Between-Subject vs. Within-Subject Study Design in User Research

Summary: There are two ways to structure a UX research study when we're testing two (or more) designs: we can have each design tested by different people, or we can reuse the same users for all conditions. Each approach has some advantages and problems.

by

Topics:

Between-Subject vs. Within-Subject Study Design in User Research

 to watch NN/g videos

Related Article

Between-Subjects vs. Within-Subjects Study Design

In user research, between-groups designs reduce learning effects; repeated-measures designs require fewer participants and minimize the random noise.

Video Author

Raluca Budiu is Senior Director, Data Strategy, at Nielsen Norman Group, where she uses her data-analysis expertise to drive strategic decisions. She also serves as editor for the articles published on NNgroup.com. Raluca has coauthored many NN/g reports, as well as the book Mobile Usability. She holds a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University.

Learn More

Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get notified about future articles.

Videos