Biometric Methods for User Research: Three Case Studies

Understanding user experience (UX) and its impact on user preferences and purchasing decisions, and loyalty is essential in today's user-centric business landscape. Assessing UX during product trials is vital for the design and improvement of products. While traditional UX evaluation methods (e.g., questionnaires and observations) offer valuable insights into user behavior, they rely on indirect, subjective and non-real-time data, making them prone to bias. There is a growing interest in incorporating neuroscience techniques into UX research to measure users' neurophysiological responses to design elements and interactive experiences. We evaluated two digital prototypes and one in-store experience in three small-sample-size biometric UX studies that can fit into time-constrained product development processes. Our findings demonstrate the potential of biometric methods to complement existing UX research approaches. We discuss the lessons learned and advocate for the establishment of research ethics committees within companies and standardization strategies for conducting biometric user research.