What does "having it all" mean to you?

This week from People Nerds: redefining having it all, unmoderated user testing tips, and the 19 steps to conducting research projects.

12 countries, 12 months, 1 question In 2019, Etienne Fang embarked on a journey to answer a question: what does "having it all" mean to women around the world today? To do so, she spoke to 100+ women in a dozen countries—while picking up useful ethnographic research tactics along the way.   READ IT ALL The case for unmoderated user testing It's a double-edged sword. With no moderator, you might get faster results from a larger pool of users—but you might also get confused users who point you in the wrong direction. Here's how to minimize some of the messiness.  LEARN MORE Be rigorous We can increase our research impact if we sharpen our approach to the basics. A sharper qualitative analysis practice is one of the best ways to do more, and to do better, with your data. Learn how in our next workshop (part two of our New Fundamentals Series).    JOIN US  More we're discussing: Should qual researchers work with larger data samples? What new practical and ethical responsibilities do we take on if we do? This recent op-ed explores these important questions. Research can, and should, be collaborative. Here's some advice on how to collaborate smarter while remote.  Doing compassionate research in tough times requires extra considerations both for researchers and participants. Here are a few things to keep in mind. What we're hearing:  Charming lessons on "future-proofing" design that we can learn from a look at our houseplants.  Interesting panel discussion write up on where UX strategy differs from UX tactics. Solid walkthrough on conducting "phone intercepts"—a replacement for "street interviews" in the age of social distancing. dscout is a company composed of People Nerds working to make context-rich human insight an everyday habit across organizations. The dscout platform—Diary, Live, Recruit, and Express—enables remote qualitative research that brings researchers into the moments experienced and shared by real people. Curious about the platform or working with dscout? Talk to an account executive.  dscout, 222 North LaSalle St. Suite 650, Chicago, Illinois 60601, (312) 880-9715 Unsubscribe Manage preferences

Evidence-based fortune-telling

This week from People Nerds: remote collaboration tactics, scaling research responsibly, and a workshop on grounded theory.

How to bring the office in The new distributed reality for UXRs doesn't have to mean sacrificing rigor and output. In fact, it offers new ways to get creative with collaboration. Here are five tactics our team uses to do collaborative work while apart.    LEARN MORE Inviting (more) users to your table UXRs often balk at stakeholders' demands for larger samples. What happens, instead, if we embrace their requests? Nick Cawthon discusses the need for qual synthesis at scale—a delicate act of "soothsaying" we need to attempt responsibly.  READ ON Develop your "codebook" A solid understanding of grounded theory ensures you get as much out of your studies as you put into them. Part 2 of our New Fundamentals Workshop series will leave you with critical tactics for coding, tagging, and pattern-finding. GROUND YOURSELF  More we're discussing: At dscout, we recently published these participant experience standards and these guidelines for inclusive research. Whether you use our platform or not, we hope they'll be a helpful (but not exhaustive) resource.  This guide to upskilling organizes two years of People Nerds resources (webinars, templates, guides, articles) by the problem they help you solve.  Empathy for our users starts with self-reflection and healing, says Antionette Carroll. Hear more wisdom from the Creative Reaction Lab Founder here.  What we're hearing:  Interesting breakdown from UX Planet on what skills are in demand for UX researchers (synthesized from recent job listings). If you work in digital products, here's a great presentation template for talking to your stakeholders about accessibility. Great interview with Pedro Oliveira giving us a beyond-the-buzzword look at "decolonizing design." dscout is a company composed of People Nerds working to make context-rich human insight an everyday habit across organizations. The dscout platform—Diary, Live, Recruit, and Express—enables remote qualitative research that brings researchers into the moments experienced and shared by real people. Curious about the platform or working with dscout? Talk to an account executive.  dscout, 222 North LaSalle St. Suite 650, Chicago, Illinois 60601, (312) 880-9715 Unsubscribe Manage preferences

A resource for any research roadblock

This week from People Nerds: upskill your basics, a fresh look at surveys, and crafting your research journey road map.

Stuck? Start here. Having a hard time getting through to stakeholders? Advancing your career? Mastering a new methodology? We listened to UXRs' most pressing research roadblocks and developed this go-to compilation of resources for breaking through.    BOOKMARK THIS Roadmapping your research journey No two research projects look alike. Timelines, stakeholder needs, and methods change from project to project. But, each project should start with clear expectations of problems and goals. Bottom line: You need a roadmap.  HIT THE ROAD Narrow, focus, and sharpen It's easy to be awash with data and still starved for insight. Surveys can exaggerate or eliminate this problem. Here are simple five simple tactics you can implement today to ensure your surveys do the latter.    SURVEY TODAY  More we're discussing: If you've ever wrapped a research project and thought "Great, what now?"—this guide to choosing the right deliverable should help.  Should you still be doing focus groups? Can you do them remotely? Here are some pros, cons, and alternatives.   If you're finding yourself in a research rut, try any one of these 10 underutilized strategies for remote, unmoderated research. What we're hearing:  Fun take from IDEO on what cooking for others can teach you about prototyping. If you work in digital products, here's a great presentation template for talking to your stakeholders about accessibility. Loving the new series from Facebook Research on UX equations (For example: Data + Battery = Speech and Value = Reward - Pain).  dscout is a company composed of People Nerds working to make context-rich human insight an everyday habit across organizations. The dscout platform—Diary, Live, Recruit, and Express—enables remote qualitative research that brings researchers into the moments experienced and shared by real people. Curious about the platform or working with dscout? Talk to an account executive.  dscout, 222 North LaSalle St. Suite 650, Chicago, Illinois 60601, (312) 880-9715 Unsubscribe Manage preferences