3 Red Flags as Lack of Data. 🚩 / UXR
UX Researches are tough. Working with data can be really hard sometimes.
But you know what’s worst than having no data? False one.
Recently I came across an article where the author mentioned his Linkedin pool as a result of UX research and that just blew my mind. Not the fact that the people who replied were completely irrelevant to the product he was researching for, but also the fact that he based all the product decisions on that survey’s results.
In order to prevent creators from making false statements, here are my top 3 false data besties.
If you ever used one of these as data to rely on, it’s time to think again.
🚩 1. Linkedin Pools
It’s specifically based on your network.
Our Linkedin networks are including people from /near our professional fields, our colleagues and ex-teammates, etc … whatever the questions are, the answers aren’t giving valid info as they are based on only your network which already has specific filters. So it makes no general data unless your goal is to get answers specifically from your network.
When it comes to research, transparency isn’t always your best friend here.
Overall the surveys from our personal accounts are taking away one of the important key elements of successful quantitative research - honesty that comes with anonymity. So by hiding the researcher’s identity you also avoid social desirability bias which accuses when participants answer according to how they think they will be viewed by others and not how they really think (which in Linkedin’s case is visible to everyone).
🚩 2. Your friend’s opinion.
Support from our friends and family is important and highly motivating but that doesn’t guarantee that their opinion about your research topic can be counted as a data source.
The human element has a central role when it comes to qualitative research. The Participant-Researcher Relationship has a massive impact on it and can directly affect not only the process but also the results. To exclude the affection of our relationships into the data we’re collecting, it’s preferable to not include your close-circle people in the process unless you have no direct connection to the research topic.
🚩 3. Any survey that doesn’t have target & market segmentation.
In order to have research we can rely on, it has to be done with the group of people we’re actually targeting. To get answers from those people, we have to get into their communities, face their needs and deep dive into them.
Where you’ve got the data is as important as what you’ve got.
Age, occupation, social status, beliefs, culture … everything counts depending on the topics you’re trying to find the answers for.
It’s better to have 1–2 people from your target group than 10 random people.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome to use all the power of your social media and gain as much data as you can, but don’t forget that in order to get the information you need, you have to ask the right people.
Wooh!
Thanks for getting here.
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