What the Covid-19 Taught Me About Being A Mindful New Researcher
It’s been months since I run user research sessions remotely. I always thought that having a stable internet connection was all I need to help me research from home effectively but, after a while, I realized a lot of different circumstances could become a challenge, such as changing the online interview tool, making last-minute adjustments to the research plan, connecting online with different demographic environments, and so on. I also realized that online interviews have some limitations that become difficult for exploring user behavior.
I’ve been serving as a researcher at Tokopedia for almost two years as I write this. While I thought I had learned enough, this pandemic told me that I, instead, just started. Simultaneously, the crisis has also required a lot of energy, including during online data collection activities.
My interviews are often delayed for about ten minutes or more only to set up the screen and connect to my participants when my or his/her internet connection is not good enough. Sometimes, when the conversation is going on, my respondent must stop only to pick up the food at his door. These moments have taught me to be mindful, and I am glad I get to experience it in my first years as a researcher to enhance my problem-solving skills further. And for you who just started, I have some lessons about mindfulness as a UX researcher.
Lesson one: Mindfulness to be more empathic with all things
Besides remote working that requires extra patience, a higher level of empathy to respondents’ living conditions is needed to build comfort for a pleasant interview session. For example, it’s typical to ask about the respondent’s occupation in an interview, which is an important aspect to build a user profile. However, questions like this may be sensitive when a lot of people are losing their jobs.
I once interviewed a participant and asked about his job. He told me that he might no longer work due to his organization’s financial position during the crisis. His answer shocked me and made me feel terrible. Since then, I always tell myself to be more careful and mindful when asking common questions that are now sensitive. Also, to get the insights I need regarding users’ profiles, I replace the job question with a question about daily life, which is more open yet can cater to my need.
Another interesting case is the interview setting. Before Covid, we used to have our participants in a cozy, vibrant room to make interviews more casual and warm. We would arrange the rooms to observe the participant’s behavior easily using certain tools or minimize distraction and noise to have a smooth talk. Since Covid, we connect with our users online and, oftentimes, face situations like background noises, children crying, door knocking, vehicles on the street, birds chirping, guests coming, and other “oh, wait a second” moments in an interview.
The only thing we can do is pause a bit, listen to what is happening before going on, and accept these noises as part of the user’s daily life, which is also an interesting insight we can share (as a replacement of contextual research like site visits). By doing so, we practice empathy and reflect on our users’ unique living conditions.
And, more importantly, take the time to wish them safety and health sincerely. You will be surprised by what your respondents can reply to it.
Lesson two: Mindfulness to embrace imperfections in research methodology
The research was easier before Covid because any user could be a research respondent as long as he/she met the criteria. Now, there’s another criterion applied: tech-savviness, at least proven by his/her ability to operate online tools. Why is it a challenge?.
Researching sellers or Mitra Tokopedia (warung owners) is one of the cases that raise our concern during the crisis. We traveled to different cities to discover the different behavioral patterns to understand their business process, warehouse condition, store management, tech usage, and other areas across geography and demography. However, researching these user groups using online tools requires more understanding. They may not be as tech-savvy as users living in large cities, thus difficult when the data collection is executed.
Therefore, we take kick-off meetings with stakeholders seriously to make every aspect clear and ensure that the insights they want to obtain are obtainable. A tactical kick-off meeting allows us to map out areas that are possible to be researched and those that are not. It also allows us to clearly communicate and manage the stakeholders’ expectations and researchers’ capability.
The art of starting a UX research career in a company that serves countless products like Tokopedia has led me to become a ‘generalist’ who conducts different projects with different methods. If you happen to be a new researcher like me, you might also experience this moment. Still, it is a great opportunity to explore creative research techniques and deeply understand a research method's pros and cons (especially when researching remotely).
Lesson three: Mindfulness in working with other teams
Online interviews allow stakeholders to involve more intensively in the research. Usually, after every interview session, I, my note-taker, and the stakeholder will briefly discuss what we can learn from the interview and what product or design improvements he can already consider. This brief session also reveals whether the overall objective has been reached and whether the researcher managed to generate important insights despite the tech limit.
There was a case where a UX designer and I conducted an online usability session to explore how users navigate the desktop and observe the different behavior between desktop and mobile app users. At the end of the session, we synthesized the insights together and decided which findings were actionable for the next revamp. While we presented the full report on the presentation day, the designer also came up with findings based on his perspective as a designer while witnessing the UT.
What I can conclude is that, on a brighter note, the crisis has allowed my stakeholders to involve more deeply in research sessions. Product managers, designers, business development teams, or other teams now actively participate in research (not only during the data collection but also in the presentation session). In the end, the collaboration between researchers and stakeholders is the key to driving curiosity and impact through research.
If you now find it complicated to be a UX researcher today, that’s normal. Fortunately, this is also what makes UX research more exciting and vital in an organization. In this uncertain time, all circumstances we face bring us to enhance the values embodied in Tokopedia, sharpen the sight into what challenges people out there are facing, be emphatic, and still focus on consumers. Also, having a growth mindset through openness to learning and adopting new skills to improve our capacity is, needless to say, critical in our career development. Eventually, the effort it takes to make things happen and better for the overall user experience will always be worth the results. All the best in starting your journey as a UX researcher. You know we’re all in this together.
