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Supporting product teams with actionable insights on user needs
Challenge
The further you are into the product development process, the ability to adjust things decreases while costs of adjusting things rise. UX research - when timed right - can help to reduce costly revisions post go-live and save time for the project. How to maximize impact from user research's findings for ongoing software / digital product development?
Context
Taking guesswork out of developing new digital self-service capabilities (post-sales) within a customer portal. Design concepts and hi-fi prototypes existed but were not yet tested by actual users.
My Role
Participant Recruitment, Test Session Planning & Logistics, Moderator Enablement, Moderation, Results Synthesis, Results Dissemination
Solution Detail
Interviewing (potential) end users to empathize for their day-to-day activites, needs and pain points
Testing the design prototypes (moderated remote sessions) to validate product concepts and ensure the digital capabilities will meet user needs and expectations
Supporting decision making within product development and line-of-business teams by ensuring proper timing of research activities and involving internal stakeholders in these activities as note takers / observers
How to get there
Collaborative effort between several organization-internal teams to ensure stakeholder buy-in and committment to research activities
Laying the foundational groundwork for feedback activities with end users / customers (research ops)
Discussing results and improvement suggestions with the product team, advocating for users/customers' point-of-view in internal discussions
Key Takeaways
If timed well at early stages of the development process, insights from user research can be looped into implementation straight away. Risk of costly rework can be mitigated effectively.
Combining user testing with interviews helps stepping into the shoes of the user in more general terms that go beyond the narrow scope of specific capabilities to test. This is especially important for rendering the user persona / archetype in more precise detail.
"You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledge hammer on the construction site"
Frank Lloyd Wright
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