Demand for UX Research services is growing as more companies are becoming aware of the benefits associated with UX Research. Google, Facebook, Airbnb and Drobpox as well as lesser known companies like DocuSign are rapidly expanding their UX Research departments to keep up with the increasing demand for user feedback. Ironically, while enthusiasm for UX Research is high, organizations often ignore research results as they move quickly through the product development cycle. My challenges with convincing organizations to act on research data led me to experiment with different tools and methods to make UX research more actionable in fast-pace environments. In my talk, I will share case studies from recent projects with companies in Silicon Valley to illustrate how to conduct and communicate research in a way that empowers teams and leads to specific actions within organizations.

1. KEEP UX REAL!
How To Empower and Inspire with UX Research

2. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Dominika Mazur
Ph.D. in Social Psychology (UofU)
UX Researcher at Closed Loop
@domi_mazur

3. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
TRUSTED UX PARTNER
TO LEADING BRANDS
Closed Loop has helped a wide range of
respected companies to better understand their
customers and build successful, engaging,
products and services.
@domi_mazur #UXPoland2016

5. There is nothing better than
in action
seeing UX research results

6. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Request
for UX
research
In the field,
conducting
research
Sharing
results
When to motivate teams to act on research results

7. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Request
for UX
research
In the field,
conducting
research
Sharing
results
When to motivate teams to act on research results

8. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Understand intentions
1. What do they want to find out?
2. Plan for how this research will be used?
3. What things can’t be changed?

9. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Hear them out
1. Make people on the team feel like they are being heard.
They are experts and want their opinion to count
2. Teams commit to acting on UX Research results when
they feel like their expertise is taken into consideration

10. STORY MAPPING WORKSHOP
Case Study

11. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Story Mapping Workshop (1)
• 2-day Story Mapping workshop for one of
the world’s largest online payment
companies
• 45 designers, developers, product
managers, marketers, and others from 5
countries
• Create UX strategy for a major website
redesign

12. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Story Mapping Workshop (2)
• Stakeholders get together and discuss
what the user journey looks like
• Outcome is a living document that teams
can refer to during product design,
development and lifecycle

13. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Story Mapping Workshop (3)

14. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Story Mapping Workshop (4)

15. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Story mapping resources
1. User Story Mapping by Jeff Patton (2014)
2. UX Podcast episode #102 Story mapping
& analytics with Adrian Howard & Mike
Beasley (2015)

16. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Request
for UX
research
In the field,
conducting
research
Sharing
results
When to motivate teams to act on research results

17. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Put them to work (1)
1. Ask teams to take notes, write down
insights and create themes
2. Active participation makes teams pay
attention and remember findings. You
increase the chance that they will act on
this knowledge

18. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Put them to work (2)

19. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
– From a recent eye tracking study
“Today we observed 7 people attempting to sign in as
new users. 6/7 took 3 minutes trying to create a
password that would meet all of the security
requirements. Many abandoned the site … Here’s the
video”
Send updates from the field

20. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Request
for UX
research
In the field,
conducting
research
Sharing
results
When to motivate teams to act on research results

21. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Deliver results quickly (1)
1. Keep the momentum going. Deliver results while teams
are still excited about research
2. Teams are under pressure to incorporate feedback from
UX Research quickly. Delivering results fast equals
greater impact

22. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Deliver results quickly (2)
1. First, email strong trends and “low
hanging fruit”, next provide other
outputs
2. Teams can quickly access and read
emails anytime anywhere

23. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Deliver results quickly (3)
1. Provide results and recommendations
in small chunks. It’s better for short
attention span

24. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Positives and easy fixes first
1. Begin with sending recommendations that
are easy to implement
2. Working on easy fixes brings immediate
gratification and enthusiasm for tackling
more complex challenges
3. Give credit for positives

25. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Connect the team with the user
1. Include user photos, share quotes, show
user videos
2. Stories and visuals lead to inspiration and
empathy
3. As empathy grows, teams become better
advocates for users and more eager to
apply the research

26. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Cater to different learning styles
1. People absorb information and get inspired in many
different ways
• data-heavy
• detail-oriented
• visual
• playful
• serious
• etc.

27. OCCASION JOURNEY MAPS
Case Study

28. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Occasion Journey Maps
• One of the largest event ticket re-sellers in
the US
• Understand the end-to-end experience for
people who buy event tickets for a specific
occasion
• Analyzed over 11,000 minutes of audio/
video
• Created multiple Journey Maps, to help
convey the overall emotion of the Occasion
experience

29. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Playing cards

30. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Coded, sortable spreadsheet of summary findings

31. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Request
for UX
research
In the field,
conducting
research
Sharing
results
When to motivate teams to act on research results

32. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Pile up evidence
1. Create a UX Research data repository
2. It’s hard to resist mounting evidence

33. @domi_mazur #UXPoland2016
Make UX results visible
1. Showcase research results and artifacts in
visible places - they help to promote UX
Research
Genevieve Bell from Intel by NashCO Photo 2016

34. THANK YOU
@domi_mazur