1.
re:
research
Dave Hora, @stonecrops_
Sr. User Researcher, ResearchGate
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019

2.
1. “Research”
• what it is
• applied mindset
• outcomes are aligned with product

3.
it’s just
another process:
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019

4.
figure out
what to
learn
learn it
do
something
about it
The applied research process:

5.
figure out
what to
learn
learn it
do
something
about it
The applied research process:

6.
figure out
what to
learn
learn it
do
something
about it
The applied research process:

7.
The applied research process:

8.
follow-
through
questions approach execution analysis synthesis
The applied research process:

9.
our goal is
effective &
informed product
development:
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019

10.
"Always design a thing by
considering it in its next larger
context - a chair in a room, a
room in a house, a house in an
environment, an environment in
a city plan."
—Eliel Saarinen

11.
A product development process:
https://www.slideshare.net/nenj_/intrapreneurship-for-employee-empowerment

12.
Self &
solution-
centered
The important questions:
“What do people
need?”
“Can they use
what we built?”
“What are they
trying to
accomplish?”
“How do they
currently achieve
that?” “Do they understand
how this concept
works?” “Does what we built
solve their
problems?”
“How important is
that problem for
them?”
People &
problem-
centered

13.
Self &
solution-
centered
The generative/evaluative divide:
“generative” “evaluative”
“What do people
need?”
“Can they use
what we built?”
“What are they
trying to
accomplish?”
“How do they
currently achieve
that?” “Do they understand
how this concept
works?” “Does what we built
solve their
problems?”
“How important is
that problem for
them?”
People &
problem-
centered

14.
PlanGrid’s take, research + product delivery:

15.
“generative” “evaluative”
PlanGrid’s
Thank you:
Christiana
Lackner

16.
understand where
we are to work on
useful questions:
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019

17.
follow-
through
questions approach execution analysis synthesis
The applied research process:

18.
follow-
through
impact
questions approach execution analysis synthesis
The applied research process:

19.
follow-
through
impact
starts here
questions approach execution analysis synthesis
The applied research process:

20.
“talking to customers”
“doing research”
“learning a lot”

21.
“talking to customers”
“doing research”
“learning a lot”

22.
“we need to
learn X so we
can decide
how to Y”

23.
“we need to
learn X so we
can decide
how to Y”

24.
2. Secret? Stories
• it’s all about human action
• sides of the quant/qual divide
• stories rule: always

25.
the outcome of
our design is
action:
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019

26.
Page: The Measure of Man and Woman: Human Factors in Design

27.
4 orders of design:
Adapted from
Richard
Buchanan

28.
We work in Activity Space™

29.
4 orders of design:What an activity is:
For you theoretical types, see also:
Acting with Technology
Activity Theory and Interaction Design
by Victor Kaptelinin and Bonnie A. Nardi

30.
4 orders of design:What an activity is:
For you theoretical types, see also:
Acting with Technology
Activity Theory and Interaction Design
by Victor Kaptelinin and Bonnie A. Nardi
a person

31.
4 orders of design:What an activity is:
For you theoretical types, see also:
Acting with Technology
Activity Theory and Interaction Design
by Victor Kaptelinin and Bonnie A. Nardi
a person
in a context

32.
4 orders of design:What an activity is:
For you theoretical types, see also:
Acting with Technology
Activity Theory and Interaction Design
by Victor Kaptelinin and Bonnie A. Nardi
a person
in a context
trying to
accomplish a thing

33.
4 orders of design:What an activity is:
a person
in a context
trying to
accomplish a thing
a story

34.
(interlude:
watch this 4
minute Kurt
Vonnegut video
https://
www.youtube.com
/watch?
v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ )
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019

35.
decide
which
stories to
hear
hear those
stories
make
meaningful
sense
about them
The applied research process:

36.
“quant” is
just a pile
of stories:
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019

37.
Jared Spool: It’s A Great Time To Be An Experience Designer
https://www.slideshare.net/jmspool/its-a-great-time-to-be-a-designer-r34-1-up

38.
Our currency is stories about activities:

39.
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing

40.
Everything there is, all
that our research is
based on, is just mining,
understanding, and
modeling the driver &
context around a
collection of stories.
(Because the ultimate
object & outcome of our
design is human action.)
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing

41.
QUAL: How? Why?

42.
Now… determine where
to take a sample, and
suddenly these stores
are “data” in the more
familiar, quantitative
sense.

43.
QUANT: What? How much?
80% of...

44.
QUANT: What? How much?
QUAL: How? Why?
These are inseparable
facets of understanding
experience: the quant &
qual are two views of
the same stories.

45.
QUANT: What? How much?
QUAL: How? Why?
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing
a person in a context trying to accomplish a thing

46.
GOOD USER
RESEARCH
GOOD
ANALYTICS &
DATA SCIENCE
WELL INFORMED AND
EFFECTIVE PRODUCT /
SERVICE DESIGN

47.
the story, the
how & why,
changes minds:
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019

48.
“Tell me about a specific person
who has this problem. Now, how
is it going to be better once we
do [this thing?]”
—Every good researcher

49.
The ultimate questions;
“What, specifically, should happen
differently in the world? For whom?”
“How will doing [this work]
change how that happens?”

50.
take care:
there is power
in stories

51.
3. Ways of Work
• research as story-manipulation
• Shepherd, Cartographer, Interpreter, Evangelist
• right stories & right treatment change minds

52.
[4] metaphors
for research,
manipulating
stories:
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019

53.
1.Researcher as Shepherd:
show the team where the story happens

54.
Self &
solution-
centered
“generative” “evaluative”
“What do people
need?”
“Can they use
what we built?”
“What are they
trying to
accomplish?”
“How do they
currently achieve
that?” “Do they understand
how this concept
works?” “Does what we built
solve their
problems?”
“How important is
that problem for
them?”
People &
problem-
centered

55.
“generative” “evaluative”

56.
Shepherd work:
• Usability testing
• Prototype testing
• Field observations
• Experience sampling
• User interviewing
the interactions
we evaluate are
the source of
truth

57.
Researcher As Shepherd:
• Take your “flock” to the source
• Triangulate timeliness
• Socialize for relevance

58.
2.Researcher As Cartographer:
make the story visual and tangible

59.
Self &
solution-
centered
“generative” “evaluative”
“What do people
need?”
“Can they use
what we built?”
“What are they
trying to
accomplish?”
“How do they
currently achieve
that?” “Do they understand
how this concept
works?” “Does what we built
solve their
problems?”
“How important is
that problem for
them?”
People &
problem-
centered

60.
“generative” “evaluative”

61.
Tell the team:
• What common themes did you find?
• What customer needs are unmet, problems unsolved?
• What new questions do you have about our customers?
(quant, qual)

62.
Cartographer work:
• Journey mapping
• Experience mapping
• Ecosystem modeling
• Service blueprinting
• User interviewing
make the context
tangible and you
can literally
point to the
future you want
to create

63.
Researcher As Cartographer:
• select actionable contexts
• use the right time scales
• make the work interactive

64.
3.Researcher as Interpreter
synthsize systematic motivations from stories

65.
Self &
solution-
centered
“generative” “evaluative”
“What do people
need?”
“Can they use
what we built?”
“What are they
trying to
accomplish?”
“How do they
currently achieve
that?” “Do they understand
how this concept
works?” “Does what we built
solve their
problems?”
“How important is
that problem for
them?”
People &
problem-
centered

66.
“generative” “evaluative”

67.
Interpeter work:
• User personas
• Behavioral segments
• Jobs to be Done
• Design synthesis
• User interviewing
make the context
tangible and you
can literally
point to the
future you want
to create

68.
Researcher As Interpreter:
• Understand team drivers & user needs
• Identify stable goals from stories
• Model to build foundational understanding

69.
4.Researcher as Evangelist
create exposure to stories and their context

70.
Self &
solution-
centered
“generative” “evaluative”
“What do people
need?”
“Can they use
what we built?”
“What are they
trying to
accomplish?”
“How do they
currently achieve
that?” “Do they understand
how this concept
works?” “Does what we built
solve their
problems?”
“How important is
that problem for
them?”
People &
problem-
centered

71.
“generative” “evaluative”

72.
Evangelist work:
• Field visits
• Support shadows
• Open interview seats
• Episodes @ all-hands
• ??? → (your idea here)
how do we keep
the pulse of our
users’ work and
needs active
within our
teams?

73.
Researcher As Evangelist:
• Incept stories & context into org’s day-to-day
• Sell the people & stories, not your process
• Lend credibility
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

74.
A summary of our research mindset & process:
1. Understand what your [design or product etc.]
team is trying to accomplish
2. Recognize where the team is in that process,
where the uncertainty and risk lie
3. Consider the stories at play, present and future
4. Form good questions, involve the right people,
get the right stories, make sense of them &
communicate them in the right mode:
drive effective action for product & design
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019

75.
decide
which
stories to
hear
hear those
stories
make
meaningful
sense
about them
Anyone can do it—just follow these simple process!

76.
re:
research
Dave Hora, @stonecrops_
Sr. User Researcher, ResearchGate
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019

77.
Q&A?

78.
re:
research
Dave Hora, @stonecrops_
Sr. User Researcher, ResearchGate
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019