Interesting perspective on proving/showing the value of UX research by Nikki Anderson, MA. In my work, I have always cherished working with colleagues - at all levels - who are curious about and open for research, who did not ask for advance proofs that it could pay off. Colleagues who did not expect research to 'blow their minds away', or to make products absolutely 'watertight', but that are willing to give it a try. I am fortunate to have also a few colleagues who tell me something that can be rephrased as: 'let me know if I can say or do anything so that you don't have to do all the convincing alone'. In my experience, it’s about aligning with those who spot and recognize the value of research by themselves - sometimes it takes limited exposure - and letting experiences speak louder than words for them. This approach not only helps preserve our energy but also builds stronger, more genuine collaborations.
I help PwDR measure and maximize user research impact | Founder @ User Research Strategist + UXR for Product People
One of the biggest obstacles I still struggle with in user research is the idea of “proving the value of user research.” About a year or so ago, I happened to be on a panel with Tomer Sharon and he said “I don’t prove the value of user research anymore. They either want to work with me or want to take the risks without research.” I’ve seen this spiraling around a lot in the past and in our current state in forms of: - Trying to prove the value user research can bring - Trying to prove the impact of user research - Trying to convince stakeholders not to use AI as a replacement - Trying to convince stakeholders to listen to your research - Trying to convince stakeholders to include research in the product development process And countless other points. That’s a whole lotta trying. And convincing. And proving. For a long time I didn’t understand how Tomer or anyone else could simply say, “take it or leave it.” Proving the value of user research became a hill for me to die on. It seemed impossible to do research if no one cared, if no one was “convinced” on how amazing user research was. Inevitably, I hit a wall. I got so sick of begging people to care about my profession, my craft, my expertise. This came up again. I told my stakeholders the best course of action on a completely new feature would be a concept test, but this time I put the ball in their court. I told them the benefits of the concept test, general timeline, and the risks of not doing one, and I let them decide. We didn’t do the concept test. The team created the feature and it failed miserably. All the risks (wasting time, effort, energy, and spending more money redoing something) that I had documented and shared happened. But I didn’t say I told you so. The next time research should have been engaged, they decided, again, not to do it. And a third time. In between the team not engaging with me, I worked with other stakeholders and teams who were ready for research, engaged, excited. There’s always a champion or two in your org — you just need to find them. And then, the team finally came to me asking for research after several failed projects. They asked me to help. No convincing, begging, proving…yes, I educated them, but I didn’t force them down a path. I let them decide, have the experiences, and then make more informed choices. Eventually they did. This is a different and sometimes (well, most of the time) scary way to approach this. It is uncomfortable. It’s challenging. But it helped me focus my energy on people who cared, who wanted me to help them, who sought out my work. I’m not saying you need to flip the switch completely, but maybe try it out. See how it is, see how it feels. We don’t need to PROVE the value of research because it is inherently there. #userresearch #research #ux #uxr #uxresearcher #uxresearch #designresearch #userresearcher #careers
Product Designer | UX/UI Designer | UX Researcher
6dGreat perspective 👍