Align

This week from People Nerds: Digital UXR lessons from CMF, managing stakeholders, and effective (and fun) insight communication

Designing the details for a global audience Colors, materials, and finish (CMF) design isn't something that typically comes to mind when designing digital user experiences—but it should be. iRobot's Vanessa Wiegel believes that CMF design is rich with insights for UXRs of all stripes.    COLOR ME INTERESTED "Managing" stakeholders vs "managing with" them Effective stakeholder collaboration means aligning expectations to reality. Of course, that's way easier said than done. Here are a few lessons on how to build relationships and engage stakeholders no matter what their expectations look like. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED Get your gif gloves on The old, in-person tactics for getting folks excited for our insights presentations no longer work. We have to get creative in how we keep stakeholders engaged and interested. Here are a few tactics to spice up your next presentation.  LEARN HOW More we're discussing: User research generally—and remote work specifically—thrives on empathy and rapport. Our interview with Eniola Abioye explores earning vulnerability from our participants. If usability tests feel stale, consider reframing your assessment. We detailed how to move towards comparative testing instead of pure performance. Strike a balance with UX democratization by empowering stakeholders and establishing guardrails. Consult these obstacles and opportunities to start. What we're hearing:  Launching a second product is sometimes harder than the first. Avoid some common pitfalls by consulting this history/guide from Bring the Donuts' Ken Norton. We're big fans of mixing methods, which can capture more of an experience's variability. NN/g's walkthrough sets the table and outlines which tools play together well. This Inside Design interview with Jacob Hernandez explores the role designers can play in spurring their organizations to prioritize and create systemic change. 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

The subtle art of rapport building

This week from People Nerds: How to build user rapport, usability testing tips, and democratizing research.

"How can I show up for you?"  Getting our users to be vulnerable during interviews is difficult, yet essential. Eniola Abioye, Sr. UXR at Silicon Valley Bank, talked with us about the art of holding space for our participants and the ways we can better build (and earn) rapport.    BUILD RAPPORT What's your preference? True comparative usability testing can provide more insight than typical preference or performance testing alone. Here's a look at getting started with this method and moving beyond unengaged "I like this" or "This looks good" user feedback.   FOR COMPARISON Start small, then grow There's a lot of debate about the extent to which we should democratize research. There's less discussion about how we should begin. Here's some pragmatic advice for getting your democratization practice off to the best possible start.  LEARN HOW More we're discussing: Manage deadline expectations with your stakeholders using these suggestions from leaders. They'll keep "scrappy" from turning into "crappy." Move at "the speed of trust" and leverage your research practice to forward transformative justice. Sarah Fathallah explores how. Make accessibility a priority in your product development with this three part guide, which outlines clear action items. What we're hearing:  Which UX skills are in demand this year? UX Planet conducted a content analysis to unearth trends from current job postings. Considering a pivot to freelance UX design? Adobe XD created a thorough guide to help make the transition a successful one. Land the product designer job—hooray! Now check out UX Collective's 30-60-90 plan for hitting the ground running. 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

New ways to learn

This week from People Nerds: Giving and receiving feedback through user research reviews and lessons learned from mentoring junior UXRs

Create a research feedback loop It's hard to grow in a vacuum. Insight gathered from peers and collaborators are crucial for improving your work. Take fuller advantage of their experience by starting a practice of user research reviews.   POINT OF (RE)VIEW Theory isn't practice (and vice versa) One of the best ways to learn something is to teach it. When it comes to user research, it's no different. Here are seven lessons one researcher gleaned over years of mentoring junior colleagues.  LESSONS LEARNED More we're discussing: Shift from a transactional to cooperative research practice with this advice from experts on ethical participant management. For 30+ years, AbbVie's Ed Halpern has applied a philosophy of human-systems interaction to a make products better. Read how here. Extend your UX impact by building a connection between stakeholders and users with these three engagement tactics. What we're hearing:  Looking to add UX writing to your skillset? JustInMind has a complete guide to get you up and running. Use this lightweight JTBD framework to align your product development with real customer problems, from First Round Review. Designing with—and for—emotion requires a fuller sense of the emotional landscape. Get inspired with Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions. 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