Nimble User Research Methodology
An Adjunct To Agile Development Processes
While on contract at Microsoft and Amazon several years ago, I developed a research methodology called Nimble, which was designed to be a corollary for Agile software development methodologies. It relies on vetted research communities and just in time research studies conducted online. The research community approach makes it possible for design and development teams to interact directly with knowledgeable participants. We found that it really helped drive decision-making in the software development process. Teams need insight fast and traditional user research processes are costly and take so much time. In person studies also limit available sample and geographic diversity. This approach also allows teams to take advantage of a whole new generation of remote user research tools and platforms, as well as useful methods like virtual/mobile ethnography and the like. It also means teams and participants can be distributed geographically, never more relevant than in this time when work from home has become a necessity.
As an applied anthropologist and senior user researcher with 25 years’ experience in the tech industry, I have also tried to apply my own insights, pain points, and recommendations to developing this methodology. If I had one thing to impress upon software development teams, it would be that human-centered design should be central to all of your efforts. This involves understanding your target customers, users, players, learners, constituents, etc. and being able to illuminate needs (expressed and latent), desires, and opportunities to engage. It is also extremely important to involve researchers in the process from the early planning stages. They can save a lot of time and resources by making sure the team is well-prepared to make the necessary design and development decisions early in the process.
The Nimble methodology supports Agile tenets like self-organization, continuous improvement, and evolutionary development. It also compresses research activities that ordinarily take weeks into shorter time-frames that can support Agile sprints of any length. Compared to previous software development methodologies, Agile allows teams to learn and flex in real-time, instead of being constrained by design choices codified earlier. Researchers who support Agile teams need to be able to do the same. Research questions and problems crop up on a daily basis, the Nimble framework is set up to get teams the insight and feedback they need quickly and efficiently. This model is also very cost-effective compared to in-person testing.
Nimble Tenet: Self-organizing research communities
I have been embedded in a number of dev teams that use Agile methods and had to come up with ways to get teams insight and feedback fast. We found that reusing qualified, collaborative participants in longitudinal efforts worked best, unless we were specifically interested in looking at initial or out of the box experiences. Longitudinal data collected in this way allows teams to see how participants involved from conception react to and anticipate their efforts. You can use any collaboration platform for the purpose of convening your communities, even private LinkedIn groups or project/team management platforms like Basecamp. It also gives participants an opportunity to get to know one another, which increases camaraderie and engagement. It also gives you a just-in-time resource pool for any questions or issues that arise, in addition to alpha/beta testing.
Nimble Tenet: Utilize remote user research tools and platforms for moderated and unmoderated studies and real-time results
The thing about traditional user research and say, usability studies, is that they often take a week or more to plan, another week to execute, and reporting and delivering insights can take another week or two. Using remote user research tools like those available from Optimal Workshop, UserInterviews.com, Usertesting.com, Loop11, Indeemo, Miro, LookBack, etc. makes it possible to set up studies quickly. But more importantly, results are instantaneous, which shaves a lot of time off analysis and reporting and means results can be delivered to teams very quickly. Here are a couple of examples of outputs from Optimal Workshop’s Treejack, which is a tool for getting user feedback on proposed information architecture. Using unmoderated testing tools can deliver results far beyond the standard 8 participants for in-person usability studies, I have found this is very compelling for teams who are convinced by larger sample sizes. I personally like doing a combination of moderated and unmoderated testing, you can easily screenshare/webcam using a number of available apps and watch your participants complete the tests. It can be helpful to add that sort of rich data and verbatim to your reports.
Paths through the proposed architecture and whether participants succeed or fail at navigating:
A visual map of participants’ navigation preferences:
Nimble Tenet: Eliminate barriers between research and design/development teams
We anthropologists concern ourselves with participant comfort and camaraderie and I have found that letting participants and teams cross-pollenate can be an effective way to engineer superior products. It does require a level of trust with vetted participants, but it also means that design and functionality questions can be asked and answered quickly. Sometimes taking the researcher out of the equation is okay, teams quickly learn how to ask the questions they need to ask and articulate participants learn how to respond. What they aren’t as good at is designing research activities and analyzing feedback, that is still the researcher’s role. Think of all of these players as cross-functional stakeholders, everyone can then learn from each other and contribute their unique functional perspective. Miro is one collaboration tool that makes this sort of team building and leveraging possible.
Nimble Tenet: Continuous Improvement Via Radical Listening and Empathy
Researchers in the UX/design arena are advocates for customers and end users throughout the design and development process. Aligning and convening cross-functional teams, including customers and end users, is critical to increasing opportunities to build a feedback loop that greatly aid the design and testing processes. Daily or several-times-a-week touch points keep participants in the loop and able to respond positively or negatively to design and architecture ideas in progress. It also keeps research embedded in the process from concept/planning through to launch and beyond, as customers and users should also be. It’s important to give your customer/user stakeholders a full lifecycle view of your efforts, they are then best equipped to help you steer the ship according to their needs and wants. Great customer/user experience is responsive and it relies on deep listening and solidifying empathy for those who will ultimately use the products or services you design.
I am still fleshing Nimble out and I would love to hear your thoughts, including tools and platforms you’ve used.
Remote User Research Tools and Platforms:
Optimal Workshop — Information architecture Tree testing with Treejack, Card sorting with OptimalSort, Online surveys with Questions, First impressions with Chalkmark, Qualitative research (data collection and analysis) with Reframer
Indeemo — Remote, In-the-Moment Research. Mobile Ethnography App, Diary Study Tool & Remote Qualitative Research Platform For In Context, In The Moment Insights.
Miro — Online collaborative white boarding platform. Co-create and align with cross-functional stakeholders on a collaborative, online whiteboard.
Loop11 — Usability testing platform for live website testing, wireframes and prototypes, and accessibility. Also supports multiple languages.
UserZoom — Insights for every stage of the product development lifecycle. Research, measure & benchmark the UX of any digital product, on any device.
UserTesting.com — Recruitment and testing platform with their own panel of participants.
UserInterviews.com — A research platform where you can access participants or bring your own to studies you setup online.
LookBack: Moderated and unmoderated usability testing.
About the Author:
Lisa is an applied anthropologist and design researcher with 25 years’ experience in the tech and creative industries. She is originally from Northern California but has been based in Seattle, WA (USA) for the last 14 years.
Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn
Other Resources:
