How to Talk to Strangers
Establishing a practical approach in promoting the importance of understanding and representing our users in every stage of a project.
ORGANIZATION
7Geese
RELEASE
March 2018
SKILLS
Design Strategy
User Research
How do you start a conversation?
From Generalists to Specialists
Every company has different levels of user research maturity. These levels typically align with the maturity of product design teams. At the highest level, you get specialized members who own certain domains of design – there are user researchers who go out to identify opportunities or validate assumptions, UI designers who focus on building the interface, etc. On the opposite side of that spectrum, you have one-person design teams. The designer tends to emphasize output and relies on tools to speed up their process.
During my first few months, I observed how projects evolve from inception to delivery. UserTesting.com was utilized to validate designs but those tend to be very task oriented. There were no conversations between us and the participants so we couldn’t really dig deeper into their feedback. During the discovery and concept phase of a project, user experience was not involved. It signalled a bigger issue. As designers, we represent the voice of our users. I made it into a goal that eventually we’ll be involved from the very get-go. Thankfully, 7Geese has a goal setting feature!
Finding the Right Opportunity
So how did I pull it off? By starting small. It’s quite tricky to measure the value of designers being involved in product discovery. There’s battles of opinions as each discipline represents different facets of the company. Product discovery in our case is when the company looks at potential directions to take for the product. These are sourced from customer feedback, sales calls, etc. It’s not a good starting point to introduce a new process.
There’s hundreds of different methods in understanding user behaviours, needs and motivations. When introducing user research to the team, go for the easiest one to calculate the return on time invested. I started with usability testing and concept validation since these tend to be the most relatable methods for stakeholders. I’m lucky that 7Geese was already running usability testing so it was just a matter of replacing the existing method with a more catered, scalable process.
My previous team at Unbounce trying to make sense of all the ethnography findings. We sorted over hundreds of data points.
At my previous job, I was able to experience the full gamut of user research. I’ve worked with researchers and fellow designers in decoding ethnography findings, creating user archetypes and running usability studies.
I brought that experience and created guides for the different methods that I’ve used. These serve as the foundation for running any form of user research. If you’re not too familiar with a particular method, there’s plenty of resources online like Optimal Workshop and Nielsen Norman Group that offer an in-depth look.
These guides not only explain the type of study and how to run it but also include templates and tips in interpreting results.
You might wonder, isn’t this a lot of work already? Remember, this is all about setting up the foundation. The more time and effort you put in now means you can focus more on running the studies later. I was also building this to scale so that other designers can easily replicate. For each method, there’s an accompanying guide. These guides are also supported by documents that range from recruitment checklist and email templates. The format generally remains the same; identify which method to use, recruit participants, facilitate the study, interpret findings and present to the team and stakeholders.
The next step is to work with the Customer Success team in familiarizing yourself with the user base. Without dedicated user researchers, CS teams are the gatekeepers to running any study. I used this opportunity to educate them about our roles as designers and the benefits both teams will get if we work closely with each other.
The Art of Storytelling
Before recruiting participants for the study, you’ll need a goal and narrative. I usually start with a goal in mind before crafting the story and questions for the participant. The goal sets the stage for the rest of the conversation. Storytelling on the other hand gives a direction to the conversation. It is the key to an effective session, especially with users who are eager to give feedback.
Sessions are limited to one hour and only up to four meetings in a day. I use the time in between for debriefing and also taking breaks. There’s always a dedicated note taker so I can focus more on the conversation. Oftentimes, it’s the product manager or a customer success representative. Before I start interviewing participants, I run a couple of pilot sessions internally. Not only I’m already getting feedback but I’m also working out the kinks in my narrative. Plus, I’m building confidence before I actually start speaking to our users.
One thing to note is that introducing user research in the process might look like you’re taking time away from designing a solution. It’s a matter of perspective. Time is being reallocated, not extended. The hypothesis is that by focusing on research and validation, you limit the amount of potential mistakes, which can increase scope and extend development.
Overly simplistic graph of the design timeline breakdown but you get the point.
Low Effort, High Impact
Usability testing is a gateway for more user research methods. The results are very easy to measure and quickly show the return on time invested. This is the format I use for presenting summary of results. It’s a one-page document that highlights both qualitative and quantitative feedback as well as next steps for a project. I also schedule presentations to answer any questions and get alignment with the rest of the team.
Generic usability testing template that includes SUS as quantitative measurement.
It produces a clear outcome for the team. Do we continue on with the same direction or do we pivot? And at that point of the project, it’s mostly just my time that was spent. User feedback, whether positive or negative, is a validation and testament to the importance of user research.
Assuming you get buy-in from the organization, it’s time to scale user research. This is when you’ll thank yourself for spending all that time creating templates and defining a process. Other designers can easily take and run their own studies. The whole operation becomes repeatable and best of all, it creates this mindset that everyone should be talking to the users.