USER RESEARCH AS A TOOL TO BUILD EMPATHY.
My craving for solving user problems led me to understand them better.
Our most important job as designers is putting our users first and striving to build usable products people will love. By applying empathy at the core of our process we would not only have a deeper understanding of our users, we would as well build trust that would eventually lead to a lasting connection towards them.
While researching and looking up for ways to increase empathy towards users i found there are a number of methods available which includes but not limited to usability testing, expert reviews, personas, prototyping and even newer approaches like Design Thinking.
But one thing i realized was User Research seemed to be a lot more revealing than these other methods mentioned.
So how do we build or increase Empathy?
- Conduct research and be involved
Being part of the research process is very important in understanding our users as this would give you first-hand knowledge of how the user feels or what they are saying. This would make it a lot easier for us to keep them at the front and center of our design process because, you've seen and heard from them directly. Understanding the context and environment a user is in provides for better product direction. What are the products, places, people, and challenges customers deal with when accomplishing their goals? Getting answers to these questions can only come from observing and collecting data in person.
If for some reason you are unable to conduct the research by yourself or in your firm you are not directly responsible for this, watching and listening to a recording is a suitable alternative.
2. Choose QUALITATIVE over Quantitative
Qualitative and quantitative research are both important during product design and I am not saying you should choose one over the other, they are complementary, not competing, methods. but Qualitative research answers a very important aspect of understanding user behavior and/or thought process; the “WHY” and “HOW MUCH” among other things; answers that are difficult to get with a quantitative study alone. It goes beyond taking numbers, metrics or mere headcount. It allows us to see things from the user’s perspective; the reason (why) they take certain actions or the way they go about making those decisions which invariably gives us a better understanding of their pain points and the problem we are trying to solve.
A qualitative study allows your explore the problems customers encounter, the needs users have and can’t articulate, or misunderstandings customers have in finding information or using a product.
3. Building tools for understanding
Keeping users at the top of our priority list after conducting quality research is very essential as this would allow us break-down whatever information we have collected a lot easier.
Here’s a scenario, lets assume we have a user who told us he only wants to see videos on logo design because that’s his preference, but other users mentioned they would prefer a wider variety of design videos, it would make no sense changing everyone’s default view to only videos on logo design; rather, we need to focus on finding patterns that are similar between users that would allow us to make a more informed decision.
A typical example is how medium delivers content to us based on our reading pattern or preselected preference. Examples of methods we can use in discovering user patterns are
i. Finding out their pain points?
ii. What goals are they trying to achieve?
iii. what are their behaviors when using your product?
When you need to describe the complexity and subtlety of how users interact with a product or accomplish goals, You can distill the information you got using tools like
iii. User stories
This is also a great way to share findings with team members. Please ensure you tell a story when sharing your findings with team members as it makes it a lot easier for them to relate and would also allow them build some empathy as well.
Most times i work with a team of developers and this method works almost every time. People always like to hears stories because it helps them form their own theories and in some cases build a hypothesis.
4. Test! Test!! Repeat
Learning is continuous and is never done. The world is changing, so are people and products. Cultivating a continuous cycle of learning helps us maintain deep and lasting empathy for our users, by continually testing new ideas we open ourselves for opportunities to learn and understanding our user better which enables us build usable and user-centered products which is important for any business to succeed.
Final Thoughts
As UX designers our role and the utmost reason why we get hired is to align user needs with business goals. Research isn't an excuse to be sloppy, avoid using numbers, or justify your opinions. Bringing in research into our practice allows us build a deeper understand and connection with our users, it is never enough to guess or design what we think our user wants.
Finally, thank you!
I really appreciate you reading this. I would love to hear from you on Twitter (@sidiuskomeh) or you can peep at my process on Instagram and I am always happy to talk about UX.
