{"id":2309,"date":"2021-03-11T06:19:28","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T06:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/?page_id=2309"},"modified":"2021-03-14T13:20:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-14T13:20:38","slug":"a-research-skills-evolution-dave-hora-founder-of-daves-research-company","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/a-research-skills-evolution-dave-hora-founder-of-daves-research-company\/","title":{"rendered":"AR2021-A Research Skills Evolution (Dave Hora, Dave’s Research Company)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2014> \u00a0To begin, its interesting to be at UXR conference, since I didn\u2019t know ten years ago you could make living as researcher<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2014> The question that drives my work on research skills are: \u201cWhat are we doing? How do we do it? How are we improving?<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2014> This chart was my first attempt at answering question of how do people grow their research skills<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2014> I took the research process into six buckets, from question to final impact<\/div>\n
    \n
  • \n
    As junior researchers focus on execution of basic research<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n
    Mid-level focus on synthesis work<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n
    Finally, there is a full strategic role, that owns the whole process<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    <\/div>\n
    \u2014> As model of growth it’s not instructive, as it doesn\u2019t say what we are really doing<\/div>\n
      \n
    • \n
      So I’m starting to build answer<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
    • \n
      Goal of presentation is to share a model of \u00a0how User Research Skills evolve<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \"\"<\/p>\n

      \u2014> To answer these questions, I led Research Skills Framework projects with the ReOps community to figure out the\u00a0building blocks for the user research profession and practice<\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      \u2014> Project was amazing in scope, scale, and community involvement<\/div>\n
        \n
      • \n
        500 researchers participated<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
      • \n
        65 organizers, 30 cities across the world<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        <\/div>\n
        \u2014> To learn more, can see my talk at the Tools for the Trek conference<\/div>\n

         <\/p>\n

        <\/div>\n

        \"\"<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \u2014> So there are three parts to the presentation, first the framework itself and what it means to grow as a researcher<\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        \u2014> Part two, or how we can use the \u00a0tools\/building blocks of framework and put them in practice for researchers themselves and teams to move research practice forward<\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        \u2014> Part three, or the long-term vision of where it can go<\/div>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \"\"<\/p>\n

        \u2014> Research Skills Framework integrates several things<\/div>\n
          \n
        • \n
          47 Craft skills (or general patterns), specific to task of user research<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n
          13 human skills<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n
          6 tools\/frameworks for teams\/individuals to use, a number that is growing<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
        • \n
          References Christopher Alexander style pattern languages and Wardley mapping<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \"\"<\/p>\n

          \u2014> Regarding Craft Skill and Human Skills<\/div>\n
            \n
          • \n
            Craft skills refer to the technical skills user researchers need to have, such as being able to conduct interviews<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
          • \n
            Human skills are not about craft, but working in human context<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
          • \n
            For research work to \u201cwork”, researchers need to know how people will use work and how they can take and make the work their own<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
            <\/div>\n
            \u2014> We should consider Human Skills to be equivalent to craft work<\/div>\n
              \n
            • \n
              They are not as fully developed as Craft Skills, but need to be recognized and developed<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

               <\/p>\n

              \"\"<\/p>\n

              \u2014> Skills structured as patterns in pattern language, with each skill is rooted in human needs of making a project effective<\/div>\n
                \n
              • \n
                Each skill explains how to answer the human needs behind any research project.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
              • \n
                \u00a0The skill explains what needs to be done, but not necessarily how to do it, so that it can be applied to a researcher’s local context<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                <\/div>\n
                \u2014> Many of the practices user researcher’s expect (like a debrief session, analyzing interview, identifying participants) are part of the skill sets I identified<\/div>\n

                 <\/p>\n

                \"\"<\/p>\n

                \u2014> So let\u2019s have a skillset analysis in action: The skill of Product Analytics<\/div>\n
                  \n
                • \n
                  My group took participants into a workshop, and asked participants to \u00a0select the \u00a0three most useful skills in their existing practice (shown in green) and three most desirable skills (shown in orange)<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                • \n
                  All participants had years of experience, whether in-house or in consulting roles<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                  <\/div>\n
                  \u2014> On skill, we can see workshops validate that product analytics is a real practice, and desired more than it\u2019s put into use<\/div>\n
                    \n
                  • \n
                    I can see it in community discussions as well as conference talks<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                    <\/div>\n
                    \u2014> As a side note: each skill presented is rooted in workshop data throughout the world<\/div>\n

                     <\/p>\n

                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                    \u2014> The second skill set analysis in action: The skill of Research Evangelization<\/div>\n
                      \n
                    • \n
                      There is a marked flip in how participants rated skill, as they saw it as a more useful than a desirable skill.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                    • \n
                      After 12 years of experience, it becomes the highest rated research skill out of all the workshops<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                      <\/div>\n
                      \u2014> Research Evangelization falls within the bucket of amplifying the practice<\/div>\n
                        \n
                      • \n
                        The spirit of the skill is training others to do research, and evangelizing UX research itself<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                      • \n
                        Taking the work done by researchers, and allowing it to live on itself<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                         <\/p>\n

                        \"\"<\/p>\n

                        \u2014> The next step in the skills evolution analysis, is the value chain<\/div>\n
                          \n
                        • \n
                          The value chain starts with a user need, and from there the need is decomposed to the foundational acts required for that user need to be fulfilled<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                          <\/div>\n
                          \u2014> Example of value chain, consider the following high-level practices<\/div>\n
                            \n
                          • \n
                            Skill One: Amplifying a research practice, so that people can use the insights\/techniques when needed<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                          • \n
                            Skill Two: Providing strategic direction and initiative<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                            <\/div>\n
                            \u2014> From these high level skills, one can see what other skills can be done underneath<\/div>\n
                              \n
                            • \n
                              For example, building a research practice from ground up, require a set of basic skills like:<\/div>\n
                                \n
                              • \n
                                Basic Testing<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                              • \n
                                Interviewing Ope<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                <\/div>\n
                                \u2014> The value chain is a hypothesis for what growth and development for UX researcher looks like<\/div>\n

                                 <\/p>\n

                                \"\"<\/p>\n

                                \u2014> In another model, one can move up from the value chain from the perspective of the self to the perspective of the \u00a0business and link the practices together<\/div>\n
                                  \n
                                • \n
                                  Moves from skills you manage for yourself like interviewing, \u00a0to communicating entire product area to the organization<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                  <\/div>\n
                                  \u2014> You grow through spheres up to having agreater opportunity to leave a larger, broader impact on an organization<\/div>\n

                                   <\/p>\n

                                  <\/div>\n

                                  \"\"<\/p>\n

                                  \u2014> From understanding the progression of a research career, I will pull in a Wordley mapping to capture evolution of researcher skills<\/p>\n

                                   <\/p>\n

                                   <\/p>\n

                                  \"\"<\/p>\n

                                  \u2014> The tool relies on value chain to show how a researcher grows<\/div>\n

                                   <\/p>\n

                                  \"\"<\/p>\n

                                  \u2014> One element to add is idea of how you grow into skills<\/div>\n
                                    \n
                                  • \n
                                    From New\/Uncharted to Teachable\/Consolidated<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                    <\/div>\n
                                    \u2014> This mimics model of unconscious incompetence to conscious competence<\/div>\n

                                     <\/p>\n

                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                    \u2014> See the above example of coordinating interview data<\/div>\n
                                    <\/div>\n
                                    \u2014> The map provides a picture to show how skills are developed, and the scope of impact these skills can have<\/div>\n

                                     <\/p>\n

                                    <\/div>\n

                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                    \u2014> Here\u2019s a sample profile with one year of experience<\/div>\n
                                      \n
                                    • Research Coordinator for a year, and found building a base with usability testing and learning to run live interviews<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                       <\/p>\n

                                       <\/p>\n

                                      \"\"<\/p>\n

                                      \u2014> Researcher for two and a half years<\/div>\n
                                        \n
                                      • \n
                                        Now skills have moved to the right, and created new space for a base of higher-order skills on top of base skills<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                      • \n
                                        Need to figure out how much of one skill to develop to move onto the next<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                        <\/div>\n
                                        \u2014> Researcher is now working on synthesis, and is embedded in product team<\/div>\n

                                         <\/p>\n

                                        \"\"<\/p>\n

                                        \u2014> Researcher at four years:<\/div>\n
                                          \n
                                        • \n
                                          All skills to run interview project have consolidated to the right<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                        • \n
                                          Now focused on structured modeling like broadcasting, jobs-to-be-done, etc.<\/div>\n
                                            \n
                                          • \n
                                            Interesting work, but team knows you can do basic stuff<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                          • \n
                                            There is risk of not having the \u00a0bandwidth to do higher-level work<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                             <\/p>\n

                                            \"\"<\/p>\n

                                            \u2014> Researcher as lead\/early manager:<\/div>\n
                                              \n
                                            • \n
                                              Now focused on integrating practice with service delivery and development cycles<\/div>\n
                                                \n
                                              • \n
                                                Learning how to set strategic direction and business alignment<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                \u2014> Going back to zones of learning, in the first few years, skills are foundational, important, but not what you should be putting attention to<\/div>\n
                                                  \n
                                                • \n
                                                  Basic recruiting moderation that person has to deal with takes time from higher-level research work that could be done<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                                  <\/div>\n
                                                  \u2014> This issue of getting bogged down in lower-level research work is a driver for ResearchOps as a discipline, to both enable team to do basic parts of research, and creating strategic impact for research from the start<\/div>\n

                                                   <\/p>\n

                                                  \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                  \u2014> Now at most final stage: moving to broadcast, and setting strategic direction for the business.<\/div>\n
                                                    \n
                                                  • \n
                                                    People must always be evangelizing the research practice, but there is no clear path for \u00a0what\u2019s next<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                    \u2014> That is the baseline for where research is now<\/div>\n
                                                    <\/div>\n
                                                    \u2014>So how do we use the network of practices and skills to advance own practice in own org<\/div>\n

                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                    <\/div>\n

                                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                    \u2014> First question is Strategic Planning: How do you know where team is and where it needs to go?<\/p>\n

                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                    \u2014> Before a retrospective, make sure team knows skills and have shared language for the skills.<\/div>\n
                                                      \n
                                                    • \n
                                                      You can reference skill-assessment and ask teammates to bring assessment to retrospective<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                       <\/p>\n

                                                      \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                      \u2014> Ask teammates to draw out map of what was rated, and put where they think they\u2019ve moved the most in the quarter (green), and where they\u2019d like to go (red)<\/p>\n

                                                       <\/p>\n

                                                       <\/p>\n

                                                      \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                      \u2014> This helps raise good questions, and helps individual see where they are in the team<\/div>\n

                                                       <\/p>\n

                                                      <\/div>\n
                                                      <\/div>\n

                                                      \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                      \u2014> But what would a team do?<\/div>\n
                                                      <\/div>\n
                                                      \u2014> From perspective of value chain, individual growth applies to the team as well<\/div>\n

                                                       <\/p>\n

                                                      \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                      \u2014> So ask team members to hold onto their personal maps for next meeting<\/div>\n
                                                      <\/div>\n
                                                      \u2014> Put each team\u2019s position on right the right, to visualize a strategic profile for the team as a whole<\/div>\n
                                                        \n
                                                      • \n
                                                        \u00a0 \u00a0 Including in-house\u00a0capabilities that can be developed for the team<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                         <\/p>\n

                                                        \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                        \u2014> In example, you can see gap where missing proficiency of structured modeling and broadcasting<\/div>\n
                                                          \n
                                                        • \n
                                                          It\u2019s a warning for thos on the team who want to jump ahead<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                                          <\/div>\n
                                                          \u2014> This chart informs what can be done before you worry about setting strategy for organization<\/div>\n
                                                            \n
                                                          • \n
                                                            Model shows bottom-up view for team capability<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                             <\/p>\n

                                                             <\/p>\n

                                                            \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                            \u2014> Scenario 2: Is more speculative and using patterns of skills at a more granular level, and using embedded researchers in team<\/div>\n
                                                              \n
                                                            • \n
                                                              \u00a0 \u00a0 Getting problematic based on tools used, and how people interact as they move between teams<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                                              <\/div>\n
                                                              \u2014> So what is healthy way of doing projects?<\/div>\n

                                                               <\/p>\n

                                                              \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                              \u2014> Find last five people who ran study, and run a workshop<\/div>\n
                                                              <\/div>\n
                                                              \u2014> Before workshop, give homework to the participants of creating a light-weight journey map for users to complete, and for them to understand what happened during the user journey<\/div>\n

                                                               <\/p>\n

                                                              \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                              \u2014> Set up activity where team members sequence skills they learned with skills in the framework for that specific study<\/div>\n
                                                              <\/div>\n
                                                              \u2014> I have a template available in Miro that can be referenced for this<\/div>\n
                                                                \n
                                                              • \n
                                                                Model specific research activities in each context<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                                 <\/p>\n

                                                                \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                                \u2014> Since you can draw out pressures\/successes, you can create common core of most important practices for team, and what to do for successful outcomes, and what to avoid<\/div>\n
                                                                <\/div>\n
                                                                \u2014> You can build a project playbook<\/div>\n

                                                                 <\/p>\n

                                                                \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                                \u2014> \u00a0Since skills are patterns and are networked together, you have playbook that can be applied in any number of contexts<\/div>\n
                                                                  \n
                                                                • \n
                                                                  Lets projects be adapted to context<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                                                  <\/div>\n
                                                                  \u2014> Take sequence of skills, and can pin to skills internal resources, and allow a standardized way for basics of decision making<\/div>\n
                                                                    \n
                                                                  • \n
                                                                    As well as repository of best practices<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                                                  • \n
                                                                    Onboarding material<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                                    \u2014> Really important thing comes from practices on the ground, that express the texture of activities as resaerchers<\/div>\n
                                                                    <\/div>\n
                                                                    \u2014> My index is incomplete, but enough to be abstracted to more meaning and more useful tools<\/div>\n

                                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                                    <\/div>\n
                                                                    <\/div>\n

                                                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                                    \u2014> \u00a0Core of research framework are connected together<\/div>\n
                                                                    <\/div>\n
                                                                    \u2014> So what does it mean for this research pattern language to work?<\/div>\n
                                                                      \n
                                                                    • \n
                                                                      Any org that uses language, must need to align language with their own specific tools<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                                                      <\/div>\n
                                                                      \u2014> Orgs must have a vision that language can be used to express practice<\/div>\n
                                                                        \n
                                                                      • \n
                                                                        Need way for new patterns to be contributed and added back<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                                         <\/p>\n

                                                                         <\/p>\n

                                                                        \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                                        \u2014> We always need tools for adoption, use, and pathways for teams to contribute to new development<\/p>\n

                                                                         <\/p>\n

                                                                         <\/p>\n

                                                                        \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                                        \u2014> A parting invitation: This framework can live and be a wonderful way for shaping a communities view of its own practice<\/div>\n
                                                                        <\/div>\n
                                                                        \u2014> Test and try these existing tools<\/div>\n
                                                                          \n
                                                                        • \n
                                                                          Everything else matters is tools work for you and can be used for them.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                                                          <\/div>\n
                                                                          \u2014> If enough people use them, we can figure out how to figure out living language of practice<\/div>\n
                                                                          <\/div>\n

                                                                           <\/p>\n

                                                                          <\/div>\n

                                                                          \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                                          \u2014> \u00a0So use this index!<\/div>\n
                                                                          <\/div>\n
                                                                          \u2014> Check out framework, find me on Twitter, and talk about practices on Slack<\/div>\n
                                                                          <\/div>\n
                                                                          \u2014> Don\u2019t know where this can go, but framework is interesting way for it to go<\/div>\n
                                                                            \n
                                                                          • Thank you!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                                            Q&A<\/span><\/p>\n

                                                                            No questions were captured for this talk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                                                            \u2014> \u00a0To begin, its interesting to be at UXR conference, since I didn\u2019t know ten years ago you could make living as researcher \u2014> The question that drives my work on research skills are: \u201cWhat are we doing? How do we do it? How are we improving?   \u2014> This chart was my first attempt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":334,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2309","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/334"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2309"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3090,"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2309\/revisions\/3090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}