Research resolutions

This week from People Nerds: advice for new researchers, defining important terms, and how to manage timeline expectations.

The book you wish you had when you started Gregg Bernstein collected the advice of 40+ user experience researchers for his book Research Practice. He talked to us about some of the thematically prevalent "need-to-knows" for expanding your practice and navigating your career.    BOOK IT By any other name We use phrases like "service design" and even "user experience research" all the time—but we lack consensus on their definition. Here are some proposed parameters that should help set expectations with your stakeholders.    LEARN MORE What to expect when managing expectations Successful research projects have clear timelines. We're talking with researchers at Wealthfront, Amazon UX Lab, Curiosity Tank and Figma about effective "scrappy" research in a stream-on-demand panel. This article summarizes their best advice.    BUILD IT More we're discussing: Make accessibility a research resolution this year. Our three-part guide on researching users with access needs is a great starting point (Part 1, 2, 3).  Data visualization can be an easy and fun way to engage your stakeholders, leading to more action. Here are some steps for starting (with a free downloadable template). Zeus Jones outlines some immediately-implementable tactics for taking action on your DEI goals and weaving inclusive practices into your work. What we're hearing:  Our friends at Fjord published their trends for 2021. Consult these to start mapping the new territory headed our way as human-centered thinkers. Q1 is a great time for foundational work. Intercom has a refresher on writing problem statements, which ground research and lead to better experiences. No doubt you—and your customers—are facing constraints. Here's how to leverage them to improve your UX research, from UX Collective. 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