AR2021-The B-Side of Research Impact (Veronica Urzua, Nubank, and Jorge Montiel, Multiplica)
—> We want to thank the conference and for being here with amazing researchers
—> Our talk will be about the B-Side of research impact
—> Let’s talk about our perspective on research in Latin America, and send out an invitation to Latin researchers on practice in their countries
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How what is done and how stakeholders think about UXR
—> The invitation is for researchers to embrace b-side of research, which will be the main focus of presentation
—> We have been doing research for several years, and have realized we were minimizing value of our own practice,
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What comes from outside like Silicon Valley is considered to be good
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As a result of that, it seems our duty is to learn outside models and apply it without analysis from our side
—> Latin American researchers are applying knowledge from other countries, that might not be relevant for our context
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It appears if we are just applying a catalog of techniques
—> We are not allowed to create our own path, and build own disciplines, based on context of problems we have, and the needs we have
—> We need to start thinking of ourselves as actors in research practice both locally and globally in the work that we do
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We need to look at the reality in which we are operating, and how to change message that there is only one way to do research
—> Silicon Valley Dream is an obstacle since it doesn’t reflect Latin American reality of culture, technology, resources, people, and the mindset
—> So what does it mean?
—> The Silicon Valley Dream is the standard installed for UX research, which we have to reproduce regardless of whether applied in same way
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Ideology to develop products and services without understanding needs
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It defines what UX research is, and should be
—> Ideology is attractive, and appealing
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It relates to imagery of success, and that everything you do should have magical and impactful result
—> Researchers are asked to use research techniques to increase sales
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This doesn’t consider other goals research has
—> The Silicon Valley dream also normalizes a “correct” way of research, that eliminates other ways of knowing
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Participatory action research has been created in Latin America, but Latino smust rely on outside reference to be taken seriously
—> It’s time to do something different, as Latin researchers should push limits and values to change
—> Look at your org, the environment you work in, to see what you have is enough for practice, and what you believe in
—> The B-Side: Our challenge about pushing against preconceived ideas, creating dissonance, and the limits of established thinking
—> What do we mean by dissonance?
—> People used to think majorities drove influence and conformity, but dissonance is way minorities can create new ways to changes
—> Will push against the Silicon Valley Dream in two specific ways in this talk.
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Universal metrics
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Techniques and recipes
—> Companies try to measure customer sentiment using metrics established in other countries.
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But when measuring sentiment, do people respond on same scale universally?
—> Emotions are not universal, but driven by culture from where they come from. For example:
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Happiness is associated with higher arousal states in US
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Happiness in Hong Kong associated with lower arousal states
—> We need to consider emotional differences
—> Cultural norms can also reflect responses in surveys.
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For example, the Latin American population tends to be polite, and this leads to survey responses that might be more positive than what the respondents actually feel
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Metrics are at the tip of the ice-berg
—> You need to approach the population differently to make sure the cultural context is considered
—> Now, how do we extract information?
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Techniques we use can’t be an exact copy from outside
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We must adapt technique in a culturally appropriate way and have a commitment for a new way of doing things
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—> Next, does applying techniques without question deliver good research outcomes?
—> Let’s consider usability testing
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It was created in English speaking countries that embrace vocal self-expression
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Latin countries base expression through conversation, so it’s hard for Latin people to enunciate what they think all by themselves
—> The “Think aloud” technique is inconsistent with how Latinos express there ideas, as it feels unusual uncomfortable, and unnatural
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We should make technique more conversational, so that Latin participants can be more comfortable and be sympathetic with the researcher
—> As researchers we need to change this, to avoid bad results and poor execution
—> We want to end with some takeaways
—> First: There seems to be one standard definition to be a good UX researcher, but many culturally appropriate definitions of good that need to be considered
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Latino researchers should create their standards and fight for these standards
—> Second: We also need to understand that tools and practices are not neutral
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They are cross context and situational
—> We need to consider the context for tools and practices. Need to question why we do what we do , with proposal for tools to do our job better
—> Takeaway 3: We need to bring to industry the identity of Latin UX researchers, and a commitment to field
—> We should embrace gaps, and open the space for change
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Through our practices and techniques by seeing if certain techniques are truly applicable, there is space for change and doing what needs to be done.
Q&A
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What are specific, Latin American-appropriate techniques you’ve used in usability studies? In interviews? In field research? Specifically, how have you modified the techniques?
A: We had a case study of a huge client that wanted us to have usability testing, and allow usability testing to be more conversational with subject
—> Another example is the ‘jobs-to-be-done’ framework. In Spanish we don’t have ‘jobs’, instead, we have processes.
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People want to do the framework, without a clear idea why
—> Many techniques are out there, but not do line up with the sample population directly
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We need to adapt techniques to people who are being interviewed
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This is a very interesting topic. We have customers across the globe and myself is Asian. During my work, I did notice people from different cultural background may show their emotions in a very different way. After many considerations, I turn off my camera during customer interviews and ask the participant to do the same thing to avoid misreading each other’s emotion. Do you have any advice?
A: Have people turn-off camera to make sure they feel a bit more open.
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Talking over phone works for some people
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There’s a beautiful message here about a balance of following best practices vs localization of methods for a context. What tips do you have in identifying methods that don’t work for a context?
A: Platforms for usability testing don’t work in Latin American, and
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Do you have any recommended resources for those of us looking to learn more?
A: Yes, we will share them through Slack, and want to share authors that can be read