Master how to ask solid non-leading questions
Don't focus on tools/platforms in the beginning of your UXR journey. First learn how to conduct User Research without them. Master how to ask solid non-leading questions and interview. The rest comes from practice. Here are 6 reasons why this is critical:
ACCESS: You won’t always have access to the same tools. Access varies depending on what clients/employers subscribe to & change regularly
APPROPRIATENESS: There isn’t always time, money, or a need for a tool. Sometimes intercepts, guerrilla testing, interviews and/or data analytics are a better choice
SUITABILITY: Tools have separate functions. Don’t compare, or prioritize learning them, until you have a specific research question, or use case, to evaluate it against
FAMILIARITY: When you master a few tools before building a solid UX Research foundation you'll wind up trying to shove every study into the tools you know (because you won’t know any better)
EVOLUTION: Technology evolves. A strong methodological foundation will help you determine which approaches are best for the question at hand
PREFERENCE: People tend to prefer the method learned first — in everything (e.g. Mac users struggle with PCs)
Check out Curiosity Tank workshops to learn the fundamentals!
