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
  • 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,
  • What comes from outside like Silicon Valley is considered to be good
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Ideology to develop products and services without understanding needs
  • It defines what UX research is, and should be
—> Ideology is attractive, and appealing
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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.
  • Universal metrics
  • Techniques and recipes

 

 

—> Companies try to measure customer sentiment using metrics established in other countries.
  • 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:
  • Happiness is associated with higher arousal states in US
  • Happiness in Hong Kong associated with lower arousal states
—> We need to consider emotional differences

 

—> Cultural norms can also reflect responses in surveys.
  • 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
  • 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?
  • Techniques we use can’t be an exact copy from outside
    • We must adapt technique in a culturally appropriate way and have a commitment for a new way of doing things

 

—> Next, does applying techniques without question deliver good research outcomes?
—> Let’s consider usability testing
  • It was created in English speaking countries that embrace vocal self-expression
  • 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
  • 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
  • Latino researchers should create their standards and fight for these standards

—> Second: We also need to understand that tools and practices are not neutral
  • 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
  • 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
  1. 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.
  • 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
  • We need to adapt techniques to people who are being interviewed
  1. 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.
  • Talking over phone works for some people
  1. 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
  1. 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