In many ways, the second edition of this book was both easier (more fun!) and harder to write than the first. It was easier and more fun because a colleague and friend, Kelly Caine, joined us! Also, we had an additional 10 years of experience each to draw upon. It was harder because we had to coordinate across the country, time zones, companies, and schedules. With so many more obligations, the success of this collaboration in so little time is a testament to our passion for our field and the incredible support team we had helping us.

First of all, we thank Meg Dunkerley, Heather Scherer, Lindsay Lawrence and Todd Green from Morgan Kaufmann for their cheerful and unrelenting assistance throughout the writing and editing process. We also thank our reviewers, Michael Beasley, Dan Russell, and Suzanna Rogers for the very helpful peer reviews. We know it was a lot of work! We are also very thankful for the incredibly talented authors who shared their expertise about user research methods via case studies: Apala Lahiri Chavan, John Boyd, Hendrik Mueller & Aaron Sedley, Jenny Shirey, Arathi Sethumadhavan, Lana Yarosh and Pamela Walshe & Nick Opderbeck. We know readers are going to love hearing about your experiences. We’d also like to thank Abi Jones for her fabulous cartoons throughout and Kelly Huang for her incredible cover design! Finally, we thank Ariel Liu and Jim Foley for their last minute reviews and feedback and especially Sara Snow for a thorough subject matter expert edit and copy edit. On a personal note, we would like to individually thank friends and family.

I am grateful for the patience of my husband, Joe, and especially my daughter, Hana, as I sat for hours at the computer. I hope I have made them as proud of me as I am of them! I must also thank my mother for always believing in and supporting everything I have done in my life. Thank you for being the example I want to set for my daughter! Of course, my deepest gratitude to Kelly and Catherine for joining me on this epic adventure to write a book (again)! And, finally, I’d like to thank several coworkers for their valuable insights on specific sections of the book including Mario Callegaro, Hilary Hutchinson, Patri Forwalter-Friedman, Adam Banks, and Ilmo van der Löwe.

Kathy Baxter

Thank you to my husband, Ian. His support through words and actions made this second edition possible. And thank you to my family, friends and coworkers who continue to inspire and encourage me to do my best work. And to my fabulous co-authors Kathy and Kelly who were a joy to work with and made the impossible possible!

Catherine Courage

I would like to thank all of my family and friends for their support; I am in awe of the patience and kindness you all display when I spend my “free time” writing. I would especially like to thank Micah. My gratitude for the balance you bring to life is boundless. I would also like to thank my mom and dad for their truly unconditional love. Your love and support have given me the confidence to take on challenges (like coauthoring a book!) without fear.

I am also indebted to the many scholars, teachers and colleagues from whom I learned how to conduct research, especially Dan Fisk, Wendy Rogers, Robin Jeffries, James Evans and Mac McClure. I am also very thankful for the hundreds of students and research participants who have taught me the practical aspects of research and inspired me to want to put this knowledge in a form that is useful to others.

Finally, I would like to thank Kathy and Catherine for showing me the ropes of what it takes to co-author a book. You two are so fun to work with, helpful, patient, thoughtful, smart and knowledgeable! I could not have asked for better partners in this experience.

Kelly Caine