The Anatomy of a Useful Standard Operating Procedure in UX Research— Avoid Duplicating Efforts & Minimize Time Spent Onboarding Researchers
So, you have a giant UX research project coming up. Or maybe you’ve got new hires coming on, employees leaving and you know there’s going to be a cost penalty associated with filling the gap while bringing new people up to speed.
Here at Marketade, we are in the second phase of a massive federally funded project. We’ve learned some big lessons on how to operationalize research in a sustainable way. Over the course of this project, we have dedicated significant time and energy to the processes and procedures involved that help keep us on time and on budget. Below are some things we’ve learned about Research Operations.
What Is Research Operations?
Research operations is the process by which we move from planning and thinking about research to doing research. @kate_towsey also has a lovely graphic compiled from the ResearchOps community. This graphic is the first iteration of a ResearchOps framework.
Admittedly, my definition is a bit reductive for the sake of brevity, and ResearchOps encompasses a broad scope. In this article, I want to talk about the role of the Standard Operating Procedure(SOP) in setting expectations for the team, enabling them to work autonomously and ensuring that we comply with all necessary regulations.
But Wait. What Is a Standard Operating Procedure?
SO GLAD YOU ASKED.
A standard operating procedure is “a step by step guide that describes how to do routine complex tasks.” In other words, it is a document designed to detail each step and outcome in a process or procedure to ensure that everyone does it the same way and in so doing, achieves a desirable outcome.
The project at Marketade was complex and involved many moving parts. It involved formal qualitative coding and some of our researchers did not have experience in this area. Additionally, one of the researchers had just joined Marketade and this was her first foray into federally funded projects and all of the requirements therein. Given the sheer numbers we needed to keep track of, and the regulations we were beholden to, we needed a way to guarantee that all of us could be compliant and efficient.
Enter the almighty SOP.
When Should I Use a SOP?
The answer here will largely depend on the research you are doing, and the company you’re in. One way of looking at this problem is to think about the end result. Where is it important to have uniformity? One answer could be that you need uniformity in the recruitment process. All users must sign and agree to consent forms to participate. All sessions must be recorded and stored in a particular location. Thus, a SOP is likely a necessary instrument.
Another point to consider is that SOP’s, if they’re written well, should be able to guide any researcher to success, even if he or she has little to no previous exposure to your project. Most organizations have some kind of turnover rate, or instances where they need additional resources on short notice. Having SOP’s in place can maximize efficiency by encapsulating necessary information in one place.
How Do I Ensure That It Is Useful?
Our federally funded project offers a nice example of how we developed and implemented SOP’s that ultimately enabled researchers to be autonomous independent of their experience with research and federal grants.
The phases of the project were as follows:
- Recruitment — advertise on Craigslist, screen participants and schedule them.
- Research — 40 subjects to be tested on two health websites.
- Analysis — transcribe and independently code all interviews twice (by different researchers).
We used Airtable to manage participant information and to screen, schedule and assign researchers to interview, and GoToMeeting to conduct all interviews. Below, I will detail some of the elements of our SOP that helped us stay on time and on budget.
Example #1: Detail How to Do the Research.
The first category dealt specifically with enabling the research to occur — from setting up a meeting to downloading and storing data and transcripts. It looked a little something like this:
All SOP’s should have a purpose. What is this for? Why am I using it?
A second key component is the attention to detail. It may seem obvious at first glance to ask someone about their availability, but sometimes we all get focused, side tracked or we otherwise make assumptions and forget it’s important to do the small, obvious yet critical communication tasks.
A final important element is that it contains all necessary credential information. Including this in the document centralizes the information in one place, eliminating the need for the researcher to look it up or for you to repeat it.
Example #2: Centralize Information to Build Confidence
The second SOP attended to the screening and interview itself — it was designed to be a guide that any researcher could read and conduct these procedures without needing additional support from other staff. This document had all voicemail, email, screening and interview scripts, complete with necessary links and fake data to give to users embedded in the document. Additionally, it comes with critical checklists:
Incorporating checklists into SOP’s before launching into the detailed steps sets up the researcher for success. If they know ahead of time that they will need to use certain products or have certain subscriptions, they will won’t be caught without them at the last minute.
More importantly, the checklist portion helps build confidence in researchers. We were fortunate to have a researcher on our team join just before launching the research phase. Unfortunately for her, she missed a lot of context from the previous development and planning phase — and it was her first experience with a project of this magnitude. Having a sense of exactly what to expect and how to prepare empowered her to be independent and enabled her to take on the lion’s share of conducting the interviews.
Final Thoughts
UX Research is often complicated, especially if you have stringent recruiting standards or you plan to accumulate large amounts of data. Typically, you’ll be working with at least one other person, if not several. In effort to make your processes transparent, it’s helpful to write, in great detail, what you plan to do before research begins. Even if you think it will change over time, that’s ok — in fact, that’s expected! I argue that SOP’s should be seen as living documents throughout the life cycle of a project. The ability to modify them as necessary is another critical component — they capture your lessons and blunders along the way, so the next team can learn from your mistakes!
What’s more is that creating repeatable processes can help future projects reduce waste and set researchers up for success. Think of baking for a moment. A good recipe will tell you all the necessary ingredients, in which amounts, in which order you need to use them and whether they need to be at room temperature or cold before you even begin mixing. Similarly, centralizing critical information and discussing expectations in terms of deadlines and targets up front allows researchers to prepare themselves for the task ahead, and gives them confidence that they can succeed.
