User research at an early-stage startup. Part 2
In part one, we explored hiring, the job search, and how to enable success for research in a early-stage startup. In part two we’ll be exploring the ways research has shaped Kiip. Let’s get to it!
Note: This article is split into two parts. Part one is here. If you’d like to read it unabridged click here
Part Two: Culture and Impact
Corina: What are the biggest ways you think research has shaped the product so far?
Phil: I mean, I think the number one thing would be that we thought that it was about document management and storage for individuals. We were really on that vital document management kick about a year ago. And I think that you helped us very quickly realize that the real pain point was much more with the organizations that we were working with. So we shifted from building software for individuals to building software for organizations to help individuals. And I think you did a good job of bringing that to all of us and helping us understand what that looks like.
The other one that comes to mind is the mental model or the conceptual model of the product. We were having the prioritization problem of do we add additional ways for people to add and share files to each other? or should we transform what we’re calling a room, the shared collaborative space, into more than just a listing of files?
So you were pushing for chat at that point, and we didn’t really have a ton of people on the platform, and we didn’t know that a lot of people were gonna be chatting. We sort of talked about that and you said, “Well, no, it’s not about highest priority. We have 20 features that we need to get out the door today, and they’re all equally important in some ways, but if we get chat in here, people will understand the product.” That was such a cool moment, and only something that you could tell us. And it really ended up being the framework that we have built and also stuck to. A year later, we’re still pretty damn close to where we were, in terms of how we’ve built our most critical feature, and we just keep adding onto that. So I think it proved foundational in how we built out the product and how people understand what it does.
Phil: What makes you close your laptop and say “That was a good day?”
Corina: Well, I mean I love the tip you always give, which is to accomplish three* things a day. It helps you feel like you’ve actually accomplished something at the end of the day. I feel the most excited at the end of the day when I’ve actually talked to people who are using the product. I always feel like things make more sense whenever I’ve done a research session, or had a call with a client, or interacted with somebody experiencing Kiip. It helps it feel like, okay, we’re not just working away in our little hobbit hole. This actually has larger implications, and it always makes me feel good when people get excited about using it and you see their eyes light up and you know, the idea gets validated (or not!).
*Phil: It’s actually four things, but you do you!
Corina: What about you? Same question.
Phil: I just get really jazzed when we all kind of have a really hard problem and we just kind of come together and figure it out, you know? My favorite question to ask anyone is, “Can you please just draw this?” I think just bringing sort of that, like, visual thinking into a company, and building that culture, and just getting everybody to draw a diagram so that we all have alignment, it just gets me so happy. If you have a meeting where everybody talks, you just walk away with nothing, and 30 minutes later you’ve forgotten what you said. You know? I take great pride in helping everybody realize that they need to create artifacts that are representations of the truth of where we were at that time. I think that’s really awesome.
Corina: I’m wondering how you think of user research as a function, not just a role. How can user research help a company shape its culture?
Phil: I think it builds a culture of user centricity. I don’t know when people typically hire their first researcher, but I feel like it’s way down the line from where we are. At that point, who has made the decisions up until that point? Who is the loudest voice in the room? Who has the respect of the team? And even if you were to hire a principal or director of research, their first six months to a year is going to be spent on redoing a lot of that culture of “well, because I said so, because I’m the business owner.” I think that planting that seed now, proving that value, like I was talking about before, and building that is hugely valuable for the long-term culture implications. You hear it here all the time: “Well, we should test that, or we should go ask Corina.”
So it sort of builds that culture of deference, where people kind of recognize that they’re jumping to assumptions, and that maybe the easiest thing to do is just to table this conversation until we have more facts. I think that’s the culture that I’m really looking to do, to build, do we have the facts, yes or no? You know? And if we don’t have the facts, do we know enough to make a decision, and are we kind of comfortable with that level of risk? Or do we just launch it, knowing it’s not perfect? At least it’ll be enough to get a reaction from other people, and then we can kind of come back and fix it the way we want it.
All of this thinking is only really achievable because we have you. At any moment in this process, we could go get those facts. So we’re much more free to decide what level of assumption we want to make, and balance that with how quickly we want to get something out that we perceive to have value. Everything we’ve released has had some risk, but the major pieces have all been validated by research. That’s a lot of sleep that I don’t have to lose, and it’s incredibly reassuring to know that everything we’re doing is highly requested by our customers and users.
The speed at which we ship a feature and the level of value it provides are the two biggest levers we’re trying to optimize as an early stage startup. All of this kind of comes back to the concept of what I would consider to be a learning organization. One that actually is actively looking at the things it’s doing and learning from them. And I think that research is probably the most critical part of that culture.
Corina: And I would add that I think it can help build a culture of curiosity and inclusion from the beginning. It gets everybody asking questions and just thinking in a different way. We started an “I wonder” Slack channel early on to create a space where anybody can drop in a question. Questions come from engineers, the growth team, our CEO — they come from everybody at every level of the company and everybody gets exposure to those questions. And I think it just builds the muscle of it being okay to just ask any question to start a dialogue with other people.
Phil: So you’re talking about culture a bit, but let me ask it directly. What do you think you’ve added to the Kiip culture?
Corina: Like I was saying, I think I’ve added to our culture of curiosity and asking questions. Another ritual we’ve started that helps build user research into our company culture are biweekly Three Things presentations, where I round up three interesting things I’ve read or heard that week, and we discuss them as a group and how they might impact the company. It’s a great way to deliver research in a bite size form and get people at the higher level of the company talking about research and bringing up questions. Once a quarter or so I’ll present highlights from those meetings in a Three Things Brown Bag to bring the rest of the company.
And it’s just another space like “I Wonder,” where people can stretch out of their comfort zones a little bit, and think about questions and topics that they might not normally be thinking about in their everyday jobs. And the perspectives and ideas that come out of those meetings blow me away.
Corina: We’ve been talking about the critical role of research to the entire company. On that topic, how does research help design keep its seat at the leadership table?
Phil: I think that done correctly, research helps us prove the business case for design. It’s the ability to be in a conversation and add meaningful contributions, but also to show the outputs and results of the decisions that you make. And to help align the needs of the customer with the needs of the business, which is ultimately what I think user experience actually is.
The chat feature I mentioned before — our CEO wasn’t initially aligned. I had to make a good case for it, and I’m grateful that even though he didn’t personally agree, he chose to trust in our decision based on our expertise and the facts we had. Tracing that thought, you did the research, which translated into a huge shift in how the product works, which means that now we have to change how we market and sell this product, how we charge for it, what we do next, and design is involved in all of this.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time in roles that did not have a research component, and it just always sort of feels like you’re grasping at straws a little bit, in terms of trying to find facts to justify your actions. And at its worst, I think that argument devolves into one of aesthetics and cosmetics. There’s no easier way to disqualify yourself, or to be removed from your seat at the table, when you’re sort of stamping your feet over those kinds of things. So I think research helps design stay very grounded in facts and reality and, hopefully, business outcomes as well.
Corina: What are your hopes for Kiip in the next year?
Phil: We deliver something that brings people joy, that makes their lives better, and ultimately has an impact on the communities that we live in.
Phil: Same question!
Corina: I hope we’re helping more people get access to the benefits they need!
Coming soon: An inside look at how we conduct research at Kiip
