UX Researh

Conducting activities to find UX opportunities

My intention for this article is to present exercises that we use at Hey Banco as a part of the design process. We usually do those kinds of strategies when there is not a clear path to follow, or there are a lot of stakeholders from different areas involved.

I hope you will find this helpful.

A new beginning

Who are we designing for?

Why am I starting with this image?

It might seem like I am talking about another topic, but it is essential to keep in mind who we are designing for. If we don’t know, we might end up with an excellent app with no use. Even when we think we know who we are designing for, it’s always a good idea to verify if the entire team have this common ground.

Framing

Once we select for who we are designing, we need to understand what do we know, what we do not, and what we want to know about them. It will help to create a common ground between the stakeholders, the product owners, and the designing team.

It may help you to think about the following questions:

• Who are they?
• What problems or situations they have?
• Lifestyle / Culture / Habits / Hobbies
• pain points / market opportunities
• How are they related to the product we are planning to launch

Empathize with the target

Trying to put into someone’s shoes is not an easy exercise to do and sometimes can be difficult if we don’t have the same context or situation as the users/target. When this happens, we try to use the following:

• Conducting in-depth dive interview with the selected target

Here is an example of a deep dive interview format.

Want to know more? Check this article here.

• Allow the stakeholders to know the target by themselves (with your help).

Present them relevant information as well as recorded interviews, ads, articles, or short clips.

A recorded interview with two volunteers

Relevant information about applications related to the target needs (not necessary competitors)

It’s workshop time

Once we settle down the information, and we made sure every team member involved in the project has relevant information. We need to hear ideas from them so we can all be part of the solution. Remember that the design process is a collaborative activity.

Marketing, Product, Sales, every stakeholder involved,Keep in mind that our job is to help everyone to collaborate and to guide them thru the design process

For the following, we relay on activities from the book Creative workshop, and you can get one copy from Amazon, of course. [here]

Playback and synthesize

The way we present the results of the research is as essential as the research itself. Imagine all the effort and time dedicated to the investigation, and no one could understand or make decisions based on it.

A good research should present information that leads to taking actions because no one would care if 99% in the survey said they like tomatoes if you are selling two types of them. Fernando Cervantes Parás

The result of a UX research presented as a buyer’s journey map

In a nutshell

To explore different approaches or solutions, you might need to apply the following things (as suggested)

• Run a checklist of who should be involved in the design process from developers to the compliance dept; if the stakeholders can not include at the time directly, make sure a member of their team will be there.
• Together, define the target and the information we know about them, and they want we don’t.
• Present relevant information (secondary research, primary if possible), so they can have a common ground to participate and elaborate on their ideas
• Let everyone join in the divergence strategy. At this point, no idea is a bad idea, and remember that everyone is raising their hand from their perspective.
• Once you have all the information, debrief and synthesize it so the stakeholders can take action from it.

Thanks for reading!