June 29, 2023

Getting started with user research

A few days ago, Jared Spool posted a hot take on LinkedIn about SAFe (scaled agile framework for enterprises). I’ve been chatting with him in the comments about it, but he said something that stood out to me:

How much of the vision is based on a researched understanding of users? How much of the release train performance metrics are based on inputs from in-depth user research? How many of the PI objectives are measured based on in-depth user research?

Any part of those things not based on in-depth research is instead based on guesses.

In most implementations of SAFe, 90% of all PI decisions are based purely on unresearched guesses.

That's what I find problematic.

You don’t need to understand the technical details of SAFe or PI (program increment) planning to understand his point: if you’re going to plan several months of work with your team, you’d better come prepared with a lot of research to inform your hypotheticals and objectives.

If you don’t have much experience with user research, this can feel a bit daunting at first. Steve Portigal turned me on this helpful article from the Nielsen Norman Group about deciding which user research methods to use.

These are several different frameworks in that article, but the one I find most useful is the “Context of Use.” It is organized by “what stage of the product development process are you in?” and provides key goals and example methods to use for each stage:

Product-Development Stage

• Strategize
  • Goal: Find new directions and opportunities
  • Methods: Generative research methods
  • Examples: Field studies, diary studies, interviews, surveys, participatory design, concept testing
• Design
  • Goal: Improve usability of design
  • Methods: Formative research methods
  • Examples: Card sorting, tree testing, usability testing, remote testing (moderated and unmoderated)
• Launch & Assess
  • Goal: Measure product performance against itself or its competition
  • Methods: Summative research methods
  • Examples: Usability benchmarking, unmoderated UX testing, A/B testing, clickstream / analytics, surveys

Hope that helps!

—
Cheers,

Up Next: 3 Important Product Questions

← Full Archives