The Athletic Researcher
Athleticism is on a spectrum. Some of us may be more athletic than others which allows for them to be described as “athletic”, while others’ level of athleticism is so low that they’d be better described as “unathletic”. We all are still athletes, nonetheless. What you’ll find is that the guiding principles of Lean UX are unnervingly similar to athletics and the culture in team sports.
Cross-functional teamwork is a core principle in Lean UX. A product includes input from many different teams so problems can be solved quickly with the people who are actually working to build the product. This integrative approach allows for a diverse set of eyes and experiences to solve problems from multiple angles. Ever wonder why some of the fittest athletes on the planet are CrossFit athletes? They as well achieve their athletic goals by using an extremely varied cross-functional training approach at high speeds and intensities. By attacking problems from different angles, athletically or research-wise, you increase the chances of learning and the problems being solved at the speed technology requires.
So, then what allows one to be described as athletic if we all are athletes? Athleticism is a culmination of speed, strength, and agility and to what degree you have it. An athlete may be able to jump, but how high or quickly can you jump? How fast can you run, then stop on a dime, then start again? To what degree of speed can you move laterally? Do you have the muscular endurance and strength to do it over time? This is what determines our physical athleticism.
“Nothing is pleasant that is not spiced with variety.” — Francis Bacon
The idea of an Athletic Researcher, or AR, is not about their physical abilities. Rather, it’s their ability to be flexible in their usage of different research methodologies. It’s also their ability to collaborate with their teammates to increase learning and create a shared understanding of customer needs. The AR is no longer limited to researching in one domain. Instead, the AR is spicy and dexterous in their research approaches, and depending on the goals are athletic enough to change course and use whatever approach is necessary to get the information sought at the time it needs to be used.
“Go that way. Really fast. If something gets in your way, turn!” — Charles de Mar
When an athlete is deemed athletic, they can react quickly and more importantly, they can adjust their bodies when needed at exceptional speeds. An AR should be able to do the same but instead, they adjust the direction of the research and accelerate, or slow down. Perhaps time and patience are what is needed in studies and having the discernment about when to slow down or speed up is a high valued athletic and AR quality.
Some research projects require expedited deliverables such as “quick pulse” surveys. Other projects will take time to develop and can’t be delivered quickly, nor should it be if time is what’s required for the data to be valid. There is no one “starting point”. It all depends on where you are in the product. This is where you show your research athleticism. The AR has to be agile enough to come off the bench, enter the game, and meet product teams where they are in the process to build evidence for the decisions being made. Utilizing a playbook of sorts can help organize your starting points and develop hypotheses to test to move the process forward.
If you’re a sports fan like me, then we all have seen some players, or teams who are strategically unathletic or one dimensional. You know who I mean… the teams who can shoot outrageous 3 point percentages but don’t possess the ability to adjust their game plan when their shot isn’t falling. AR’s are hard to beat because they are not married to one game plan. Lean and agile UX is the team composed of AR’s who like to run and move fast, coupled with multiple ways to win.
In UX researcher positions that involve technology, companies desire researchers who are:
- Agile: use multiple software tools and resources to speed towards their goals,
- Lean: make the most of the team’s time, energy, and resources by “pivoting” towards other strategies when one isn’t working,
- Fast-Paced: keep up with the speed of technology,
- Team Player: no one likes a ball hog so have the ability to play well with others like engineer, design, marketing, and product teams and share your insights and expertise.
These qualities sound familiar? Ask any athlete (like me) and they would say yes.
The impact of not being an AR or not training to increase your athletic research abilities can be detrimental. Depending on the goal, research will require different methods at different times. As well, if we as researchers can’t keep up with the speed of technology in our research deliverables, product teams and engineers will continue without our input. We risk not getting important research included in the development of the product. Remember that Lean and agile UX was developed because the speed and advancements of technology had increased beyond the timing of traditional research, which can span months, even years. Meanwhile, new features and concepts can be developed in weeks.
Time and technology wait for no one. It has moved past traditional research that’s equivalent to a half-court basketball team with a 24-second shot clock. Today’s game is full-court and composed of athletic, lean, and agile players who have to “run-and-gun” to keep up with a shorter 15-second shot clock. That is now the speed of technology. Technology (the game itself) doesn’t afford us as researchers the time to walk the ball up the court. Instead, we have to transition to be ARs and research faster, leaner, with more agility, and use our resources to get the job done.
