Part One: We owe it our clients and users to do UX research well
Part One (of Three)
If we’re asking companies to trust our findings and recommendations (that guide the implementation of sometimes expensive customer-focused solutions) then we owe it to them to conduct rigorous, reliable and valid research.
Personally, I love to challenge the status quo of research and practice. How else are we to grow and evolve? Here are some arguments (with myself and others) I’ve strived for in UX research. This 3 part series covers some topics I’m passionate about because I have seen, first hand, the effects that valid and reliable methodologies can have on creating change.
Adding to the knowledge base and advocating for the user
Research is an expensive activity and can take significant time. Unless research moves us forward then at worst it’s a waste of limited resources and opportunities, at best it validates what is already known.
One of the key premises of any research is that it MUST contribute new knowledge to the field. Research is an expensive activity and can take significant time. Unless research moves us forward then at worst it’s a waste of limited resources and opportunities, at best it validates what is already known. As UX practitioners it’s our responsibility to explore any data (either existing data from secondary sources, or our own research findings) to identify knowledge gaps, and take the client to a higher level of understanding (and addressing) of their customers’ needs. I’ve seen numerous occasions where, at the end of a project, the client says “we already knew this stuff, but it was nice to have it validated again”. My take on this statement is that we:
- Have not sufficiently value-added to their knowledge base,
- Likely need to go that step further in proving why the exercise was worthwhile or what they could have done better with existing data/opportunities (particularly when championing UX and the user is our role),
- Should question why, if this knowledge was already held, there haven’t been (more) customer focused solutions implemented, and
- Experienced the client make apologies for us and our work.
“One sometimes finds what one is not looking for” (Sir Alexander Fleming)
For example, recently a new client asked us to create a new persona. They were being used to guide email content around sales, new products and the like. Reviewing their existing personas and data showed that another persona wasn’t going to be a value-add, nor help the business realise its goals. We pivoted the client from one deliverable (a persona) to another (a customer journey map). It involved highlighting to the client that while the existing personas were well detailed, their strategy wasn’t customer focused. By putting the customers’ experiences, behaviours, and emotions at the core of the work meant that meaningful and impactful solutions could be identified, and additional marketing and strategy opportunities could be uncovered thereby lifting revenue.
Although UX consultants can create high quality deliverables, the real value of our work lays in designing and developing high quality end-state experiences for customers.
Although UX consultants can create high quality deliverables, the real value of our work lays in designing and developing high quality end-state experiences for customers. That is, the skill lies in restating, emphasising and selling the importance of placing the customer at the core of the business.
Part Two covers “Research starts before responding to the brief”, ““Rubbish in, rubbish out” Standardise your Qual!”.
Part Three covers “Your research doesn’t prove anything, and 8 isn’t the magic number”, and “The irony of not being transparent or handing over the data”.
Annie has been a researcher since 2004. She started in clinical psychology research before moving to social research, and finally translational research with mental health users. She loves to challenge the status quo of research and practice. She’s passionate about improving the way we work because she has seen the effects that valid and reliable methodologies, and best practice can have on creating change.
