot of usability issues by following various guidelines and rules of thumb, but there will always be situations that the guidelines don’t cover, or where different guidelines tell you different things. You might also be designing for a target group such as seniors or children where the regular guidelines do not apply. That means testing the user experience of your product is always a good idea. Usability tests work best when they are an integrated part of your work process so that you test your product iteratively and from an early stage of development onward. Early tests are what we can do on primitive prototypes — e.g., using paper; from there, we progress to more refined prototypes until we have something that resembles the final product. If you only start testing when you have an almost-finished product, you run a very serious risk in that your findings might come too late for you to make larger changes to the product. For instance, if all the software is done or if you can’t push your release date, you’ll have your back against the wall. So, stay fluid with your design until the very end of the process — it’s amazing what insights can come from an eleventh-hour test of the ‘last’ version you have planned for rollout.

3. To Understand the Return on Investment of Your UX Design

Although the importance of good design has become widely recognized, UX designers and researchers still experience having to fight for resources to enable them to do their work. Executives and shareholders sometimes fail to see the value in investing in user research and UX design. UX design and user research is not as tangible as new features or fixing software bugs; so, overlooking their value can happen all the more easily. If resources become scarce, UX is also often one of the first areas to experience cuts; the reason is that consequences are not as immediately felt as when you save on development or similar areas. If you make cuts in say, software development, you can immediately see that the consequences involve cutting back on features or having buggy software; however, if you make cuts in UX, you don’t experience the consequences until your product reaches your users, and when your competitors attract your users towards them.

We can easily argue for the value of great UX; it is much more effective if we can show it. This is where studies to show the return on investment (ROI) on UX efforts are worth their weight in gold (or the weight, at least, of the printouts). If you can show that the changes you made in the design generated more sales, resulted in a larger number of customers, or made work processes more efficient, you have a much stronger case for investing in UX. User studies to measure the effect of your design are mostly quantitative and can take different forms. You can do A/B tests during development that compare different versions of your design, or you can do studies after your product is released to measure differences in use patterns. With apps and webpages, you often build in different types of analytics to inform you of different user patterns.

The global online marketplace Etsy is a good example of a company that has built its success on a focus on customer experience throughout the entire customer journey and that continuously measures the user experience. 

For example , Etsy routinely tests different versions of user interfaces to constantly improve the platform’s usability as well as business metrics. Etsy's continued position as one of the largest online marketplaces is a result of its rigorous focus on usability, research and testing.

The world’s most successful companies continually test and iterate their products, as is evident in their A/B tests. Here is one of several that GoodUI has been tracking. You can see more such “leaked” tests from AirBnb, Amazon, Booking, Netflix and others on their website.

The Take Away

Here, we have shown three good reasons for doing user research and we have touched on when in your design process you can integrate user research. Here are the three reasons again:

Do user research to ensure that you create products that are truly relevant to your target group.

Do user research to ensure that your products deliver a great user experience.

Do user research to show the ROI of your design efforts.

You can — and should — do user studies at all stages of the design process. You do studies before you start designing so as to get an understanding of what your target group needs ; you carry out iterative tests during development to ensure that the user experience is on track, and you can measure the effect of your design after your product is released. This “holy trinity” approach can keep you three steps ahead as every dimension of your release will have been considered, analyzed, and tested before you sit down to see the results of the ultimate test (the ROI), more confident that you’ve got a winning design.

References and Where to Learn More

For an in-depth coverage of different user research methods, take the following courses:

User Research – Methods and Best Practices

Data-Driven Design: Quantitative Research for UX

In this interview, founder of Wikiwand, Lior Grossman explains the company’s approach to designing a more usable encyclopedia.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 3.0

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What is UX Research: The Ultimate Guide for UX Researchers

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11 Key UX research methods: How and when to use them

After defining your objectives and planning your research framework, it’s time to choose the research technique that will best serve your project's goals and yield the right insights. While user research is often treated as an afterthought, it should inform every design decision. In this chapter, we walk you through the most common research methods and help you choose the right one for you.

What are UX research methods?

A UX research method is a way of generating insights about your users, their behavior, motivations, and needs. You can use methods like user interviews, surveys, focus groups, card sorting, usability testing to identify user challenges and turn them into opportunities to improve the user experience.

More of a visual learner? Check out this video for a speedy rundown. If you’re ready to get stuck in, jump straight to our full breakdown .

The most common types of user research

First, let’s talk about the types of UX research. Every individual research method falls under these types, which reflect different goals and objectives for conducting research.

Here’s a quick overview:

Qualitative vs. quantitative

All research methods are either quantitative or qualitative . Qualitative research focuses on capturing subjective insights into users' experiences. It aims to understand the underlying reasons, motivations, and behaviors of individuals. Quantitative research, on the other hand, involves collecting and analyzing numerical data to identify patterns, trends, and significance. It aims to quantify user behaviors, preferences, and attitudes, allowing for generalizations and statistical insights.

Qualitative research also typically involves a smaller sample size than quantitative research (40 participants, as recommended by Nielsen Norman Group ).

Attitudinal vs. behavioral

Attitudinal research is about understanding users' attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs. It delves into the 'why' behind user decisions and actions. It often involves surveys or interviews where users are asked about their feelings, preferences, or perceptions towards a product or service. It's subjective in nature, aiming to capture people's emotions and opinions.

Behavioral research is about what users do rather than what they say they do or would do. This kind of research is often based on observation methods like usability testing, eye-tracking, or heat maps to understand user behavior.

Generative vs. evaluative

Generative research is all about generating new ideas, concepts, and insights to fuel the design process. You might run brainstorming sessions with groups of users, card sorting, and co-design sessions to inspire creativity and guide the development of user-centered solutions.

On the other hand, evaluative research focuses on assessing the usability, effectiveness, and overall quality of existing designs or prototypes. Once you’ve developed a prototype of your product, it's time to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. You can compare different versions of a product design or feature through A/B testing—ensuring your UX design meets user needs and expectations.

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11 Best UX research methods and when to use them

There are various UX research techniques—each method serves a specific purpose and can provide unique insights into user behaviors and preferences. In this section, we’ll highlight the most common research techniques you need to know.

Read on for an at-a-glance table, and full breakdown of each method.

User interviews

User interviews are a qualitative research method that involves having open-ended and guided discussions with users to gather in-depth insights about their experiences, needs, motivations, and behaviors.

Typically, you would ask a few questions on a specific topic and analyze participants' answers. The results you get will depend on how well you form and ask questions, as well as follow up on participants’ answers.

“As a researcher, it's our responsibility to drive the user to their actual problems,” says Yuliya Martinavichene , User Experience Researcher at Zinio. She adds, “The narration of incidents can help you analyze a lot of hidden details with regard to user behavior.”

That’s why you should:

• Start with a wide context : Make sure that your questions don’t start with your product
• Ask questions that focus on the tasks that users are trying to complete
• Invest in analysis : Get transcripts done and share the findings with your team

Tanya Nativ , Design Researcher at Sketch recommends defining the goals and assumptions internally. “Our beliefs about our users’ behavior really help to structure good questions and get to the root of the problem and its solution,” she explains.

It's easy to be misunderstood if you don't have experience writing interview questions. You can get someone to review them for you or use our Question Bank of 350+ research questions .

When to conduct user interviews

This method is typically used at the start and end of your project. At the start of a project, you can establish a strong understanding of your target users, their perspectives, and the context in which they’ll interact with your product. By the end of your project, new user interviews—often with a different set of individuals—offer a litmus test for your product's usability and appeal, providing firsthand accounts of experiences, perceived strengths, and potential areas for refinement.

Field studies

Field studies are research activities that take place in the user’s environment rather than in your lab or office. They’re a great method for uncovering context, unknown motivations, or constraints that affect the user experience.

An advantage of field studies is observing people in their natural environment, giving you a glimpse at the context in which your product is used. It’s useful to understand the context in which users complete tasks, learn about their needs, and collect in-depth user stories.

When to conduct field studies

This method can be used at all stages of your project—two key times you may want to conduct field studies are:

• As part of the discovery and exploration stage to define direction and understand the context around when and how users interact with the product
• During usability testing, once you have a prototype, to evaluate the effectiveness of the solution or validate design assumptions in real-world contexts

3. Focus groups

A focus group is a qualitative research method that includes the study of a group of people, their beliefs, and opinions. It’s typically used for market research or gathering feedback on products and messaging.

Focus groups can help you better grasp:

• How users perceive your product
• What users believe are a product’s most important features
• What problems do users experience with the product

As with any qualitative research method, the quality of the data collected through focus groups is only as robust as the preparation. So, it’s important to prepare a UX research plan you can refer to during the discussion.

Here’s some things to consider:

• Write a script to guide the conversation
• Ask clear, open-ended questions focused on the topics you’re trying to learn about
• Include around five to ten participants to keep the sessions focused and organized

When to conduct focus groups

It’s easier to use this research technique when you're still formulating your concept, product, or service—to explore user preferences, gather initial reactions, and generate ideas. This is because, in the early stages, you have flexibility and can make significant changes without incurring high costs.

Another way some researchers employ focus groups is post-launch to gather feedback and identify potential improvements. However, you can also use other methods here which may be more effective for identifying usability issues. For example, a platform like Maze can provide detailed, actionable data about how users interact with your product. These quantitative results are a great accompaniment to the qualitative data gathered from your focus group.

4. Diary studies

Diary studies involve asking users to track their usage and thoughts on your product by keeping logs or diaries, taking photos, explaining their activities, and highlighting things that stood out to them.

“Diary studies are one of the few ways you can get a peek into how users interact with our product in a real-world scenario,” says Tanya.

A diary study helps you tell the story of how products and services fit into people’s daily lives, and the touch-points and channels they choose to complete their tasks.

There’s several key questions to consider before conducting diary research, from what kind of diary you want—freeform or structured, and digital or paper—to how often you want participants to log their thoughts.

• Open, ‘freeform’ diary: Users have more freedom to record what and when they like, but can also lead to missed opportunities to capture data users might overlook
• Closed, ‘structured; diary: Users follow a stricter entry-logging process and answer pre-set questions

Remember to determine the trigger: a signal that lets the participants know when they should log their feedback. Tanya breaks these triggers down into the following:

• Interval-contingent trigger : Participants fill out the diary at specific intervals such as one entry per day, or one entry per week
• Signal-contingent trigger : You tell the participant when to make an entry and how you would prefer them to communicate it to you as well as your preferred type of communication
• Event-contingent trigger : The participant makes an entry whenever a defined event occurs

When to conduct diary studies

Diary studies are often valuable when you need to deeply understand users' behaviors, routines, and pain points in real-life contexts. This could be when you're:

• Conceptualizing a new product or feature: Gain insights into user habits, needs, and frustrations to inspire your design
• Trying to enhance an existing product: Identify areas where users are having difficulties or where there are opportunities for better user engagement

Although surveys are primarily used for quantitative research, they can also provided qualitative data, depending on whether you use closed or open-ended questions:

• Closed-ended questions come with a predefined set of answers to choose from using formats like rating scales, rankings, or multiple choice. This results in quantitative data.
• Open-ended question s are typically open-text questions where test participants give their responses in a free-form style. This results in qualitative data.

Matthieu Dixte , Product Researcher at Maze, explains the benefit of surveys: “With open-ended questions, researchers get insight into respondents' opinions, experiences, and explanations in their own words. This helps explore nuances that quantitative data alone may not capture.”

So, how do you make sure you’re asking the right survey questions? Gregg Bernstein , UX Researcher at Signal, says that when planning online surveys, it’s best to avoid questions that begin with “How likely are you to…?” Instead, Gregg says asking questions that start with “Have you ever… ?” will prompt users to give more specific and measurable answers.

Make sure your questions:

• Are easy to understand
• Don't guide participants towards a particular answer
• Include both closed-ended and open-ended questions
• Respect users and their privacy
• Are consistent in terms of format

To learn more about survey design, check out this guide .

When to conduct surveys

While surveys can be used at all stages of project development, and are ideal for continuous product discovery , the specific timing and purpose may vary depending on the research goals. For example, you can run surveys at:

• Conceptualization phase to gather preliminary data, and identify patterns, trends, or potential user segments
• Post-launch or during iterative design cycles to gather feedback on user satisfaction, feature usage, or suggestions for improvements

6. Card sorting

Card sorting is an important step in creating an intuitive information architecture (IA) and user experience. It’s also a great technique to generate ideas, naming conventions, or simply see how users understand topics.

In this UX research method, participants are presented with cards featuring different topics or information, and tasked with grouping the cards into categories that make sense to them.

There are three types of card sorting:

• Open card sorting: Participants organize topics into categories that make sense to them and name those categories, thus generating new ideas and names
• Hybrid card sorting: Participants can sort cards into predefined categories, but also have the option to create their own categories
• Closed card sorting: Participants are given predefined categories and asked to sort the items into the available groups

You can run a card sorting session using physical index cards or digitally with a UX research tool like Maze to simulate the drag-and-drop activity of dividing cards into groups. Running digital card sorting is ideal for any type of card sort, and moderated or unmoderated sessions.

Read more about card sorting and learn how to run a card sorting session here .

When to conduct card sorting

Card sorting isn’t limited to a single stage of design or development—it can be employed anytime you need to explore how users categorize or perceive information. For example, you may want to use card sorting if you need to:

• Understand how users perceive ideas
• Evaluate and prioritize potential solutions
• Generate name ideas and understand naming conventions
• Learn how users expect navigation to work
• Decide how to group content on a new or existing site
• Restructure information architecture

7. Tree testing

During tree testing a text-only version of the site is given to your participants, who are asked to complete a series of tasks requiring them to locate items on the app or website.

The data collected from a tree test helps you understand where users intuitively navigate first, and is an effective way to assess the findability, labeling, and information architecture of a product.

We recommend keeping these sessions short, ranging from 15 to 20 minutes, and asking participants to complete no more than ten tasks. This helps ensure participants remain focused and engaged, leading to more reliable and accurate data, and avoiding fatigue.

If you’re using a platform like Maze to run remote testing, you can easily recruit participants based on various demographic filters, including industry and country. This way, you can uncover a broader range of user preferences, ensuring a more comprehensive understanding of your target audience.

To learn more about tree testing, check out this chapter .

When to conduct tree testing

Tree testing is often done at an early stage in the design or redesign process. That’s because it’s more cost-effective to address errors at the start of a project—rather than making changes later in the development process or after launch.

However, it can be helpful to employ tree testing as a method when adding new features, particularly alongside card sorting.

While tree testing and card sorting can both help you with categorizing the content on a website, it’s important to note that they each approach this from a different angle and are used at different stages during the research process. Ideally, you should use the two in tandem: card sorting is recommended when defining and testing a new website architecture, while tree testing is meant to help you test how the navigation performs with users.

8. Usability testing

Usability testing evaluates your product with people by getting them to complete tasks while you observe and note their interactions (either during or after the test). The goal of conducting usability testing is to understand if your design is intuitive and easy to use. A sign of success is if users can easily accomplish their goals and complete tasks with your product.

There are various usability testing methods that you can use, such as moderated vs. unmoderated or qualitative vs. quantitative —and selecting the right one depends on your research goals, resources, and timeline.

Usability testing is usually performed with functional mid or hi-fi prototypes . If you have a Figma, InVision, Sketch, or prototype ready, you can import it into a platform like Maze and start testing your design with users immediately.

The tasks you create for usability tests should be:

• Realistic, and describe a scenario
• Actionable, and use action verbs (create, sign up, buy, etc)

Be mindful of using leading words such as ‘click here’ or ‘go to that page’ in your tasks. These instructions bias the results by helping users complete their tasks—something that doesn’t happen in real life.

Product tip ✨

With Maze, you can test your prototype and live website with real users to filter out cognitive biases, and gather actionable insights that fuel product decisions.

When to conduct usability testing

To inform your design decisions, you should do usability testing early and often in the process . Here are some guidelines to help you decide when to do usability testing:

• Before you start designing
• Once you have a wireframe or prototype
• Prior to the launch of the product
• At regular intervals after launch

To learn more about usability testing, check out our complete guide to usability testing .

9. Five-second testing

In five-second testing , participants are (unsurprisingly) given five seconds to view an image like a design or web page, and then they’re asked questions about the design to gauge their first impressions.

Why five seconds? According to data , 55% of visitors spend less than 15 seconds on a website, so it;s essential to grab someone’s attention in the first few seconds of their visit. With a five-second test, you can quickly determine what information users perceive and their impressions during the first five seconds of viewing a design.

Product tip 💡

And if you’re using Maze, you can simply upload an image of the screen you want to test, or browse your prototype and select a screen. Plus, you can star individual comments and automatically add them to your report to share with stakeholders.

When to conduct five-second testing

Five-second testing is typically conducted in the early stages of the design process, specifically during initial concept testing or prototype development. This way, you can evaluate your design's initial impact and make early refinements or adjustments to ensure its effectiveness, before putting design to development.

To learn more, check out our chapter on five-second testing .

10. A/B testing

A/B testing , also known as split testing, compares two or more versions of a webpage, interface, or feature to determine which performs better regarding engagement, conversions, or other predefined metrics.

It involves randomly dividing users into different groups and giving each group a different version of the design element being tested. For example, let's say the primary call-to-action on the page is a button that says ‘buy now’.

You're considering making changes to its design to see if it can lead to higher conversions, so you create two versions:

• Version A : The original design with the ‘buy now’ button positioned below the product description—shown to group A
• Version B : A variation with the ‘buy now’ button now prominently displayed above the product description—shown to group B

Over a planned period, you measure metrics like click-through rates, add-to-cart rates, and actual purchases to assess the performance of each variation. You find that Group B had significantly higher click-through and conversion rates than Group A. This indicates that showing the button above the product description drove higher user engagement and conversions.

Check out our A/B testing guide for more in-depth examples and guidance on how to run these tests.

When to conduct A/B testing

A/B testing can be used at all stages of the design and development process—whenever you want to collect direct, quantitative data and confirm a suspicion, or settle a design debate. This iterative testing approach allows you to continually improve your website's performance and user experience based on data-driven insights.

11. Concept testing

Concept testing is a type of research that evaluates the feasibility, appeal, and potential success of a new product before you build it. It centers the user in the ideation process, using UX research methods like A/B testing, surveys, and customer interviews.

There’s no one way to run a concept test—you can opt for concept testing surveys, interviews, focus groups, or any other method that gets qualitative data on your concept.

*Dive into our complete guide to concept testing for more tips and tricks on getting started. *

When to conduct concept testing

Concept testing helps gauge your audience’s interest, understanding, and likelihood-to-purchase, before committing time and resources to a concept. However, it can also be useful further down the product development line—such as when defining marketing messaging or just before launching.

Which is the best UX research type?

The best research type varies depending on your project; what your objectives are, and what stage you’re in. Ultimately, the ideal type of research is one which provides the insights required, using the available resources.

For example, if you're at the early ideation or product discovery stage, generative research methods can help you generate new ideas, understand user needs, and explore possibilities. As you move to the design and development phase, evaluative research methods and quantitative data become crucial.

Discover the UX research trends shaping the future of the industry and why the best results come from a combination of different research methods.

How to choose the right user experience research method

In an ideal world, a combination of all the insights you gain from multiple types of user research methods would guide every design decision. In practice, this can be hard to execute due to resources.

Sometimes the right methodology is the one you can get buy-in, budget, and time for.

Gregg Bernstein , UX Researcher at Signal

UX research tools can help streamline the research process, making regular testing and application of diverse methods more accessible—so you always keep the user at the center of your design process. Some other key tips to remember when choosing your method are:

Define the goals and problems

A good way to inform your choice of user experience research method is to start by considering your goals. You might want to browse UX research templates or read about examples of research.

Michael Margolis , UX Research Partner at Google Ventures, recommends answering questions like:

• “What do your users need?”
• “What are your users struggling with?”
• “How can you help your users?”

Understand the design process stage

If your team is very early in product development, generative research —like field studies—make sense. If you need to test design mockups or a prototype, evaluative research methods—such as usability testing—will work best.

This is something they’re big on at Sketch, as we heard from Design Researcher, Tanya Nativ. She says, “In the discovery phase, we focus on user interviews and contextual inquiries. The testing phase is more about dogfooding, concept testing, and usability testing. Once a feature has been launched, it’s about ongoing listening.”

Consider the type of insights required

If you're looking for rich, qualitative data that delves into user behaviors, motivations, and emotions, then methods like user interviews or field studies are ideal. They’ll help you uncover the ‘why’ behind user actions.

On the other hand, if you need to gather quantitative data to measure user satisfaction or compare different design variations, methods like surveys or A/B testing are more suitable. These methods will help you get hard numbers and concrete data on preferences and behavior.

*Discover the UX research trends shaping the future of the industry and why the best results come from a combination of different research methods. *

Build a deeper understanding of your users with UX research

Think of UX research methods as building blocks that work together to create a well-rounded understanding of your users. Each method brings its own unique strengths, whether it's human empathy from user interviews or the vast data from surveys.

But it's not just about choosing the right UX research methods; the research platform you use is equally important. You need a platform that empowers your team to collect data, analyze, and collaborate seamlessly.

Simplifying product research is simple with Maze. From tree testing to card sorting, prototype testing to user interview analysis—Maze makes getting actionable insights easy, whatever method you opt for.

Meanwhile, if you want to know more about testing methods, head on to the next chapter all about tree testing .

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Conduct impactful UX research with Maze and improve your product experience and customer satisfaction.

Frequently asked questions

How do you choose the right UX research method?

Choosing the right research method depends on your goals. Some key things to consider are:

• The feature/product you’re testing
• The type of data you’re looking for
• The design stage
• The time and resources you have available

What is the best UX research method?

The best research method is the one you have the time, resources, and budget for that meets your specific needs and goals. Most research tools, like Maze, will accommodate a variety of UX research and testing techniques.

When to use which user experience research method?

Selecting which user research method to use—if budget and resources aren’t a factor—depends on your goals. UX research methods provide different types of data:

• Qualitative vs quantitative
• Attitudinal vs behavioral
• Generative vs evaluative

Identify your goals, then choose a research method that gathers the user data you need.

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Qualitative to quantitative UX research , we provide custom research solutions to answer your questions and uncover what drives your users.

We make it easy to reach your ideal participants by handling all research operations and logistics and bringing all of our experience to bear for your project. 

With decades of UX expertise, we can help you shape an ongoing, scalable customer insights program to support your product roadmap.

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Our specialized teams are fully immersed in the latest advances and ongoing trends in their practice areas. From building more inclusive user research practices to exploring emerging domains, we help you explore how your digital interactions shape your customer connections.

We have invested ahead of the curve in emerging technologies, like voice, AR/VR, and AI.  When you’re ready to expand your research approaches, our emerging technologies practice is ready to help with experience and expertise in a range of new modalities, platforms, and features.

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Our UX research and research ops specialists have experience across platforms, assistive technologies, industries, and populations to solve critical accessibility concerns. 

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AnswerLab’s quality has been top notch "AnswerLab’s quality has been top notch. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with AnswerLab and hope for the opportunity to do so in the future." Director | User Experience Design, LinkedIn

Their research design provided actionable insights "From our initial discussions to the final presentation of findings, AnswerLab demonstrated a strong understanding of our industry, our business needs, and our customers. Their research design provided actionable insights. We were able to benchmark our site, validate the changes we made, and identify areas for future improvement. They are truly a strategic partner." Steven Abatiello | Manager, Web Operations at National Grid

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Helped my team understand where and how we should most effectively prioritize our resources "UX benchmarking has provided my org with a more nuanced and descriptive means to track our progress towards our annual objectives. Through two rounds of benchmarking, AnswerLab has helped my team track how well new feature launches are supporting user needs – or where they’re falling flat. AnswerLab’s insights have helped my team understand where and how we should most effectively prioritize our resources to ensure we’re best supporting our users across our product." UX Researcher | Google

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Three UX Lab examples with the latest UX research tools

A UX Lab (or usability lab) is used for usability testing and user experience research. Users are observed in a specific environment while interacting with a product or system. Their interactions are important, as the usability of a product or system is key to its success. Most UX research is conducted in state-of-the-art UX labs.

Over the past few years we’ve been involved in some of the most amazing UX labs. From gaming research labs to modern social media labs and purpose-built usability testing labs. Let me share three recent examples of UX labs that we’ve helped establish in recent years, including the latest UX research tools.

Dubai's first purpose-built usability lab

Home to some of the world’s tallest buildings and most luxurious hotels, Dubai is increasingly becoming a smart city where technological innovation is key. User experience experts Digital of Things identified the growing need for good UX in the region and established the UAE’s first purpose-built, state-of-the-art usability testing lab.

The Digital of Things usability lab is a high-tech user testing lab with world class analytical features, including  facial expression analysis with FaceReader . 

Together with Noldus, they've set up an ultra-modern usability lab , equipped with the most advanced software for user experience testing. The lab has a comfortable living room atmosphere so testers feel at home, ensuring reliable results from user testing. Thanks to the one-way mirror, cameras and microphones in each room, testers are observed unobtrusively.

These lab facilities and their expertise enable Digital of Things to combine quantitative data with qualitative insights, and provide their clients with useful recommendations.

Discover NoldusHub , the all-in-one research platform for human behavior studies. This software suite will streamline multimodal research from start to finish, providing high-quality data, and insights into human behavior. 

Social Media Lab at Mons, Belgium

Closer to home, we’ve set up a lab that is adapted to our modern digital world. Everybody uses social networks like Facebook and Instagram, but are not really aware of how their data is used.  

The Social Media Lab  in Mons, Belgium brings together researchers, students, and professionals from different disciplines as communication, marketing, journalism, computer science, and more. Together they try to understand the digital world, train themselves in the use of new technology, and learn more and advice about new professional practices. They conduct tests to find out how people make sense of data, and data visualizations.

They use tools like The Observer XT for easy data integration and behavior analysis, and MediaRecorder for synchronous AV recording .

The Social Media Lab at the University of Louvain uses Noldus' software to integrate different data streams and set up experiments. 

Montréal-based UX Lab

Most recently we teamed up with the Tech3Lab at HEC Montréal. Prof. Pierre-Majorique Léger tells more about user experience research, and how to measure users' interactions with technology in the video below.

Thanks to research in their UX lab, they have designed a new technology for UX research compatible with Noldus tools. This cloud-based software platform combines behavioral data collected from human behavior research in order to provide fast and rich insights to professionals developing human experiences.

From data collection to insightful results at this Canadian UX Lab

Cognitive and emotional data collected during user experience tests are usually visualized into heat maps. Going beyond traditional gaze heat maps used in eye tracking, it captures the complete user experience. Thanks to the triangulation of facial expressions, physical reactions, and eye tracking data, it provides UX researchers and designers with unique insights on what generates emotion or cognitive load on their interface.

The world of user experience research is always developing and we can't wait to see what other usability and UX labs will be set up in the future!

Do you want to learn more how to set up a usability lab? Read on for the perfect tips & tricks!

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6 User Research Methods & When To Use Them

Learn more about 6 common user research methods and how they can be used to strengthen your UX design process.

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User research is the process of understanding user needs and desires through observation and feedback. 

It's one of the most important aspects of UX design, and it's used to inform all aspects of the design process, from initial sketches to the final product. Through user research, we can answer important questions about our design, such as Who are our users? and What do they need?

In this blog post, we will discuss six common user research methods, what they are, when to use them, and some common challenges associated with each one.

Let’s get started …

What is User Research?

Why is user research integral to the ux process, 6 common user research methods, how to get started with user research in ux design projects, key takeaways.

User research is a process of gathering data about users in order to design better products that meet their needs . 

It's used in every part of the design process, from the initial market research and concepting stages, through the final interface design testing and iteration stages.

The goal: to gather data that will allow you to make informed decisions as you create design solutions.

Term Check: User Research vs. UX Research

Depending on what you read, you might come across the terms user research , UX research , or simply design research —all used interchangeably. 

While they all tend to refer to the process of collecting user-centric data, there is some distinction that can be applied:

The term user research is often used when you want to learn more about the target audience for a product or service; who they are, how they think, what their goals are, etc.

UX research , on the other hand, tends to be used when you’re conducting research that focuses on how users interact with a product or service. 

In this article, we’ll be looking at user research holistically, whether specifically talking about the users themselves, or learning more about how they interact with and experience your design work.

User research is an integral part of the design process: it ensures you have enough data and insights to make informed decisions about the design work you produce, reducing the risk of making assumptions and creating something no one truly wants.

Successful UX design requires a deep understanding of the people who will be using your product and how they interact with it. No matter how experienced you are as a designer, there is no way to validate your assumptions about design solutions without data. And the only way to acquire this understanding is by collecting data from the users themselves.

There are a variety of user research methods, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Here are 6 common methodologies that are easy to incorporate into your UX design process.

1. User Interviews

Interviews are a type of user research method in which the researcher talks with participants to collect data. This method is used to gather insights about people's attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and experiences. Interviews are a great way to gather in-depth, qualitative data from users. 

Interviews are best conducted in a live conversation, whether that takes place in person, on a video call, or even on the phone. They can be structured or unstructured, depending on what best fits your research needs:

• Structured interviews follow a set list of questions
• Unstructured interviews are intended for more open-ended conversation

Challenges:

When deciding whether to use interviews as a user research method, it is important to consider the goals of the research, the target audience, and the availability of resources. Interviews are extremely time-consuming, both for the interviewer and the interviewee. However, if the goal of the research is to observe behavior in a natural setting, or if the target audience is not available to participate in interviews, then another user research method may be more appropriate.

Surveys are a user research method in which participants are asked to answer a series of questions, usually about a specific topic. Surveys are well suited for collecting data that can be quantified, but they are not as well suited for collecting qualitative data, since answers are often nuanced and lack appropriate context.

Surveys are best used when …

Since surveys can be easily distributed to a large number of people, they’re often a good choice for gathering information from people who might not be able—or willing—to participate in other types of user research (such as usability testing). 

Since surveys rely on self-reported data, it’s important to avoid phrases or words that might influence the users’ answers. Furthermore, this type of user research often provides data without context, since you aren’t able to follow up and understand some of the nuances of the responses.

3. Focus Groups

Focus groups are a type of user research method in which a group of people are brought together to discuss a product, service, or experience. Focus groups provide an opportunity for users to discuss their experiences and opinions with each other in a guided setting. When done correctly, focus groups can provide valuable insights that can help shape both product design and marketing strategies.

Focus groups are best used when … 

Focus groups can help uncover user needs and perspectives that may not be apparent through individual interviews or surveys.

Tips to make it work:

To get the most out of a focus group, it is important to carefully select participants that are representative of the target audience, as well as those who represent various accessibility needs, which might otherwise be overlooked or receive less consideration. The moderator should also be skilled in leading discussions and facilitating group dynamics to avoid participants from influencing each other.

4. A/B Testing

A/B testing is a user research method in which two versions of a design are created, then tested against each other to determine which is more effective. 

These versions can be identical except for one small change, or they can be completely different. Once the two versions have been created, they are then assigned to users at random. The results of the test are then analyzed to see which version was more successful. 

A/B testing is best used when …

You can incorporate A/B testing at any stage of the design process, but you might find you get the most helpful insights when you’re in a state of refinement, or are at a crossroads and need some data to help you decide which route to take. 

Once you have your design variations ready to test, it’s up to the developers (or an A/B testing software program) to make the test live to users. It’s important to let the test run long enough so that any statistical significance is steady and repeatable. (If the test does not provide statistically significant results, it’s time to go back to the drawing board and try out a different variation.)

5. Card Sorting

Card sorting is a user research method that can be used to help understand how people think about the items in a given category. Card sorting involves providing users with a set of cards, each of which contains an item from the category, and asking them to sort the cards into groups. The groups can be based on any criteria that the users choose, and the sorted cards can then be analyzed to identify patterns in the way that the users think about the items. Card sorting can be used with both small and large sets of items, making it a versatile tool for user research.

Card sorting is best used when …

You are looking for insight into categorical questions like how to structure the information architecture of a website.

For example, if you were designing a website for a library, you might use card sorting to understand how users would expect the website's content to be organized.

Like the other research methods mentioned so far, a successful card sorting exercise requires a significant amount of thought and setup ahead of time. You might use an open sorting session , where the users create their own categories, if you want insight into the grouping logic of your users. In a closed sorting session , the categories are already defined, but it’s up to the participants to decide where to file each card. 

6. Tree Test

Tree testing is a user research method that helps evaluate the findability and usability of website content. It is often used as a follow-up to card sorting, or when there are large amounts of website content, multiple website navigation structures, or changes to an existing website.

To conduct a tree test, participants are asked to find specific items on a website, starting from the home page. They are not told what the navigation options are, but are given hints if they get stuck. This helps researchers understand how users find and interact with the website content.

Tree testing is best used when ...

This method is most effective when combined with other user research methods, such as interviews, surveys, and focus groups. This is because it’s really a way to finesse the user’s experience at the end of the design process, rather than a method of collecting the preliminary data that’s needed to arrive at this point.

Tree testing can be a challenging method to conduct, as it requires specific instructions and data collection methods for each test. In addition, participants may not use the same navigation paths that you intended, making it difficult to analyze the results. To account for this, it’s important to have a large enough sample size to be able to differentiate between outliers and general trends.

User research is a critical part of any project or product development process. It helps you to understand the needs and expectations of your target users, and ensures that your final product meets their requirements. 

There are many different ways to conduct user research, but the most important thing is to start early and to continually iterate throughout the development process.

For this, you’ll need to make sure that you have enough resources to incorporate the research successfully, which includes:

• A budget that accounts for the various expenses incurred during the research process, whether that’s subscribing to a user research tool or compensating participants for their time.
• An awareness of your own personal biases, and how they might affect the data you collect and the interpretation of results.
• Time for research and analysis , since you might need to adjust the research method, or number of participants, that you were initially planning on including.
• Buy-in from stakeholders , since the results might be jarring and contradict some of the assumptions that the project was built on.

Finally, it is important to be aware of your own personal biases. Despite these challenges, user research is an essential tool for designers, as it provides insights into how people interact with products and what their needs and wants are. 

• User research is essential for designing products that meet the needs of your target audience.
• By understanding your users, you can design better products that meet user needs and improve the overall user experience.
• Getting started with user research can be daunting, but there are a few common methods that are easy to learn and incorporate into your design process.
• By being aware of the challenges involved in conducting user research, you can create a research plan that minimizes potential problems and maximizes the chances of obtaining valuable insights.
• Once you have collected your data, it is important to analyze and interpret it so that you can use it to improve your product or design process. 
• User research can be challenging, but by following best practices and being prepared for common challenges, you can conduct successful user research studies that will help you create better products.

To learn more about establishing a UX design practice rooted in research and user-centered data, check out UX Academy Foundations , an introductory course that teaches design fundamentals with practical, hands-on projects and 1:1 mentorship with a professional designer.

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The UBalt User Research Laboratory and research services can be rented on a full-day or half-day basis, enabling businesses and organizations to take advantage of cutting-edge research tools in a university applied research setting. The rental includes the assistance of a graduate student to set up and run the eye-tracking equipment. For further information and rates, please contact Kathryn Summers . 

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User research ensures your intended audience can carry out tasks—such as purchasing items, identifying relevant information and communicating with appropriate parties—efficiently, effectively and satisfactorily. Therefore, user research can help your organization:

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Hear from our clients...

"We've enjoyed using the usability lab at the University of Baltimore to test both PC- and browser-based games. It is conveniently located in the heart of Baltimore and has up-to-date equipment and recording software, and we really enjoy having the real-time eye-tracking capacity. The staff are professional and courteous, and we look forward to running many more studies in their lab." — Jason Schklar, Initial Experience Consulting

"We love working with the UBalt Usability Lab. They have the latest eye-tracking equipment and assistants who'll help you set up and analyze your test results. Their location next to Penn Station also makes it convenient for D.C.-area people. They're very professional, knowledgeable and friendly." — Nicole Burton, user experience evangelist, U.S. General Services Administration

The User Research Lab's past clients include:

• Human Factors International

• Redish & Associates

• National Cancer Institute

• L’Oreal Mexico

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration

• U.S. Department of the Treasury's Bureau of the Public   Debt

• MD State Board of Elections

• Whitehouse.gov

• AstraZeneca

• My Medicare Matters

• Department of Justice

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• Merrick School of Business
• School of Law
• Robert L. Bogomolny Library
• Law Library

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Microsoft User Research

We want to hear your feedback.

Become a partner with Microsoft User Research and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our products. As a participant, you can expect to receive invitations for user research opportunities, allowing you to provide valuable feedback directly to the teams responsible for building your favorite Microsoft products. Begin the journey by signing in with your Microsoft account or registering to get started.

Sign In with your Microsoft Account

Information collected on this site is for the sole purpose of matching you with appropriate study opportunities. All information is kept confidential as described in our privacy statement and will not be sold, distributed, or otherwise publicized outside Microsoft.

Welcome to User Research Center

We provide top-of-the-line observation and testing spaces for all of your research needs., purpose built lab spaces.

Our facility was designed with one purpose in mind — usability testing and user research.

User research is paramount in bringing effective, safe, user friendly, and saleable products to market. Whether your company is testing the usability of a device or application in the development stages, or determining the emotional and psychological response to the marketing or design of those products.

At User Research Center, we understand the the importance and the methods of user experience and usability testing, which is why we've created testing spaces that ensure you get the most out of a study. With top of the line audio/video equipment and technology, purpose designed observation labs, and the necessary amenities to enable an efficient and informative process.

Why Our Facility?

Safe and secure, conveniently located, and dedicated to providing the best services and accomodations necessary to your study.

Ready for any of your research needs.

Usability testing, focus groups, market research, game testing.

Design & Creative Direction

User Research

In User Research at Ubisoft, we’re all about investigating different aspects of player experience to drive impactful improvements in our games. We combine our qualitative and quantitative expertise to get to the heart of user actions and perceptions by designing studies, observing, listening, gathering and analyzing data through a variety of classic and cutting-edge methodologies. The insights we uncover guide game creators to pave the way toward building what players need and enjoy.

LET OUR TEAM MEMBERS TELL YOU ABOUT THEIR JOB

Meet deborah amar : user reasearch mobile manager.

Worldwide Mobile User Research Manager, Déborah Amar’s aim is to decipher player behavior with a view to improving their gaming experience.

More Design & Creative Direction Teams

Creative direction.

In Creative Direction at Ubisoft, we set and boldly pursue the visions that will guide our games to a common purpose. From how they will look, to the stories they will te...

Game & UX Design

In Game Design and UX Design at Ubisoft, we shape and smooth out the connected systems at the heart of our games. We are creators of innovative features that fuel our wor...

Level Design

In Level Design at Ubisoft, we are the architects of worlds packed with things to see and do. Infusing our games with a sense of purpose and variety, we are user-centric ...

Narration & Realization

In Narration and Realization at Ubisoft, we give greater depth and meaning to our gaming experiences, drawing players into compelling stories that make them care and feel...

• Design Objectives
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Research Laboratory  

by Daniel Watch and Deepa Tolat Perkins + Will

Within This Page

Building attributes, emerging issues, relevant codes and standards, additional resources.

Research Laboratories are workplaces for the conduct of scientific research. This WBDG Building Type page will summarize the key architectural, engineering, operational, safety, and sustainability considerations for the design of Research Laboratories.

The authors recognize that in the 21st century clients are pushing project design teams to create research laboratories that are responsive to current and future needs, that encourage interaction among scientists from various disciplines, that help recruit and retain qualified scientists, and that facilitates partnerships and development. As such, a separate WBDG Resource Page on Trends in Lab Design has been developed to elaborate on this emerging model of laboratory design.

A. Architectural Considerations

Over the past 30 years, architects, engineers, facility managers, and researchers have refined the design of typical wet and dry labs to a very high level. The following identifies the best solutions in designing a typical lab.

Lab Planning Module

The laboratory module is the key unit in any lab facility. When designed correctly, a lab module will fully coordinate all the architectural and engineering systems. A well-designed modular plan will provide the following benefits:

Flexibility —The lab module, as Jonas Salk explained, should "encourage change" within the building. Research is changing all the time, and buildings must allow for reasonable change. Many private research companies make physical changes to an average of 25% of their labs each year. Most academic institutions annually change the layout of 5 to 10% of their labs. See also WBDG Productive—Design for the Changing Workplace .

• Expansion —The use of lab planning modules allows the building to adapt easily to needed expansions or contractions without sacrificing facility functionality.

A common laboratory module has a width of approximately 10 ft. 6 in. but will vary in depth from 20–30 ft. The depth is based on the size necessary for the lab and the cost-effectiveness of the structural system. The 10 ft. 6 in. dimension is based on two rows of casework and equipment (each row 2 ft. 6 in. deep) on each wall, a 5 ft. aisle, and 6 in. for the wall thickness that separates one lab from another. The 5 ft. aisle width should be considered a minimum because of the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) .

Two-Directional Lab Module —Another level of flexibility can be achieved by designing a lab module that works in both directions. This allows the casework to be organized in either direction. This concept is more flexible than the basic lab module concept but may require more space. The use of a two-directional grid is beneficial to accommodate different lengths of run for casework. The casework may have to be moved to create a different type or size of workstation.

Three-Dimensional Lab Module —The three-dimensional lab module planning concept combines the basic lab module or a two-directional lab module with any lab corridor arrangement for each floor of a building. This means that a three-dimensional lab module can have a single-corridor arrangement on one floor, a two-corridor layout on another, and so on. To create a three-dimensional lab module:

• A basic or two-directional lab module must be defined.
• All vertical risers must be fully coordinated. (Vertical risers include fire stairs, elevators, restrooms, and shafts for utilities.)
• The mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems must be coordinated in the ceiling to work with the multiple corridor arrangements.

Lab Planning Concepts

The relationship of the labs, offices, and corridor will have a significant impact on the image and operations of the building. See also WBDG Functional—Account for Functional Needs .

Do the end users want a view from their labs to the exterior, or will the labs be located on the interior, with wall space used for casework and equipment?

Some researchers do not want or cannot have natural light in their research spaces. Special instruments and equipment, such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) apparatus, electron microscopes, and lasers cannot function properly in natural light. Natural daylight is not desired in vivarium facilities or in some support spaces, so these are located in the interior of the building.

Zoning the building between lab and non-lab spaces will reduce costs. Labs require 100% outside air while non-lab spaces can be designed with re-circulated air, like an office building .

Adjacencies with corridors can be organized with a single, two corridor (racetrack), or a three corridor scheme. There are number of variations to organize each type. Illustrated below are three ways to organize a single corridor scheme:

Single corridor lab design with labs and office adjacent to each other.

Single corridor lab design with offices clustered together at the end and in the middle.

Single corridor lab design with office clusters accessing main labs directly.

• Open labs vs. closed labs. An increasing number of research institutions are creating "open" labs to support team-based work. The open lab concept is significantly different from that of the "closed" lab of the past, which was based on accommodating the individual principle investigator. In open labs, researchers share not only the space itself but also equipment, bench space, and support staff. The open lab format facilitates communication between scientists and makes the lab more easily adaptable for future needs. A wide variety of labs—from wet biology and chemistry labs, to engineering labs, to dry computer science facilities—are now being designed as open labs.

Flexibility

In today's lab, the ability to expand, reconfigure, and permit multiple uses has become a key concern. The following should be considered to achieve this:

Flexible Lab Interiors

Equipment zones—These should be created in the initial design to accommodate equipment, fixed, or movable casework at a later date.

Generic labs

Mobile casework—This can be comprised of mobile tables and mobile base cabinets. It allows researchers to configure and fit out the lab based on their needs as opposed to adjusting to pre-determined fixed casework.

Mobile casework

Mobile base cabinet Photo Credit: Kewaunee Scientific Corp.

Flexible partitions—These can be taken down and put back up in another location, allowing lab spaces to be configured in a variety of sizes.

Overhead service carriers—These are hung from the ceiling. They can have utilities like piping, electric, data, light fixtures, and snorkel exhausts. They afford maximum flexibility as services are lifted off the floor, allowing free floor space to be configured as needed.

Flexible Engineering Systems

Lab designed with overhead connects and disconnects allow for flexibility and fast hook up of equipment.

Labs should have easy connects/disconnects at walls and ceilings to allow for fast and affordable hook up of equipment. See also WBDG Productive—Integrate Technological Tools .

The Engineering systems should be designed such that fume hoods can be added or removed.

Space should be allowed in the utility corridors, ceilings, and vertical chases for future HVAC, plumbing, and electric needs.

Building Systems Distribution Concepts

Interstitial space.

An interstitial space is a separate floor located above each lab floor. All services and utilities are located here where they drop down to service the lab below. This system has a high initial cost but it allows the building to accommodate change very easily without interrupting the labs.

Conventional design vs. interstitial design Image Credit: Zimmer, Gunsul, Frasca Partnership

Service Corridor

Lab spaces adjoin a centrally located corridor where all utility services are located. Maintenance personnel are afforded constant access to main ducts, shutoff valves, and electric panel boxes without having to enter the lab. This service corridor can be doubled up as an equipment/utility corridor where common lab equipment like autoclaves, freezer rooms, etc. can be located.

B. Engineering Considerations

Typically, more than 50% of the construction cost of a laboratory building is attributed to engineering systems. Hence, the close coordination of these ensures a flexible and successfully operating lab facility. The following engineering issues are discussed here: structural systems, mechanical systems, electrical systems, and piping systems. See also WBDG Functional—Ensure Appropriate Product/Systems Integration .

Structural Systems

Once the basic lab module is determined, the structural grid should be evaluated. In most cases, the structural grid equals 2 basic lab modules. If the typical module is 10 ft. 6 in. x 30 ft., the structural grid would be 21 ft. x 30 ft. A good rule of thumb is to add the two dimensions of the structural grid; if the sum equals a number in the low 50's, then the structural grid would be efficient and cost-effective.

Typical lab structural grid.

Key design issues to consider in evaluating a structural system include:

• Framing depth and effect on floor-to-floor height;
• Ability to coordinate framing with lab modules;
• Ability to create penetrations for lab services in the initial design as well as over the life of the building;
• Potential for vertical or horizontal expansion;
• Vibration criteria; and

Mechanical Systems

The location of main vertical supply/exhaust shafts as well as horizontal ductwork is very crucial in designing a flexible lab. Key issues to consider include: efficiency and flexibility, modular design, initial costs , long-term operational costs , building height and massing , and design image .

The various design options for the mechanical systems are illustrated below:

Shafts in the middle of the building

Shafts at the end of the building

Exhaust at end and supply in the middle

Multiple internal shafts

Shafts on the exterior

See also WBDG High Performance HVAC .

Electrical Systems

Three types of power are generally used for most laboratory projects:

Normal power circuits are connected to the utility supply only, without any backup system. Loads that are typically on normal power include some HVAC equipment, general lighting, and most lab equipment.

Emergency power is created with generators that will back up equipment such as refrigerators, freezers, fume hoods, biological safety cabinets, emergency lighting, exhaust fans, animal facilities, and environmental rooms. Examples of safe and efficient emergency power equipment include distributed energy resources (DER) , microturbines , and fuel cells .

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is used for data recording, certain computers, microprocessor-controlled equipment, and possibly the vivarium area. The UPS can be either a central unit or a portable system, such as distributed energy resources (DER) , microturbines , fuel cells , and building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) .

See also WBDG Productive—Assure Reliable Systems and Spaces .

The following should be considered:

• Load estimation
• Site distribution
• Power quality
• Management of electrical cable trays/panel boxes
• User expectations
• Illumination levels
• Lighting distribution-indirect, direct, combination
• Luminaire location and orientation-lighting parallel to casework and lighting perpendicular to casework
• Telephone and data systems

Piping Systems

There are several key design goals to strive for in designing laboratory piping systems:

• Provide a flexible design that allows for easy renovation and modifications.
• Provide appropriate plumbing systems for each laboratory based on the lab programming.
• Provide systems that minimize energy usage .
• Provide equipment arrangements that minimize downtime in the event of a failure.
• Locate shutoff valves where they are accessible and easily understood.
• Accomplish all of the preceding goals within the construction budget.

C. Operations and Maintenance

Cost savings.

The following cost saving items can be considered without compromising quality and flexibility:

• Separate lab and non-lab zones.
• Try to design with standard building components instead of customized components. See also WBDG Functional—Ensure Appropriate Product/Systems Integration .
• Identify at least three manufacturers of each material or piece of equipment specified to ensure competitive bidding for the work.
• Locate fume hoods on upper floors to minimize ductwork and the cost of moving air through the building.
• Evaluate whether process piping should be handled centrally or locally. In many cases it is more cost-effective to locate gases, in cylinders, at the source in the lab instead of centrally.
• Create equipment zones to minimize the amount of casework necessary in the initial construction.
• Provide space for equipment (e.g., ice machine) that also can be shared with other labs in the entry alcove to the lab. Shared amenities can be more efficient and cost-effective.
• Consider designating instrument rooms as cross-corridors, saving space as well as encouraging researchers to share equipment.
• Design easy-to-maintain, energy-efficient building systems. Expose mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems for easy maintenance access from the lab.
• Locate all mechanical equipment centrally, either on a lower level of the building or on the penthouse level.
• Stack vertical elements above each other without requiring transfers from floor to floor. Such elements include columns, stairs, mechanical closets, and restrooms.

D. Lab and Personnel Safety and Security

Protecting human health and life is paramount, and safety must always be the first concern in laboratory building design. Security-protecting a facility from unauthorized access-is also of critical importance. Today, research facility designers must work within the dense regulatory environment in order to create safe and productive lab spaces. The WBDG Resource Page on Security and Safety in Laboratories addresses all these related concerns, including:

• Laboratory classifications: dependent on the amount and type of chemicals in the lab;
• Containment devices: fume hoods and bio-safety cabinets;
• Levels of bio-safety containment as a design principle;
• Radiation safety;
• Employee safety: showers, eyewashes, other protective measures; and
• Emergency power.

See also WBDG Secure / Safe Branch , Threat/Vulnerability Assessments and Risk Analysis , Balancing Security/Safety and Sustainability Objectives , Air Decontamination , and Electrical Safety .

E. Sustainability Considerations

The typical laboratory uses far more energy and water per square foot than the typical office building due to intensive ventilation requirements and other health and safety concerns. Therefore, designers should strive to create sustainable , high performance, and low-energy laboratories that will:

• Minimize overall environmental impacts;
• Protect occupant safety ; and
• Optimize whole building efficiency on a life-cycle basis.

For more specific guidance, see WBDG Sustainable Laboratory Design ; EPA and DOE's Laboratories for the 21st Century (Labs21) , a voluntary program dedicated to improving the environmental performance of U.S. laboratories; WBDG Sustainable Branch and Balancing Security/Safety and Sustainability Objectives .

F. Three Laboratory Sectors

There are three research laboratory sectors. They are academic laboratories, government laboratories, and private sector laboratories.

• Academic labs are primarily teaching facilities but also include some research labs that engage in public interest or profit generating research.
• Government labs include those run by federal agencies and those operated by state government do research in the public interest.
• Design of labs for the private sector , run by corporations, is usually driven by the need to enhance the research operation's profit making potential.

G. Example Design and Construction Criteria

For GSA, the unit costs for this building type are based on the construction quality and design features in the following table   . This information is based on GSA's benchmark interpretation and could be different for other owners.

LEED® Application Guide for Laboratory Facilities (LEED-AGL)—Because research facilities present a unique challenge for energy efficiency and sustainable design, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has formed the LEED-AGL Committee to develop a guide that helps project teams apply LEED credits in the design and construction of laboratory facilities. See also the WBDG Resource Page Using LEED on Laboratory Projects .

The following agencies and organizations have developed codes and standards affecting the design of research laboratories. Note that the codes and standards are minimum requirements. Architects, engineers, and consultants should consider exceeding the applicable requirements whenever possible.

• 29 CFR 1910.1450: OSHA "Occupational Exposures to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories"
• ANSI/ASSE/AIHA Z9.5 Laboratory Ventilation
• ANSI/ISEA Z358.1 Emergency Eyewash and Shower Equipment
• Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) Standards
• Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) 5th Edition , Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health.
• GSA PBS-P100 Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service
• Guidelines for the Laboratory Use of Chemical Carcinogens , Pub. No. 81-2385. National Institutes of Health
• NIH Design Requirements Manual , National Institutes of Health
• NFPA 30 Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code
• NFPA 45 Fire Protection for Laboratories using Chemical
• Unified Facilities Guide Specifications (UFGS) —organized by MasterFormat™ divisions, are for use in specifying construction for the military services. Several UFGS exist for safety-related topics.

Publications

• Building Type Basics for Research Laboratories , 2nd Edition by Daniel Watch. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2008. ISBN# 978-0-470-16333-7.
• CRC Handbook of Laboratory Safety , 5th ed. by A. Keith Furr. CRC Press, 2000.
• Design and Planning of Research and Clinical Laboratory Facilities by Leonard Mayer. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995.
• Design for Research: Principals of Laboratory Architecture by Susan Braybrooke. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1993.
• Guidelines for Laboratory Design: Health and Safety Considerations , 4th Edition by Louis J. DiBerardinis, et al. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2013.
• Guidelines for Planning and Design of Biomedical Research Laboratory Facilities by The American Institute of Architects, Center for Advanced Technology Facilities Design. Washington, DC: The American Institute of Architects, 1999.
• Handbook of Facilities Planning, Vol. 1: Laboratory Facilities by T. Ruys. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990.
• Laboratories, A Briefing and Design Guide by Walter Hain. London, UK: E & FN Spon, 1995.
• Laboratory by Earl Walls Associates, May 2000.
• Laboratory Design from the Editors of R&D Magazine.
• Laboratory Design, Construction, and Renovation: Participants, Process, and Product by National Research Council, Committee on Design, Construction, and Renovation of Laboratory Facilities. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2000.
• Planning Academic Research Facilities: A Guidebook by National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation, 1992.
• Research and Development in Industry: 1995-96 by National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Studies. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation, 1998.
• Science and Engineering Research Facilities at Colleges and Universities by National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Studies. Arlington, VA, 1998.
• Laboratories for the 21st Century (Labs21) —Sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, Labs21 is a voluntary program dedicated to improving the environmental performance of U.S. laboratories.

WBDG Participating Agencies

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Faculty, Staff Honored for Outstanding Work

The following members of the Tech community were honored at the 2024 Faculty and Staff Honors Luncheon on Friday, April 26.

Georgia Tech Chapter Sigma Xi Awards

Best faculty paper award.

Christopher Rozell Julian T. Hightower Chair and Professor Electrical and Computing Engineering

Sankaraleengam Alagapan Research Scientist II Electrical and Computing Engineering

Shu Jia Associate Professor Biomedical Engineering

Young Faculty Award

Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena Assistant Professor Materials Science and Engineering

Yue Chen Assistant Professor Biomedical Engineering 

Sustained Research Award

Facundo Fernandez Regents’ and Vasser-Wooley Professor Chemistry and Biochemistry

Institute Research Awards

Outstanding achievement in research enterprise enhancement.

Anton Bryksin Regents’ Professor  Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences 

Outstanding Achievement in Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Research

Mary Frank Fox Dean’s Distinguished Professor Public Policy 

Outstanding Achievement in Early Career Research Award

Lindsey Rose Bullinger Assistant Professor Public Policy 

Outstanding Achievement in Research Innovation Award

Emmanouil (Manos) M. Tentzeris Ed and Pat Joy Chair in Antennas Electrical and Computer Engineering 

Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Advisor Award

Moinuddin Qureshi Professor Computer Science 

Outstanding Faculty Research Author Award

Feryal Özel Chair and Professor Physics 

Outstanding Achievement in Research Engagement and Outreach Award

Shreyes N. Melkote Professor Mechanical Engineering 

Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development Award

Ryan P. Lively Professor Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Krista Walton Associate Vice President for Research Operations and Infrastructure Research

David Sholl Professor Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Leslie Schlag Grants Administrator Lead Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Christopher W. Jones Professor and John F. Brock III School Chair Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Rochelle Moses Program and Operations Manager Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering 

Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Impact Award

Aerospace systems design laboratory.

Dimitri Mavris Regents' Professor and Director Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory

Michelle R. Kirby Senior Research Engineer Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory

Elena Garcia Advanced Methods Division Chief Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory

Olivia J. Pinon Fischer Principal Research Engineer Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory 

ANAK Awards

Outstanding faculty anak award.

Jacqueline Garner Senior Lecturer Scheller College of Business 

Outstanding Staff ANAK Award

Carolina Amero Senior Director – Auxiliary Services Campus Services

Staff Performance Awards

Acting with ethics first award, library finance.

Verstell Agee Financial Analyst Library 

Cheryl Parker Financial Manager II Library

Embracing All Voices Award

Monica Jackson Employer Connections Coordinator Career Center

One Giant Leap Award

Brent O’Guin Tech Strategist and Architect Senior OIT – Enterprise App and Data 

One Small Step Award

Andrew James George Public Services Associate II Library 

Rachel Watts Training Generalist Senior Workplace Learning and Professional Development 

Service to the Community Award

Melody Foster Unit Administrative Officer Mechanical Engineering 

Cultivate Well-Being Award

Jamaal D. Taylor General Safety Manager Environmental Health and Safety  

Leading By Example in Sustainability Award

Ashley E. Carr Finance and Operations Specialist Procurement and Business Services 

Putting Students First Award

Marc Ebelhar Graduate Student Success Specialist Office of Graduate Education 

Rising Wreck Award

Casey Hayes Systems Development Engineer Senior OIT – Enterprise App and Data

Karena Ha Nguyen Assistant Director of Postdoctoral Services Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Education

Naima Barton Assistant Director of Administrative Operations Office of the Provost 

Leadership in Action Award

Brittany McCormick Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications Scheller College of Business

Monifa Skelton-Wells Academic Program Manager Mechanical Engineering

Excellence Award

Michelle Powell Director Strategic Consulting  

Capstone Design Expo

Nichelle Compton Event Coordinator II Mechanical Engineering

Andrea Dominguez Program Support Coordinator Mechanical Engineering

Amit S. Jariwala Senior Academic Professional Mechanical Engineering

Cary Ogletree Building and Delivery Service Manager Mechanical Engineering

Ashley Ritchie Communications Manager Mechanical Engineering

Spirit of Georgia Tech Award

Peter Lee Creative Services Manager Scheller College of Business

Laxminarayanan Krishnan Laboratory Manager I Bioengineering and Biosciences

Sherree King Store Clerk III Housing and Residence Life

Sarah Collins Graphic Designer Senior College of Engineering

Center for Teaching and Learning Awards

Junior faculty teaching award.

Anirban Mazumdar Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering

Daniel Molzahn Assistant Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering

Curriculum Innovation Awards

Francesco Fedele Associate Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering 

Geoffrey G. Eichholz Faculty Teaching Award

Christopher Stanzione Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies Psychology

Mary Hudachek-Buswell Associate Chair and Senior Lecturer Computing Instruction

Innovation and Excellence in Laboratory Instruction Award

Anh Le Academic Professional  Chemistry and Biochemistry

Innovation in Co-Curricular Education Award

Carla Gerona Associate Professor History and Sociology 

Lawrence Rubin Co-Director of GTDC and Associate Professor International Affairs

Zachary Taylor Co-Director of GTDC and Associate Professor Public Policy

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award

Colin Harrison Senior Academic Professional Biological Sciences

Teaching Excellence Award in Online Teaching

A.J. Medford Associate Professor Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Undergraduate Educator Award

Michael Evans Senior Academic Professional  Chemistry and Biochemistry 

Education Partnership Award

Saad Bhamla Assistant Professor Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Janet Standeven Assistant Professor Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Elio Challita Postdoctoral Researcher Engineering and Applied Science, Harvard University 

International Initiatives Award

Steven a. denning faculty award for global engagement.

Shuichi Takayama Price Gilbert Jr. Chair Biomedical Engineering 

Faculty Honors Committee Awards

Outstanding undergraduate research mentor award, junior faculty.

Saad Bhamla Assistant Professor Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering 

Senior Faculty

Ravi Kane Garry Betty/ V Foundation Chair and GRA Eminent Scholar Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering 

Class of 1934 Outstanding Service Award

Susan Margulies Professor Biomedical Engineering

Outstanding Professional Education

Shalu Suri Co-Director of NSF Cell Manufacturing Technologies ERC Engineering Workforce Development Biomedical Engineering

Class of 1934 Outstanding Interdisciplinary Activities Award

Bruce Walker Professor Psychology 

Class of 1934 Outstanding Innovative Use of Education Technology Award

Pamela Pollet Senior Research Scientist Chemistry and Biochemistry 

Class of 1940 W. Roane Beard Outstanding Teacher Award

Daniel Molzahn Assistant Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering 

Class of 1940 W. Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher Award

Faisal M. Alamgir Professor  Materials Science and Engineering 

Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor Award

Dimitri Mavris Regents' Professor, Boeing Professor of Advanced Aerospace Systems Analysis, and Langley Distinguished Professor in Advanced Aerospace Systems Architecture Aerospace Engineering

Kristen Bailey

Institute Communications

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Silicon Carbide: The Critical Semiconductor for the Energy Transition

Join us on May 9 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the EMS Energy Institute (C213 Coal Utilization Lab) for our 2024 Energy Xchange Seminar Series. This presentation will feature Joshua Robinson, Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Research (Acting), with his presentation titled, "Silicon Carbide: The Critical Semiconductor for the Energy Transition." This event is free and parking is available at the Institute at 4 p.m.

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a semiconductor material at the center of the energy transition. It is anticipated that the demand for SiC will be driven by the growing global demand for electric vehicles and a transition to clean energy -- the global market for automotive SiC Market alone is expected to grow 12.5% per year through at least 2030 to more than $10B annually. This represents a tremendous opportunity for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing to play a role in energy distribution and utilization, with some even calling SiC "the new gold rush."  However, despite the many billions of dollars currently being invested in fabrication of next-generation SiC electronics for clean energy,  no open-access platform exists to train the next-generation materials technicians, engineers, and scientists in SiC crystal growth . Penn State is in a unique position to become the national leader in the synthesis and growth modeling of SiC, the central location for industry to explore new processes and the primary trainer of next-generation SiC materials scientists. In this talk, Robinson will provide an overview of the need for SiC, Penn State's role in advancing next-generation critical materials, and our plans for establishing a Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance.

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DEVELOPMENT OF VIRAL MOLECULAR DETECTION PLATFORMS FOR POINT-OF-CARE DIAGNOSTICS

The emergence of infectious diseases like HIV, influenza, and COVID-19 highlights the urgent need for highly scalable testing methods that can be deployed outside traditional laboratory settings. Despite decades of research in point-of-care (POC) diagnostics, the main challenge remains the limited performance of assays, especially in terms of sensitivity. Furthermore, most POC assays originating from academic research struggle to transition beyond the laboratory due to manufacturability issues. This dissertation aims to enhance the effectiveness of viral molecular detection platforms for POC diagnostics by improving analytical and clinical sensitivity and facilitating the practical adaptation of academic-developed POC devices for use outside laboratory settings.

Each aim addresses a separate aspect of device development. The first aim addresses the need for clinical accuracy during test interpretation, especially in POC or at-home diagnostic tests, by developing an internal amplification control (IAC). Here, I develop a one-pot duplex reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for detecting SARS-CoV- 2 along that incorporates a housekeeping gene as an IAC to ensure the quality of collected samples and the validity of assay reagents. The valid results can be easily visualized in triple-line lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA). The second aim makes progress towards overcoming the limited analytical sensitivity of existing rapid diagnostic tests for acute HIV infection screening. Here, I introduce a novel antibody-initiated LAMP assay targeting the HIV p24 capsid protein that combines LAMP sensitivity with the specificity of HIV p24 and its antibody. There are 3000 p24 capsid proteins present in the virion compared to only 2 viral RNA copies. In the assay, two DNA- conjugated antibody probes will each bind to p24 and their proximity will allow the DNA overlaps to generate a complete DNA target that acts as a trigger for the LAMP reaction. An LFIA is integrated into this design to enable simple result visualization. The third aim improves manufacturability and assembly of our existing nucleic acid detection platform by simplifying the platform components while maintaining the user-friendly sample-to-answer concept. Here, I validate material compatibility testing, assess chamber fabrication methods amenable to large-scale manufacturing, evaluate alternative heating units, and examine fluid flow control mechanisms of the redesigned wax valve. These combined aims demonstrate promising outcomes for practical implementation of molecular diagnostics to the POC.

NIH NIDA DP2DA051910

Moore inventor fellowship# 9687, degree type.

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Biomedical Engineering

Campus location

• West Lafayette

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Additional committee member 2, additional committee member 3, additional committee member 4, additional committee member 5, usage metrics.

• Biomedical instrumentation

Harvard University FAS Research Computing

Scheduling & payment for instruments and laboratories.