What can you do when you have no access to users?
I’ve recently had 3 separate conversations about user-less research and what we as UX Designers can do when we just can’t get access to users. The following is a synthesis of those conversations.
Why would you ‘not be able’ to do research with users?
As much as the industry loves to say “if you’re not talking to users, you’re not doing UX work”, there are times, projects and scenarios where you simply can’t do it.
Reasons can include:
- Users are hard to access — Maybe they are few in number, too busy, unable to travel or join an internet connection, or have accessibility needs you can’t accomodate no matter how hard you try
- Users are too expensive to recruit — I once recruited barristers. When you’re paying £1000+ incentive alone, you have to plan on very small samples and tight budgets for everything else
- Your company won’t let you — This is the most annoying one, but some employers or stakeholders just won’t pay for or give you the time needed to run interviews or tests.
In all these cases it is frustrating for the competent UXer, but there are other things we can do. First, let’s acknowledge…
