As user experience professionals, we all realize the importance of getting real insights from real users and not just making decisions based on a hunch. In this talk, you'll discover how to make those insights actionable within your company.
10. What do I mean by CONTEXT?
How does your research contribute
to your company?
11. People have a much easier time
understanding and
valuing things that are
tangible.
12. What are you delivering?
Who What How tangible is it?
Designer Designs: Wires,
InVision, PSD files
Tangible
13. What are you delivering?
Who What How tangible is it?
Designer Designs: Wires,
InVision, PSD files
Tangible
Developer Code Tangible
14. What are you delivering?
Who What How tangible is it?
Designer Designs: Wires,
InVision, PSD files
Tangible
Developer Code Tangible
Product
Manager
The Product! Tangible
15. What are you delivering?
Who What How tangible is it?
Designer Designs: Wires,
InVision, PSD files
Tangible
Developer Code Tangible
Product
Manager
The Product! Tangible
Researcher Insights Intangible
16. IMPORTANT to figure out how to
make the insights be as
valued as the tangible deliverables
17. Context - of your company
1. Culture
2. Strategy
3. Business Goals
19. What are the Beliefs and
Behaviors that determine how
people interact?
1. Culture
20. What’s Valued at your company?
1. Culture
How do people
Communicate?
21. How does the product you’re working on connect
to the other products made by your
company?
2. Strategy
How does your company want to leverage its
assets to beat competitors?
22. What does your company mean by Growth?
3. Business goals
How does the product you’re working on make
money for the company?
What is your product manager’s primary
business goal right now?
32. Are you trying to answer a
Strategic or a Tactical
question?
1. Prepare: Objectives
33. Strategic research answers these kinds of questions:
● Who are our users?
● What do they need?
● How does our product fit into their lives?
● What competitors or other
products do they use?
34. Tactical research answers these kinds of questions:
● What issues do people encounter when they use
our product?
● How desirable is our product?
● What do they actually do with our product?
● How well can people perform desired tasks over
time?
35. Do users understand how to perform
a task (e.g., buy a pair of shoes, read a review)?
You've got 5 design alternatives and you
can only AB test 2 of them - how do you narrow your
choices?
What motivates different types of
users (e.g., full-time students, returning students,
people training for a job)?
Typical questions designers are trying to answer
38. Business question Approach
Do users understand how to perform a task
(e.g., buy a pair of shoes, read a review)?
Usability test
You've got 5 design alternatives and you
can only AB test 2 of them - how do you
narrow your choices?
Usability test
What motivates different types of users
(e.g., full-time students, returning students,
people training for a job)?
Interview /
Field study
43. What tasks will you give the
user to get to your
objectives?
1. Prepare: Tasks
44. Identify the end result you want the
person to get
DO NOT spell out the steps
1. Prepare: Tasks
It’s tempting to think about helping
them but avoid the temptation
46. Remember: this is a collaborative
effort.
Write down the plan, share
with team, discuss, get
agreement BEFORE you
run the study.
1. Prepare: Research plan
47.
48.
49. Steps for ANY research project
1. Prepare
2. Run
3. Synthesize
4. Share
5. Reflect
54. 2. Run
Leading questions Non-leading questions
Are you feeling frustrated
because this is hard to do?
Didn't you see the blue
button?
Why wasn't it clear that
you should've clicked on
the green button?
55. 2. Run
Leading questions Non-leading questions
Are you feeling frustrated
because this is hard to do?
I think I just heard you say
this is hard. Tell me more
about that.
Didn't you see the blue
button?
Why wasn't it clear that
you should've clicked on
the green button?
56. 2. Run
Leading questions Non-leading questions
Are you feeling frustrated
because this is hard to do?
I think I just heard you say
this is hard. Tell me more
about that.
Didn't you see the blue
button?
Tell me all the things you
can do on this page.
Why wasn't it clear that
you should've clicked on
the green button?
57. 2. Run
Leading questions Non-leading questions
Are you feeling frustrated
because this is hard to do?
I think I just heard you say
this is hard. Tell me more
about that.
Didn't you see the blue
button?
Tell me all the things you
can do on this page.
Why wasn't it clear that
you should've clicked on
the green button?
Tell me what you’d expect
to happen if you clicked on
the green button.
58. Avoid:
Talking too much
2. Run
Instead:
Just give them the task and watch/
listen.
Silence is your friend.
59. Avoid:
Asking people what they
would do
2. Run
Why:
People are terrible predictors
of future behavior.
60. Steps for ANY research project
1. Prepare
2. Run
3. Synthesize
4. Share
5. Reflect
61. Goal is to identify key insights
What do they mean for your project?
What potential solutions do you
see?
3. Synthesize
62. 3. Synthesize
Remember: this is a collaborative
effort.
Get the key stakeholders in the
room to synthesize together.
71. 4. Share
Usability severity scale
Success Irritant Moderate Severe
Task
successfully
completed!
Minor
consistency
issue, some
hesitation or
slight
irritation
Participant
struggled but
completed task
with significant
delay or
frustration
Task failed
72. 4. Share
Team prioritization scale
Objective Issue Usability
Severity
Action
Can users
successfully
register?
Password
error
message
unclear
Moderate Team member: AM
Provide specific error
message “Password
must contain 6
characters …”
Fix during next sprint.
73. 4. Share
Find culture-specific ways to
communicate insights
Museums
Video showings
Tell stories
Blogs
https://medium.com/@FBResearch/beyond-bullet-points-
four-creative-ways-to-share-research-c10fa047f025
74. Steps for ANY research project
1. Prepare
2. Run
3. Synthesize
4. Share
5. Reflect