IPA in UX Research: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis in a User Experience Design Practice

Abstract

One approach to user experience (UX) is phenomenology, but there are no well-defined methods for how to conduct UX research using phenomenology, especially not in a professional design practice. One well-defined approach developed in psychology is Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), which in this paper is adapted to professional UX research practice. The adaptation is put to test in the case of understanding how newly-arrived immigrants to Sweden experience a start-up service that introduce them to the job market. Contributions and shortcomings of the method in the views of professional UX researchers and designers are documented and discussed. It is concluded that IPA contributes to UX research by investigating both experience and meaning, and by providing holistic insights appropriate for service design and the fuzzy front-end of innovation.