Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Research from Discovery to Live
Over the last three years Southampton University in the UK has been doing a complete website redesign following an Agile process; user research and performance analytics have been an integral part of the Agile process from the very start. The website has a variety of products aimed at potential students and research collaborators.
Performance analytics informed the business case and objectives and qualitative research in Discovery uncovered the user needs to improve the user experience. During alpha qualitative research informed the design of the early prototypes and in beta analytics and user research integrated qual and quant in a variety of metrics around performance and the user experience. The same metrics have been taken forward and enhanced in Live to ensure continuous improvement which sits alongside the new product roadmap.
The presentation will outline the integration of qual and quant and give examples of what has been done, the metrics, and how they are informing the user experience and business objectives.
The Art of Extrapolation
We’re all familiar with the standard justification for secondary research – it’s a process to contextualise what’s already known to plan more focused (primary) research studies. Among research practitioners and non-researchers, secondary research is rarely thought of as a method in itself – and rather a supplementary phase of work before the real investigation begins.
In this talk, we hope to convince fellow researchers that secondary research can be more powerful and impactful than just offering a foundational starting point. With the right “research infrastructureā” secondary research can allow us to step back, triangulate and evaluate not only a larger corpus of data but also consider data from different sources and teams to make better-informed decisions.
We share how we evolved our secondary research processes to do more efficient research and help our teams make more informed decisions.
The Future of Research: Bridging the Gaps (Videoconference)
During this call, Advancing Research 2021 conference curators invite a special panel of researchers to discuss the future of research. In particular, panelists share their perspectives about the research practice and how they expect the discipline to evolve. To provide additional grounding for our conversation, we discuss, broadly, results from the survey we recently launched, which is designed to learn more about the topics and themes that you, the community, believe will be important to advancing the research and insight industry over the next year. Our esteemed panel of cross-disciplinary researchers, includes: Steve PortigalĀ (Principal Researcher & Rosenfeld Media Author),Ā Dr. Gloria OsarduĀ (Senior Researcher at Amazon),Ā Alba VillamilĀ (Principal Researcher and HmntyCntrd Facilitator) andĀ Sam LadnerĀ (Principal Researcher at Workday).Ā Dr. Jamika BurgeĀ (Entrepreneur and Head of Experience Products & Platforms Research at Capital One), one of our AR curators, will be moderating the discussion. Join us!
Bringing Customer Research to More Internal Teams
Learn how Brad Orego, Head of Research at Auth0 is bringing research to teams of designers, marketers and product owners. His passion for customer research is infectious and in this 30-minute session, you’ll learn his tips and tricks for getting more teams to do great research.
Using Research to Determine Unique Value Proposition
A story about how to quantify and use survey data to create audience clusters that are statistically representative of the people that use your online product or service. Edgar joins the dots between multiple research/pattern finding/storytelling techniques, such as proto-personas, affinity mapping, survey creation, quantification of qualitative data, organic clustering of audiences, user interviews, journey maps, and business modeling canvas. It makes research tangible and actionable: instead of being an end-point that provides stakeholders with insights, it takes stakeholders through an inclusive and structured process they can be part of.
The B-side of the Research Impact
In large companies, we are seduced by OKRs, and, in general, growth. And it seems that to be “on the business side” researchers need to speak the same language, have the mindset that, to be strategic, you need to shoot for sales or growth. Although we agree that companies should have profits, for us this is a result, not a purpose. And, speaking of purpose, there is another kind of impact: research provides context and must be able to question the organization and its limits. This is the B-side of research impact.
Building for Scale: Creating the Zendesk UX Research Practice
In eighteen months, Zendeskās UX Research practice grew from a single researcher to a seven-person team. The new research program has greatly enhanced Zendeskās design and development process. Along the way, researchers have successfully informed design strategy and helped improve product quality and usability.
Veevi Rosenstein is deliberately crafting the UX research practice from the inside out to support Zendeskās growing development organization. Sheāll share her approach and overall vision for the research program, including operational plans, methods, toolkits, communication and knowledge capture strategies, and the steps sheās taken to make it all happen.
Solve a Problem Here, Transform a Strategy There: Research as an Occasion for Expanding Organizational Possibility
Researchers use our work to drive organizational action, by closing knowledge gaps, clarifying user needs, or identifying opportunities. But the extent of that action is often limited. We frequently want our research to be about strategy, but that’s not how organizations usually work. Our stakeholders want tactical research on tight timelines. By contrast, Peter highlights a different, and distinctive, approach to making strategic impact: considering research as a form of “robust action,” work that solves specific problems while visibly expanding the organization’s field of future possibility. Peter gives examples of work heās done in this fashion at Intel, Autodesk, and Airtable, and provides some guiding principles to help make our work more valuable.
User Research, Design, and Product – A Love Story
Come listen to real stories of how User Research has worked closely with Product Design and Product Management at Compass. Moderated by Anna Avrekh, Director of User Research, this Q&A session will cover how teams work closely with user research, how they have taken action off of user research, and the keys to successful relationships. Feel the love!
Mission: Keep Talent in Research Roles!
We need more people with research skills in positions of influence and leadership in tech companies, but it can be difficult to feel like weāre succeeding in our roles, let alone growing into leadership. There is a lot to contend withāfrom the inevitable chaos of quickly growing organizations, or struggling to find āfitā when working with product teams, to ethical dilemmas about the unintended consequences of the technologies we help create.
Rebecca Buck will discuss the most prevalent areas of conflict she has seen lead to researchers leaving teams, companies, or distancing themselves from the title āresearcherā. Through stories and examples she will cover common patterns of frustration and offer tips and frameworks for navigating issues of defining the role of research, championing quality, and increasing influence with stakeholders.
