Defining and Scaling User Research: Unveiling the Power of Operations Thinking and the 8 Ps Framework

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, organizations are realizing that the key to creating products and services that truly resonate with users lies in the process and practices of user research. This article describes a new approach called Operations Thinking to define and scale research operations and I would like to introduce you to a handbook to help teams and organisations to work together to scale their research capabilities. The handbook is called ‘Operations Thinking — Research Operations’ — you can purchase your Kindle copy here — https://amzn.to/3FAWlTo

First, a bit about Research Operations

Research operations (aka ‘ReOps’ and ‘Research Ops’) is a crucial aspect of product development and design that has been growing in its popularity and is increasingly being adopted by medium and large organisations. It involves the systematic management and optimization of user research activities within an organization. The importance of User Research and its operationalisation lies in its ability to enhance decision-making, improve product quality, and ultimately drive business success. Here are some key reasons why Research Operations is essential:

1. Informed Decision-Making: User research operations provide valuable insights into user preferences, behaviors, and pain points. These insights empower decision-makers to make informed choices throughout the product development lifecycle. From feature prioritization to design decisions, user research ensures that product development is guided by user needs and expectations.
2. Reduced Risk: Making assumptions about user preferences and behaviors can be risky. User research operations help mitigate this risk by validating assumptions through data-driven findings. By conducting research early and often, organizations can identify and address potential issues before they become costly problems.
3. Enhanced User Experience: User research operations prioritize user-centric design. This focus on the user experience leads to products and services that are more intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable to use. As a result, organizations can build stronger customer loyalty and gain a competitive edge in the market.
4. Cost Savings: Fixing usability issues and design flaws after a product has been launched is far more expensive and time-consuming than addressing them during the development phase. User research operations help identify and rectify issues early, saving resources and reducing development costs.
5. Faster Iteration: Rapid iteration is a hallmark of successful product development. User research operations provide real-time feedback, enabling teams to iterate quickly and efficiently. This agility allows organizations to respond to changing user needs and market dynamics with greater speed and accuracy.
6. Alignment Across Teams: User research operations facilitate cross-functional collaboration. They ensure that research findings are communicated effectively to design, development, and product management teams. This alignment fosters a shared understanding of user needs and project objectives, leading to more harmonious and productive teamwork.
7. Scalability: As organizations grow, so does the complexity of their research needs. User research operations provide a framework for scaling research activities, ensuring that research efforts remain effective and efficient as they expand to cover larger user bases or more diverse product offerings.
8. Ethical Considerations: Ethical research practices are essential in today’s data-driven world. User research operations help organizations adhere to ethical principles, ensuring that user data is handled responsibly and that research participants are treated with respect and transparency.

User research operations are a strategic investment in product quality, user satisfaction, and business success. By systematically managing and optimizing user research activities, organizations can make better-informed decisions, reduce risks, and create products and services that meet and exceed user expectations. Ultimately, User Research Ops is a vital component of user-centric design and innovation.

But how can we ensure that user research is not just a checkbox on the to-do list, but an integral part of our organization’s DNA? The answer lies in Operations Thinking and the comprehensive 8 Ps Framework.

Operations Thinking

Operations Thinking is a holistic approach to building, scaling, and embedding user research and human-centric design principles within an organisation. It serves as a guiding light for those seeking to enhance their user research processes. At its core, Operations Thinking is about making user research (and design and dev) not just a one-off activity but a continuous, integrated, and strategic effort that spans every aspect of an organization.

The 8 Ps Framework: Your Path to Excellence

At the heart of Operations Thinking is the 8 Ps Framework, a comprehensive guide that focuses on the essential elements necessary to define and scale user research operations. Let’s break down these eight Ps and understand their significance:

1. Processes: Effective research, design and development starts with well-defined processes. This step ensures that the work we do and related activities are carried out consistently and efficiently. Operations Thinking helps create clear, documented processes that guide people, teams and organisations throughout their work.
2. Practices: Beyond processes, it’s essential to establish best practices in research, design and development. What are the methodologies and techniques that yield the most valuable insights? Operations Thinking helps identify and standardize these practices for maximum impact.
3. People: People are the heart of the innovation process. Operations Thinking encourages organizations to invest in the right talent and provide them with the necessary training and resources to excel in their roles.
4. Performance: Measuring the performance of research, design and development is crucial. The 8 Ps Framework emphasizes the importance of setting clear objectives, allocating resources and measuring results (OKRs) and using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to evaluate the effectiveness of research efforts and make data-driven decisions.
5. Places: The physical and digital environments where research, design and development takes place matters. Operations Thinking ensures that these places are conducive to productive research, design and development activities, providing the necessary environments and facilities.
6. Products: To support flow and ensure teams and squads can collaborate, its important to select both software and hardware products that enable people to do their work efficiently and effectively. Operations Thinking encourages the the use of tool-chains; connected products that support flow and the sharing of outputs to deliver outcomes that ultimately manifest in innovative products and services that are usable, accessible and reliable.
7. Principles: Ethical considerations are paramount in research, design and development. Operations Thinking emphasizes adhering to principles that safeguard the values of the organisation and the communities of practice. Importantly it considers participant privacy and confidentiality, and the environment ensuring our is conducted responsibly and ethically.
8. Prioritizing: Prioritizing research, design and development activities based on business objectives, technical capabilities and user needs ensures that resources are allocated where they will have the most significant impact.

The 8 Ps and how they support each other in Operations Thinking (Fossick, 2019

Why Does It Matter?

By applying Operations Thinking and the 8 Ps Framework, organizations can achieve several critical advantages:

1. Consistency: Defined processes and best practices ensure that user research is consistently conducted across projects and teams.
2. Efficiency: Streamlined processes lead to more efficient research efforts, saving time and resources.
3. Alignment: Research becomes tightly aligned with the organization’s goals and objectives, ensuring that insights drive meaningful improvements.
4. Continuous Improvement: The framework encourages organizations to continually refine and enhance their user research practices, staying relevant in a rapidly changing landscape.
5. Ethical Excellence: Ethical considerations are integrated into research operations, promoting responsible and respectful research practices.

Operations Thinking and the 8 Ps Framework provide a roadmap for organizations seeking to define and scale their user research operations. By embracing this approach, organizations can elevate their user research efforts from a mere task to a strategic asset, ultimately leading to products and services that truly delight users and drive business success. It’s time to think operationally and transform your user research into a powerful force for innovation and excellence.

Operations Thinking offers several benefits when applied to defining user research operations within an organization:

1. Streamlined Processes: Operations Thinking helps streamline and optimize user research processes. By systematically defining workflows and eliminating inefficiencies, teams can conduct research more effectively, saving time and resources.
2. Human-Centric Design Integration: It enables the seamless integration of human-centric design principles into research operations. This ensures that user needs and preferences are at the forefront of product development, resulting in more user-friendly and successful products and services.
3. Scalability: Operations Thinking provides a framework for scaling user research operations. As organizations grow, they can adapt and expand their research capabilities in a structured manner, ensuring research quality doesn’t diminish with increased demand.
4. Comprehensive Toolkit: The 8 ‘P’s framework and associated canvases provide a comprehensive toolkit. This toolkit aids in not only defining but also refining user research processes, allowing teams to continuously improve their practices and stay aligned with evolving user needs.
5. Interdisciplinary Approach: Operations Thinking encourages an interdisciplinary approach by integrating design thinking, Lean UX, and Agile principles. This holistic perspective fosters collaboration among diverse teams and leads to more innovative and user-focused solutions.

Collaboration

At its core, operations thinking when applied to user research operations is about systematically managing and optimising user research activities, ensuring that they align with organisational goals, deliver actionable insights, and drive innovation. Yet, the journey to establishing effective research operations is not a solitary one; it thrives on collaboration and cross-functional engagement. Collaboration is essential in developing research operations for several important reasons:

1. Diverse Perspectives: Collaboration brings together individuals from various backgrounds, expertise, and experiences. When developing research operations, this diversity of perspectives can lead to a richer understanding of user needs, research methodologies, and problem-solving approaches. It encourages creative thinking and helps identify blind spots that might be missed in isolation.
2. Cross-Functional Expertise: Research operations involve multiple functions within an organization, including researchers, designers, developers, product managers, and more. Collaborative efforts ensure that each team contributes its unique expertise to create a holistic and effective research process. This cross-functional approach leads to more comprehensive and well-rounded research operations.
3. Efficiency and Resource Optimization: Collaborative development of research operations can lead to the efficient allocation of resources. Teams can share tools, knowledge, and best practices, reducing redundancy and avoiding duplication of efforts. This not only saves time and money but also allows for more focused and impactful research.
4. Alignment with Business Objectives: Collaboration helps align research operations with the broader business objectives of the organization. It ensures that research efforts are not conducted in isolation but are tightly integrated with product development and strategic planning. This alignment enhances the relevance and impact of research findings.
5. Faster Learning and Improvement: Collaboration facilitates the sharing of insights and lessons learned. When teams work together, they can quickly disseminate knowledge about what works and what doesn’t in research operations. This collective learning accelerates improvement and innovation in research processes and methodologies.
6. Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborative research operations involve stakeholders across the organization, including senior leadership, who can provide valuable guidance and support. Engaging stakeholders from various departments ensures that research priorities align with the broader strategic vision and that research efforts receive the necessary resources and attention.
7. User-Centricity: Collaboration often involves direct engagement with users, which is central to user research. Involving multiple stakeholders in user-centric research operations ensures that user feedback and needs are at the forefront of decision-making. This leads to products and services that are better aligned with user expectations.
8. Scalability: As organizations grow, research operations may need to scale to accommodate larger user bases or more complex research needs. Collaboration helps plan for and manage this growth effectively, ensuring that research operations remain scalable and adaptable to changing requirements.
9. Conflict Resolution: Collaboration provides a platform for addressing conflicts and disagreements constructively. When team members from different disciplines or departments work together, conflicts may arise. However, these conflicts can lead to more robust solutions and better decision-making when managed effectively.
10. Continuous Improvement: Collaboration promotes a culture of continuous improvement. Teams can regularly review and refine research operations based on feedback and changing circumstances. This iterative process ensures that research operations remain agile and responsive to evolving challenges and opportunities.

The Mixed Backlog (Fossick, 2019)

The ‘Operations Thinking — Research Operations Handbook’

To support teams to collaborate in defining research operations I am pleased to announce the launch of a new handbook; ‘Operations Thinking — Research Operations’, a comprehensive guide to shaping and expanding user research processes and practices through the lens of Operations Thinking.

Within the pages of this book, you will find a systematic exploration of how to establish and integrate user research capabilities within your organization. This journey is guided by the principles of Operations Thinking and the extensive 8 ‘P’s framework, which encompasses Processes, Practices, People, Performance, Places, Products, Principles, and Prioritising.

Each ‘P’ is thoughtfully accompanied by a corresponding canvas, collectively forming a comprehensive toolkit designed to help you define and optimize user research processes, thus maximizing their impact within your organization.

Define your Practices using the Practices Ops Canvas — one of a number of unique canvases from the 8 Ps Framework, each P has its own unique canvas!

The Practices Ops Canvas, one of eight featured in the handbook, Operations Thinking — Research Operations

Through the utilization of these ‘Ops’ Canvases, this book empowers teams to cultivate processes rooted in a human-centered design paradigm. It seamlessly integrates principles from design thinking, Lean UX, and Agile methodologies to provide practical guidance for real-world applications.

The Performance Ops Canvas — One of the Ps in the 8 Ps Framwork

Navigating the complexities of research operations management can be challenging. This book delves into critical topics such as budgeting, project management, logistics, and offers strategies for building and sustaining a successful research team. It also emphasizes the importance of knowledge curation and the sharing of actionable insights.

In addition, the book highlights the significance of ethical considerations in research. It underscores the importance of protecting the privacy and confidentiality of research participants and ensuring informed consent is obtained, laying the foundation for responsible and ethical research practices.

To further assist you on your journey, this book concludes with a valuable compilation of resources. It provides links to relevant websites and offers a bibliography of recommended books and further reading materials, equipping you with the tools and knowledge needed to excel in the field of user research and human-centric design.

If you would like to have a deep dive on the ideas and concepts outlined in this article, purchase a copy of ‘Operations Thinking — Research Operations’. Available as a Kindle copy here — https://amzn.to/3FAWlTo