At the beginning of a UX research and design project a Stakeholder Interview should be conducted to find out the Business Goals, Existing Research including User Research, Competitors and Technological Limitations.
Interviews
Stakeholder Interview — UX Knowledge Base Sketches
Knowledge
User Interview: How To Ask Good Questions — UX Knowledge Base Sketches
While interviewing users may seem to be an easy task — “You are just asking some questions, and the interviewee gives some answers, and that’s it, right?” Well, not really.
Interviews
User Interview: How To Ask Good Questions — UX Knowledge Base Sketches
Anyone including non-designers can use this framework to analyse a product or service or analyse a piece of work for a potential client. You could even use this to review your own work as the tools and techniques I use leave little room for bias.