How can you conduct effective user research as a team?

Définir des objectifs de recherche clairs et SMART est fondamental avant d'entamer une étude utilisateur. En équipe, cette étape implique de préciser ce que vous souhaitez apprendre, pourquoi, et comment vous allez y parvenir. Des objectifs spécifiques, mesurables, atteignables, pertinents et limités dans le temps vous aident à sélectionner les méthodes, outils et participants les mieux adaptés à votre recherche. L'alignement de ces objectifs sur la portée du projet, les parties prenantes et les objectifs commerciaux garantit une recherche plus ciblée et pertinente pour les besoins de l'équipe et du projet.

Any business stakeholder will have an idea on how a product would look beforehand. As a UX designer, when setting research objectives, it's essential to consider the hypothesis (coming from business or yourself) you aim to test. Identify the specific questions or assumptions you want to explore and validate. When you anchor research objectives to hypotheses, you create a structured approach that not only guides your investigation but also ensures that the insights gained contribute directly to answering the underlying questions. The ultimate goal would be to be have informed design decisions.

When defining objectives, look for opportunities to collaborate with other teams like product, engineering, and analytics. Get their input on what questions they need answered from users. This ensures your research is providing value across the business, not just design. Research often uncovers new questions as it progresses. As a team, stay open and adaptable with your objectives. Be ready to refine them based on early learnings rather than rigidly sticking to initial assumptions. Schedule regular check-ins to discuss if objectives need adjustment.

Start a group conversation to establish specific, quantifiable research goals. Create a common understanding of the team's goals for the user research project. For example When redesigning a mobile app, jointly establish goals such as boosting navigation efficiency and optimizing the onboarding experience.

To conduct effective research as a team, identify the right people, utilize individual strengths, invest in mentoring and skill-building, break down the process into steps, assign roles and responsibilities, set deadlines and milestones, communicate effectively, and assess the team's composition and communication.

For instance, interviews can provide depth, while surveys offer breadth. The trick lies in balancing these methods to gather both qualitative and quantitative data, offering a comprehensive understanding of user needs and behaviors.

Take an inventory of research skills and experience across your team. Assign lead roles for activities based on individual strengths. For example, have your most engaging team members run sessions while methodical team members focus on analysis. Use team-based research as an opportunity to cross-train skills. Have people shadow activities they are less familiar with. This builds a more well-rounded team capable of picking up slack for one another when needed.

Leave room for planning; and always have a “Plan B”. As a UX designer, using a tool to plan UX research work is important. It helps organize tasks and make sure everything runs smoothly. I regularly add to Jira, Asana or Trello: depending on what the team is using. Having backup plans (Plan B's) is crucial because a big part of the job involves working with people's time, and unexpected things can come up. Being prepared with alternative approaches ensures that the research process remains on track even if there are unforeseen changes or challenges. Plan + Adapt.

Involve the group in strategic planning, making sure that each member adds to the formation of the research projects. Assign roles for things like writing interview guides and running usability testing. Place an intense focus on coordination to address a wide variety of user experiences. As an example, assign team members to concentrate on different aspects of the user journey when organizing usability testing.

Once you establish your research objectives, careful consideration of the product's condition and the crucial data required for enhancing it guides the selection of a suitable research method. The choice of method is contingent upon the specific type of data sought from user interactions.

Encourage team members to work together during research sessions. To speed up the process, assign different responsibilities to team members. For example, designate one person to facilitate, another to take notes, and yet others to watch user interactions. Keep lines of communication open to exchange insights in real time. Encourage team members to work together to ask follow-up questions during user interviews, based on the users' initial comments.

Don’t multitask while on “research mindset”. Analyze research data in a timely manner and when you're mentally fresh is crucial for effective interpretation. We tend to leave research to more “pressing matters”: avoid that. What helps is breaking down the analysis process into manageable steps rather than attempting a "big bang". While providing high-level insights to clients as you progress not only keeps them informed but also fosters a collaborative environment. This transparent and timely sharing of insights enables ongoing feedback and adjustments, ensuring that the final analysis is well-aligned with client expectations.

Evaluate the research findings together, making use of each team member's unique strengths. Make use of common platforms and technologies to speed up the testing process. Promote the use of different points of view for identifying patterns and making judgments. For example, testers utilize collaborative platforms to comment and classify results when evaluating usability test results.

Clearly outline goals for analysis to align the team's focus. Engage the team in exploring data together to leverage diverse insights. Document analysis steps for clarity and reproducibility. Foster open dialogue to share progress and insights within the team.

Big presentations are not great for collaboration. I like to share key findings bit by bit instead of waiting for a big presentation later. It keeps everyone updated and allows for discussions along the way. This way, we can make adjustments as we go, making the whole process more flexible and collaborative. Get out of your UX silo, bring people into the UX research process.

Collaboratively present the research outcomes so that all participants fully understand the insights. Make visually appealing reports or presentations, and lead group discussions about the outcomes' significance. For example When sharing user input, get the team involved in coming up with ideas and setting priorities for design improvements.

1. Define Objectives: Clearly define research objectives and goals to guide the team's efforts and ensure a focused approach. 2. Collaborative Planning: Collaborate on the research plan, involving team members in the planning process to gather diverse perspectives. 3. Diverse Skill Sets: - Assemble a team with diverse skill sets, including designers, developers, and researchers, to bring varied insights to the research process. 4. User Personas Workshop: - Conduct a user personas workshop as a team activity to align everyone on the target audience and their needs. 5. Data Collection Techniques: - Utilize a mix of data collection techniques, such as interviews, surveys, and usability testing, to gather comprehensive insights.

1. Shared Analysis Sessions: Collaboratively review and interpret research findings as a team. 2. Regular Team Check-Ins: Schedule check-ins to discuss progress, share findings, and address challenges. 3. Inclusive Workshops: Organize workshops where team members collectively ideate based on research insights. 4. User Journey Mapping: Create user journey maps as a team to visualize the user experience. 5. Feedback and Iteration: Foster a culture of feedback, encouraging team members to contribute insights and refine the research approach based on ongoing feedback loops.

Bring the team into the UX Research process. For example, when doing user testing sessions, it's a good idea to involve business stakeholders and developers as listeners. Having them participate and even take notes can ensure they get first-hand direct insights into user interactions and feedback. It helps bridge the gap between design decisions and technical considerations, fostering a shared understanding. Additionally, having diverse perspectives during the testing session allows for more comprehensive discussions afterward, leading to informed design iterations and improved collaboration across the team.