We Did Validation Research
It is totally worth it
When it comes to user research, if you’re designing in a new-to-you industry, the case for user research is pretty simple and not difficult to argue. (Your client may still say no, but that’s a different story).
But many places think they know their audience and what they need, which makes doing user research a more difficult case to argue. Typically I have seen many UX professionals advocate for always doing research, and use the reasons described below by Leah Buley, author of the UX Team of One.
However, I haven’t come across any case studies that that read, “Well, we know our audience pretty well, we did interviews, and our thoughts were confirmed! We were glad to do that research.”
Well today, I am writing that story.
Many of the staff I work with have been on InterVarsity staff for a long time, they are student alumni, they may have even been campus ministers themselves! They have lived the experience.
So when it came to what content goes in the Ministry Playbook, a current project for showcasing the best of our resources, I heard repeatedly, “We have content — it’s just a matter of how we distribute it.” The team listed off the top resources that they expected to be there: Big Story, 5 Thresholds, Network Mapping, etc.
When I approached the team making the Ministry Playbook about doing some user research, there may have been some skepticism. Thankfully, I still have the card that I myself am still getting to know InterVarsity, so if nothing else the research would be for me.
They played along, and we conducted a couple interviews. We asked active field staff what were their top resources, what did they keep in their Google Drive to train others with, etc.
And they answered: “Oh, the Big Story, 5 Thresholds, Network Mapping…”
We were right.
But in those interviews we got more than being right.
While we had correctly identified some of what should be in the Playbook, we learned that there were content gaps. We also learned how we need to frame that content — our language system doesn’t match our audience’s, so we rewrote the titles of almost everything.
Additionally, there will be critics of what did and did not make it, and when they criticize we won’t have to point to our opinions as the authority. With a humble heart, we can describe our process, the data we saw, stories gathered from active staff, and the conclusions we made because of it.
While we were confirmed, that does not make skipping research next time the right answer. As much as I can, I want to keep de-risking projects.
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Ashley Crutcher is the Director of Experience Strategy at InterVarsity located in Madison, WI. She tweets at @ashleyspixels and enjoys cuddling with her furkiddos, crocheting/knitting, ringing handbells, and thinking too much about everything.
