Significantly Increasing Our UX Research Impact via Conferences
Before working at VMware, I knew that VMware did UX research at conferences. How did I know? A product manager I worked with sent me a photo from VMworld (the conference name before it was VMware Explore) with a sign indicating there was usability testing in progress. He was excited by what they were doing and suggested we do the same thing.
Now that I’ve been Head of User Research at VMware for a few years, I have gotten a front-row seat to the planning and execution of UX activities at multiple versions of VMware Explore. What we have been doing lately has evolved far beyond the usability testing that was happening then.
What changed? We focused on topics with broader impact, such as AI, multi-cloud, subscriptions, customer support, and being a VMware partner. We heightened our research rigor, got more imaginative, and added more ways to interact with us for our Design with Us program at VMware Explore in Las Vegas. I could go on and on about what happened and how great it was, but I’ll just highlight a few innovative examples.
Walls instead of tables
This year, we experimented with different room setups that got people walking, talking, and posting things on the walls instead of sitting in chairs. This increased interactivity and creativity and better matched our program’s brand, Design with Us.
The teams used fun design thinking techniques and provided actionable insights ready to share shortly after the event. They also threw in a dash of whimsy, like including a dinner tray analogy for picking top priorities. Anyone there with suggestions could share them, even if the people leading the sessions worked on different products than they used. Because the sessions focused on major themes applicable across many products, many teams will benefit from the results, not just the people who attended in person.
Our engagement and satisfaction score survey results for these activities were in the high 90s, and we had repeat attendees who came to multiple sessions. Some people told me they would tell their UX teams to do this, too, which reminded me of the product manager I worked with several years ago. 😊
Going where the people were
Another way our UX team did more research at VMware Explore this year was by going to more locations to do UX-focused activities.
We had a mural-based activity called Illustrate Your Enterprise in a central area called the Hub, which included stations for other customer-facing groups. Designers did 20-minute interviews to capture problems and solution ideas and then created stunning sketches with special coding that noted selected topics, such as AI. Not only that, but we also encouraged passersby to vote on their top solutions. It was a great way to showcase the power of UX for solving real-world problems.
For people who enjoy playfully sharing about themselves, we set up a kiosk with a character card worksheet inspired by D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) that helped people describe themselves and their teams. We also had people acting as roving reporters doing game-show-style interviews.
One of the most popular places at VMware Explore is the Hands-on Labs, so we went there for direct observation and follow-up questions. By partnering with that team, we got access to data they were already collecting from attendees, and it was a convenient place to encourage people who did labs to head to our other sessions to share their ideas.
Not only was expanding beyond our room helpful for us to learn more from attendees, but it also helped us forge more meaningful relationships with other customer-facing teams that we will continue to collaborate with long after the event.
Try it yourself
If you haven’t done this style of session at a conference, I suggest you try it. If you will be at VMware Explore in Barcelona, please join us for similar activities we’ll be doing there. We’d be happy to involve you, no matter what your role. And if you are planning other conferences, consider folding in some of these ideas.
You can also connect with VMware for UX research activities throughout the year. One easy way to learn more about our work is to sign up for our Design Studio User Feedback Newsletter.
Acknowledgments
This year, over 80 people from VMware Design and other teams contributed to the planning, execution, data analysis, and other aspects of our Design with Us program. There are too many people to mention them all by name, but I would like to acknowledge Bryanne Peterson and Deanna Shaw, who were my co-leads for this endeavor, as well as Nicole Harake and Joanne McLernon, who helped the teams conduct fun and scientifically rigorous research. Thank you to everyone involved! Your commitment to quality while providing entertaining experiences that will drive meaningful decisions was inspirational.
Originally published at https://octo.vmware.com on October 24, 2023.
