Your stakeholders know nothing about User Research (UXR).
And they don’t have to.
Lots of companies nowadays know that they have to focus on the user. Therefore, employees start doing some sort of research. In marketing departments, market research surveys might be set up. In design teams, designers start doing ux testing. Product managers start interviewing people.
Different stakeholders develop a different understanding of what research is, as they are using a limited set of research methods (often only one).
After some time, companies often see the need to build up a dedicated research team that professionalises their research efforts and leads to more reliable data. This is where I typically enter the picture and build up teams of researchers that produce high quality insights.
And this is when it gets interesting.
When my newly hired research professionals start doing research with the teams, they suddenly suggest other (more fitting) research methods. As an example, they suggest running an ux test for one problem, and doing generative interviews for another problem. Often with the same stakeholder.
As you can imagine, this leads to confusion on the stakeholder side.
- “Why do researchers use a prototype for one research, and no prototype for the other research?”
- “Why don’t I get a list of prioritised user problems for both researches?”
This confusion is fueled by the limited knowledge of the stakeholders on research methods. And it’s totally understandable, as they are not trained UXR professionals. As a research manager, you have to be aware of this and mitigate these problems. I can’t stress this enough. Otherwise, this confusion might even lead to the perception that your team’s work is not of high quality.
You might mitigate this by educating the stakeholders on different research methods. You don’t have to go too much into detail.
It’s often enough to educate that not all research is the same and that different research questions ask for different methods. A great way for doing this is by e.g. doing a “Research Roadshow” where the company gets to know the team and you can start educating on your approach.
Your takeaway
Awareness: Be aware of the limited knowledge your stakeholders have about research. This is in fact true for any field of business you are in. If you are an expert in one area and you talk to non-experts, they know almost nothing about your area and really need guidance.
Education: Educate your stakeholders on different research methods. A research roadshow is a great format for that
Structure: Set up a structured research plan at the beginning of each research initiative in order to achieve a common understanding of the background of the research and the questions you want to answer with the research.
