I have a process: I typically hear about a coin via twitter, friends, family, fellow steemians, etc. Once I find a coin that seems interesting, I go to its website and coinmarketcap to check its numbers. If I still find it interesting, I download their whitepaper and read through it. Whitepapers can get quite technical, but even those with just a little technical expertise can get a decent grasp of any given coin. If I still like the coin, I head over to social media and do more research - twitter, youtube, Steemit, reddit, etc... After all is said and done, it takes me quite a bit of research and usually several days to make up my mind, but if it seems promising, I'll add it to the portfolio.