Mastering Your Domain
Unique ways to get the knowledge you need to design systems in unfamiliar industries
I am a designer. I am not an investor relations officer, an executive board member at a fortune 500 company, or a regulatory compliance analyst. Yet my colleagues and I have designed software for these and other roles for which most of us barely knew existed, let alone anything about the job itself. While we are not experts in these fields, we can still apply our expertise in interaction design and how people look for and understand data to design systems and services that help people in these fields succeed — whatever it is they do.
It is no easy task to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. As designers we have tools at our disposal that help us much of the way there: heuristics, best practices, and a community open to sharing work with each other. We also learn to hone our empathy through practice, though this skill is not unique to our profession. What about the industry-specific details that can take years and, in many cases, degrees to learn and perfect? How can we learn to wear those proverbial shoes comfortably enough to help others do their work better than before?
Where do you start?
Your network may know a lot. Sales and support people, business owners, and other subject-matter experts are often former practitioners in the field you’re researching. And if they are not, they regularly interact with your customer base and should know the field inside and out. A few key questions to ask of these folks:
- Who uses this product? Where do they work? What are they responsible for doing or knowing?
- Beyond the basics above, what language, acronyms, or insider information is it important to understand? Will this group be open or guarded with industry secrets? What expectations will they have as a result of this research?
- Where do these folks gather? Are there active professional organizations that host events or share resources within this field? Think conferences, LinkedIn, newsletters, etc.
At Nasdaq, we work on a set of tools for investor relations professionals. Designers on my team have attended workshops and conferences run by the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and are members of the Investor Relations Network and EDGAR Filing Community LinkedIn groups.
- Which publications report on this industry? What books or journals can I read to familiarize myself with the history and culture?
- Are there continuing education or other courses available at a nearby university or professional group? Even if you do not take the courses, reading through the text book or course materials may provide both a wide and deep introduction to the field.
Go to the source
The best way to understand the domain, how your users work, and what their needs are is to observe them doing what it is you are designing for. When dealing with complex, unfamiliar subject matter, these sessions will be different from the normal discovery interview; you’ll find out very quickly whether or not you were prepared correctly by the team you started with.
Questions will need to be more basic at the beginning, but you can ask more sophisticated questions during follow-up interviews once you’ve begun to speak their language:
- Tell me about your role, team, day-to-day responsibilities.
- Who do you work with? What roles and responsibilities do they have?
- What is the output of your work: activities, sales, reports or other deliverables?
- How do you evaluate this work and measure success? By what metrics?
- What tools do you use to do and or manage your work?
Some fields are more private or guarded than others, and may not feel comfortable allowing you to view sensitive data. Do you have anyone who does this or a tangentially related role within your company? They may be able to be more open with you within company walls.
You will have to get more creative if you cannot find an insider to help you, but luckily the internet can be a treasure trove of information even for niche subjects and obscure domains. I’ve found cases brought to court by the US Securities Exchange Commission’s (SEC), whitepapers comparing forecasting models, and other public data that once was private to help in my own discovery.
Education
Find training workshops run by local professional groups, or courses held in continuing education programs at a nearby university. Both of these options will give you a good introduction to the field, while also providing you the chance to network with your users who may be willing to participate further in your research.
You may find yourself a bit outside your comfort zone here — attending an Introduction to Finance course when you haven’t taken a math class in a decade can be a significant challenge. See if it is possible to audit the course without having to worry about passing, or if the teacher is willing to suggest resources for getting a higher level overview of the field without having to know the fundamentals.
Remember that you’re trying to build empathy, not gain certification in a new profession.
Read. A lot.
Subscribe to email newsletters to stay on top of industry trends and issues in greater detail than traditional media may offer. Trade newsletters may also introduce you to conferences; connecting with headliners or keynote speakers could help you really get to know the industry as well as reach a larger user base.
Many reporters are active on Twitter and will tweet insights, updates, and related stories more often than they publish full articles. Monitor influencers’ twitter lists and contacts. Engage with journalists to elaborate on what they know about their beat; you could even invite them to coffee or lunch to pick their brain.*
*Method tried and tested.
Put down that design book and pick up a few reads about this new-to-you industry.
These strategies will help you gain empathy for and understanding of the users you are designing for. You’ll be able to apply these lessons to your design work far faster than relying exclusively on customer or internal expert interviews alone.
Special thanks to Amy Silvers, Melita Little, Chris Avore for editing :)
