We face problems in our day-to-day work that we don't have all the necessary information to solve. In addressing those problems, we can guess, estimate, experiment, or even try to "fail fast" our way to success (good luck to you brave souls who choose this). But, especially where users are concerned, we can also choose understand what we're trying to accomplish, identify where the risks & gaps are, and develop our high priority questions for the work at hand. This is what we need to shape effective research. In this talk, we'll cover: the idea of research as it applies to user experience / interaction work, the unusual nature of the User / UX Researcher specialist role, the type of questions we ask & evidence we gather in user research, how to use that to make the work work. It's a mostly-practical and slightly theoretical look at research and the mindset that can turn interesting human data into successful products and services.

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. The applied research process:

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

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

12. "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

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

14. 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

15. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

31. 4 orders of design:
Adapted from
Richard
Buchanan

36. We work in Activity Space™

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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

40. 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

41. 4 orders of design:What an activity is:
a person
in a context
trying to
accomplish a thing
a story

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

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

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

45. 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

46. Our currency is stories about activities:

47. 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

48. 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

49. QUAL: How? Why?

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

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

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

53. 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

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

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

61. “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

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

63. take care:
there is power
in stories

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

65. [4] metaphors
for research,
manipulating
stories:
IXDAb #73
21.October.2019

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

67. 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

68. “generative” “evaluative”

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

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

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

73. 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

74. “generative” “evaluative”

75. 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)

78. 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

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

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

81. 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

82. “generative” “evaluative”

84. 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

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

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

87. 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

88. “generative” “evaluative”

91. 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?

92. 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

93. 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

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

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

96. Q&A?

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