“If you don’t have product impact, research is useless!” Marine Dias, Algolia
Algolia offers an easy-to-use, API-based search service for businesses with numerous applications such as search relevance or product discovery. It raised $110M in October 2019 at an undisclosed valuation. As part of our special series with user researchers during lockdown, we asked Marine Dias, User Research at Algolia to answer our questions.
Tell us about your job and how you got there?
Today, I am a user researcher at Algolia. After three years in a design agency, I became curious to learn how to conduct research at scale and see how it can have an impact on the product. This is why I decided to join Algolia. Now I am helping our product team to build the best possible search engine with user insights. If you don’t have product impact, research is useless!
How did Algolia manage the Covid-19 crisis?
I would say that Algolia genuinely cares about the well-being of their team. The company policy is that WFH is possible whenever, as long it is exercized in good intelligence. Very early, management and HR worked hard to create moments of discussion and invent new ways for us to keep socializing. We now have virtual morning coffees, regular check ups, and Zoom calls with the whole team!
How did the user research team adapt? And what tools do you use?
We used this opportunity to test out new ways to collect data. In addition to the classics Zoom and Google Drive (for interviews), we use Validately and Maze to conduct usability tests. Maze is a good tool because it helps you spend less time aggregating the data. Their reporting tool is automated and they give your pages usability score.
We do a lot of in-house guerilla testing for our product. Usually, I held a weekly “testing corner” where I would ask customer-facing teammates and other relevant people for their feedback. We have now set up a virtual testing corner and it works better as teammates from our offices around the world can now participate! I will say that it’s more practical when you can ask follow-up questions and observe body language cues IRL. But the testing corner was never as successful, because it’s organised.
How did you feel your day-to-day job changed?
When you are a researcher, your job is more than being a translator. It’s more than just understanding your users, there is an exchange where you need to make the user verbalize the reality of their behavior… it is a bit like the Socratic method! Then you need to transform raw data into something concrete and useful for your product. And this is much simpler to achieve when you are in the same physical room with a person. Creating real group dynamics is hard or impossible. I feel like I need to be even more focused: with the user to keep them engaged and keep the conversation insightful, and with the team to integrate findings and keep on collaborating on research.
What is your take on asking research participants to turn their video on?
I ask them to turn it on! I was used to do remote video interviews before the crisis. Because we are not in a B2C market, I do not feel I am intruding. Yes, my interviewees are at home and if they don’t want to turn it on, they won’t! But I conduct my research when they are in their work day, so I feel at ease.
My problem lies with the quality of the Internet connection. Sometimes, the connection is so laggy that I opt instead for unmoderated tools such as Maze (note: as opposed to moderated interview techniques where the researcher is present). Sometimes babies or young children come on screen! It helps build empathy but it’s not ideal for the participant’s focus.
To conclude, do you have any tips for people working from home?
Because the intensity of my work has not changed, I dangerously started to work too much. Now I am very strict with my work hours. When evenings and week-ends come, I put my computer in a closet!
👉 Would you like to learn more about user research? We will be hosting a workshop at Station F with user researchers from Algolia, Doctolib and Mozza. Register here to receive an invitation!
Do you need help with user research now? We’ve got you! Check out our special lockdown offer here and book your free coaching session!
