This document discusses the importance of an effective research and design feedback loop to create thoughtful and user-centered products. It outlines common pitfalls when research and design teams do not collaborate well, such as communicating findings, engaging with each other's work, and believing research results. It then provides a step-by-step "virtuous loop formula" to facilitate collaboration between research and design, including prioritizing research questions, jointly reviewing prototypes, evaluating findings together, and continuously revisiting questions and designs based on new insights. Following this process can help avoid reactive "patchwork" solutions and instead lead to thoughtful designs informed by user needs.

1. the research & design feedback loop
virtuous cycles
Julie Stanford, Sliced Bread Design, Stanford University

2. You’ve sat through a lot or
presentations about how we
should all do more user research
and if you do everything will be
perfect.

3. User Research Design

7. reactive, fast solutions
interstitials
clutter
pop-ups
text

9. fixing just one
thing often
breaks
something else…

10. Result is a patchwork quilt with
holes in it (some parts will keep
you warm but not others and it is
fugly as all hell)

11. Dean Bokhari http://www.meaningfulhq.com/mediagarbage.html

12. reactive design loop vs.
thoughtful design loop

13. You’ve sat through a lot or
presentations about how we
should all do more user research
and if you do everything will be
perfect.

14. Cautionary Tale #1

15. poor communication between
research and design

16. researcher…
tests wrong use cases
asks wrong questions
needs more questions
overlays assumptions

17. Breakdown of trust - > Lack of
impact on design
designer doesn’t…
communicate well
engage with research
believe results

18. breakdown of trust

19. even worse: "
wrong prototype or wrong test

20. user research with no distinct goal

21. illusion of progress

22. Dean Bokhari http://www.meaningfulhq.com/mediagarbage.html

23. vanilla research loop vs.
thoughtful research loop

24. how do you create a virtuous cycle?
https://www.labwater.com/images/simple-water-cycle.jpg

25. option 1 (simple yet hard): "
research & design = same person
• difficult to find
• some people really awesome at one
• some companies have it siloed
• potentially expensive

26. option 2: "
follow a process

27. prerequisite: leave the building
start with base user research*
do 80/20 organization of use cases
(Pareto Principle)
*can be called needfinding, customer development, ethnographic
research, etc. depending on the methodology.

28. the virtuous loop formula
1. question
2. mind meld
3. attend
4. evaluate findings
5. brainstorm
6. evaluate solutions

29. 1. question
• list all the questions that
you have about the
design right now
• prioritize the questions
based on the sorted use
cases AND impact on
your business
• craft a study to answer
the most burning 1-2
question (see Leah
Buley’s session)

30. 2. mind meld
• researcher and designer should go over "
each section/page of the prototype
together and list what to cover"
• pro tip: run a pilot together "
(with lots of pauses)

31. • people responsible for product decisions
should attend the research sessions
• I’m too busy is not an excuse
• set up a system in advance for attendees "
to ask questions
3. attend & participate

32. 4. evaluate findings
give each issue a severity rating

33. evaluation questions to ask
• What percent of my users will be affected by this issue?
• Is this on the 80/20 path of use cases?
• If people can’t find X, what’s the impact?
• If people do X the wrong way, how easily can they recover?
• How easily can this be learned?
• What happens if we don’t fix it?
• What is the most important issue that came up that is
preventing us from making money?

34. big picture check
a larger issue to address?do smaller issues together suggest…

35. 5. brainstorm
• create multiple solutions starting with critical problems
• brainstorm small and large fixes
• if stuck, try Crazy 8s
Crazy 8s: Folder a paper into 8 spaces, set a timer, and go!

36. 6. evaluate solutions
• What impact does this solution have on the overall page? "
(i.e busy, patchworky, increase the cognitive load?)
• How does this impact navigation to/from this area?
• Will this work on subsequent use or is it only useful once?
• How consistent is this change with the rest of the design?
• Does this fix impede one of the 80/20 use cases?
• Are there multiple fixes better solved by one big fix? "
(i.e. is there a systemic issue here?)
• How does this effect the overall experience?

37. can’t decide? take a sketch break
stop talking
sketch quickly
discuss
this will save you "
A LOT of time

38. the virtuous loop formula
1. question
2. mind meld
3. attend
4. evaluate findings
5. brainstorm
6. evaluate solutions

39. • decide on the design changes
• do the #1 QUESTION step 2x
1. BEFORE you prototype to
make sure you prototype
the right thing
2. again AFTER you
prototype

40. the virtuous loop formula
1. question
2. mind meld
3. attend
4. evaluate findings
5. brainstorm
6. evaluate solutions

41. thoughtful research"
virtuous cycle
thoughtful design

43. Cheat Sheet
http://bit.ly/2dp8goK

44. Cautionary Tale #1

46. julie@slicedbreaddesign.com