10 Not-so-easy Steps to Conduct User Research (Atomic Essay Day 08)
1/ Convince your organisation
Not surprising, but this ends up being one of the hardest parts of the research. Most organisations don’t see the value in research when it can the most amount of value - at their earliest stage
2/ Set expectations
How much time will it take, what questions we can expect the research to answer, what questions research will not answer, budgets - the entire team needs to be on the same page about this
3/ Write your project brief
Your project brief will anchor the entire project and will also help you in Point 2. While the details here vary from project to project, it includes things like project background, research objectives, key lines of enquiry, methodology, timeline, resources etc
4/ Collate what is known
Teams tend to jump into research without really understanding what facts, hypothesis, ideas the team already has or what is the information that is out there. Clarity leads to better research outcomes
5/ Make your Research Assets
This includes the research screener, discussion guide, surveys and other activities. Point 4 helps in building this out to a large extend
6/ Recruit your participants
Finding the people you want to speak with is one stage that takes the longest, that is if you’re not working with a recruitment agency. Be picky - trust me it will be worth it
7/ Conduct interviews
Or focus groups or whatever other methodology you end up picking. This step is also accompanied by copious note taking. A note for the wise - you can never have notes that are too detailed.
8/ Synthesise
Making sense of complex information and pattern finding - most fun part of the process for me personally! Don’t be married to a ‘report’ let your team and project dictate whether this is a PRD, some wireframes or just some bullet points
9/ Share & Implement
A workshop works well here - best done with the team that was doing the research & the team that is going to get impacted with the results
10/ Evaluate Success
Contrary to popular belief, research doesn't just stop at the report. Action & impact are key. Measure the success or failure of the research
