3 tips for a UX Research newbie
Tips for running research sessions right out of grad school
Congratulations, you new college grad — You’ve just landed your first swanky job or internship at a fantastic company as a UX Researcher/Specialist! It’s a feeling of relief, happiness and excitement. You walk through the door on that first day, starry-eyed and hopeful. You get your first project and the nerves start to kick in.
You start thinking, “What do I do now? I’ve only done UX at school — This isn’t school!”. Well, fear not. This article will give you a few pointers to abate those ‘imposter syndrome’ feels, help you figure things out just a tad bit faster and let you be the voice of the user in corporate environments better.
1. There are always a lot of stakeholders
Ah, those simple days when the only stakeholders of a project were you and your users. You focused on the users’ needs and designed for them. However, in a company environment, there will be multiple stakeholders — marketing, product, business, design. Each stakeholder would be looking to get something different from the research and some may not even know what UX, research or design does (shocker, I know). It will be your job to listen to their opinions, take what they say into account and debate with them if their requirements and tasks are not optimal. Patience is the key as you will have a lot of ‘asks’.
For example, here is a situation that you will most definitely face in the future: small last minute changes to the discussion guide or adding a new feature to be tested after participants have been recruited? Which one would you choose?
Go ahead with the last minute changes and say that you will test the new feature in the next phase of testing. It’s all about give and take. Pick your battles wisely and come to a compromise.
2. You need not follow an ideal UX Research process
This was drilled into our heads, wasn’t it? The perfect design HAS to follow these rules. How else will customers love our product if we don’t?
(Insert buzzer sounds) Wrong! Each project will be at a particular stage and have its own funding. Some projects may require a simple user testing, some may require the whole nine yards, others may never face the user until they’ve been shipped (yes, that happens).
How do you deal with this, you ask? If you see a need for UX Research, advocate for it! Speak to relevant stakeholders about the need to conduct UX research in a consumer-focused environment. Make the point that a customer needs to like a product in order for revenue to flow in.
I’ve found that inviting key stakeholders to user testing sessions enlightens them about this advantage of research which in turn, creates empathy and focused efforts on improving UX.
3. Design decisions do not always have to be user-centric
You just found out in a usability session that users have difficulty or do not like a particular feature. While the obvious decision from a UX perspective would be to change it or get rid of it, product decisions are made keeping UX, business and engineering in mind. You need to remember that you’re the voice of the user, but the company also needs to make money and some decisions will be made that may be business or engineering related.
In this case, consistent feedback is the key. Regularly test the feature over cycles, report user feedback and product analytics to make your point to stakeholders.
Numbers help — The more users say they don’t like a feature, the faster these design decisions are reversed.
First jobs are always nerve-wracking, but hey, you’re doing what you love and you’re kicking ass at it! Keep learning, be patient and you’ll learn to swim these tricky waters, instead of just staying afloat.
Liked this article? Want to know more about my UX work? Or do you just want to grab some Peet’s Covfefe (sorry not sorry) in the Bay? Either way, check out my portfolio at http://salonijoshi.net or email me at salonijoshi2608@gmail.com.
