Lessons to raise the maturity level of your UX Research team
In October 5th of this year, I had a chance to participate in the Recon19, a conference dedicated to UX Research, in the heart of New York City.
I wrote an article about the main takeaways and learnings, and what I think are the trending topics about UX Research.
But this one, is focused on the first topic that I take as a personal lesson is: UX Research is growing and is growing fast so how are you dealing with this fact?
Most of the talks were aligned to the moment UX Research is going through, which means, the talks were stories about how to deal with the daily challenges at the same time you’re trying to increase the maturity level of the UX research department in your organization. It is a fact: usually, the UX researchers are a team of one and are struggling with the choice to deliver fast value or building the right process and frameworks. In the end, we’re living a day after another trying to make things right.
So, my first takeaway of participating in Recon was about the UX Research Maturity, which I summarized in the following main points:
- Use technology to change the way you do research
2. You will never find perfection, it will always be about trial and failure
3. Embrace reporting changes
4. In the same sense, you should be de-escalating the level of research effort (level! not quality)
5. “Stop using research jargon and start speaking like a human being” (LIU, Kathy)
6. Become a trusted advisor
7. Never forget to influence the downstream
8. Metrify anything! Even innocent slack interactions with “Hi, a girl in my team mentioned that you could help me with a question about the users…” this is proof that UX Research has value!
9. Take a deep breath! Everyone is learning and you’re doing your best!
After all, we need to understand that we should be more strategists and fewer researchers. It’s hard to leave all the anthropologies and research concepts in a second plan, but if we don’t focus on business, no one will take us seriously.
That’s another important learning: the companies just gave a step forward to a high level of UX Research maturity when they introduced a research leadership to be on the same level as other business areas. The average between hiring the first UX Research for the organization and having a solid process of UX Research with metrification was 4 years, so, don’t feel down! If you just started with UX research in a company with a team that is structuring, you have time! And it’s super cool being a part of this change!
Also, to make it easy to sell your design ideas, the team should have clear goals for the product and the user experience. If you feel that they don’t have it or it’s not that clear, define this together with them. It will make your job easier and more focused.
