Understanding the reasons behind why so many companies don’t have User Research as a standard activity in their organization

Say hello to Mr. Bob. Mr. Bob is a User Researcher with 3 years of experience. In the beginning, when he began his career Mr. Bob also worked as a User Experience Designer for 2 years. Now after 5 years of total working experience in the product sector Mr. Bob wanted to move back to his hometown and start his own User Research Consultancy. Mr. Bob believes that conducting User Research is the easy part of User Research. The tough part is making its impact visible to the people in an organization, specially the decision makers and to convince companies who are not into User Research to make it a standard practice in their organizations.

When he did some background research on companies in his hometown he could understand that there are so many local companies who are into software development, web development, and companies providing other services — don’t perform User Research. So before he starts his consultancy and prepares his User Research Pitch he plans to understand his potential customer's motivation, attitude, and current behavior when it comes to User Research. For this, he took themas his potential customers and conducted User Research on them whose insights will help him to categorize these companies into different archetypes based on their attitudes, behaviors, and motivations towards User Research. This would help him to target his customers more effectively by knowing exactly what they might need to get convinced of adapting User Research as a standard activity.

He writes them down:

Problem Statement

Many Companies don’t have User Research as a standard function/activity in their organizations.

Objective

To find out the underlying causes behind why these companies are not performing User Research and if they are at some level then, what is their motivation, behavior, and attitude towards User Research.

Purpose Statement

To use those underlying causes to build strategies to convince companies to make User Research a standard activity /function in their organization.

Methodology

a. Secondary Research.

b. Telephonic One-On-One Interviews

Preparation for the Interviews

a. Recruiting and mobilizing the participants.

— For the interviews, he planned to take a sample of 10 companies.

• 5 companies who do some User Research
• 5 companies who do not do any User Research

To make sure he recruits the right participants and that he has the right distribution of participants within the sample he made a script and asked these questions to the potential participants for the interviews—

The script:

“Hello Sir, A very good morning.

My name is Bob. I am from — I work as a User Researcher and I’m in this field for the last 5 years. I am conducting research to understand how companies are conducting their User Research and if they are not what are the reasons. The objective of this research is to be able to help companies to improve their product or their service through the use of User Research. For that, I would need some time from you so that I can understand how your company does it right now. I will ask you a few questions which won’t take very long.

• Will you and your team members from the Design and Product Development team be willing to volunteer for this research? I will take just around 15 minutes from 1–2 members from each team. For your help, you will be getting a gift voucher.
• If the answer is yes, Bob thanks the participant and schedules the interview date and time.
• If the answer is no, Bob tries to ask whether they know about user research and whether they conduct User Research in their company. If their answer is yes, he asks them how and if their answer is no, he asks them if they would want him to explain to them what User Research is all about.

He also tells them that he has shot a mail to the companies email ID so that all the other members of the Product, Design, and Marketing teams can also read and understand when they are free so that they will be prepared for the interview.

c. Preparing the interview guidelines and the questions to ask.

The Interview Guidelines:

a. Start by introducing yourself and the purpose of the interview.

b. Take down notes and if you will record the interview take permission.

c. During the interview listen attentively to what the stakeholders tell you they know about users. Do not tell them they are doing it wrong. Interview them, individually or in a group, demonstrating that you value the information they can provide.

d. Show that you value and appreciate the information they already have. Use that information as a starting point in defining the users and planning user research (activity).

e. To put the value of user representatives and subject-matter experts in the right perspective.

The interview questions:

After introducing himself and the intent of the interview Bob starts with some warm-up questions like asking the user a little bit of background of his company and about how they work. Then he tells what User Research is.

The main questions are:

a. Does your company conduct User Research? If your answer is yes, why? If your answer is no, why not?

b. How do you conduct user research? If you don’t conduct what do you do to understand your users?

c. Do you think User Research adds/will add value to your business? If yes, how? If no, why not?

d. How is user research useful to your company? If you think it’s not, why so?

e. How does your company gather user insights? Do you think that’s enough to build a good product or service? If yes/no, why so?

User metrics to focus on:

a. User Research Knowledge or skills.

b. Interest Level to conduct User Research as a standard function.

c. Attitude towards User Research being a standard function.

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The Insights

The types of excuses given by most startup companies to not focus on User Research — You should know these to plan your pitch.

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Bob used the Kipling Method for each excuse which he received from the companies to form questions and answered them to understand the root causes behind companies not conducting user research as a standard activity.

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What do they do to know the users?

Market research, maintain user groups or panels, and conduct surveys and focus groups to get information about the users

Who gives them the user insights?

Their sales and support teams regularly hear about problems and receive requests directly from the customers. The Design team also does some research on the users — Usability Testing, User Interviews after the product is built, Journey Maps which are usually hypothetical, etc.

Why do they think conducting User Research as a standard activity is not necessary?

Apart from Marketing Research and some Usability testing by the Designers, they think they already have many people within the organization who have important knowledge about users. They rely on these knowledge sources to start a project.

Where can User Research add value?

User Research can provide sufficiently detailed insights to provide information by direct observation of users performing their usual tasks. They can give more time focussing directly on users' attitudes, behavior, motivation, desires, pain points, etc. They will provide the type of information you need to make the right decisions to name your product more user-centric based on data, not assumptions.

When will they understand the value of conducting User Research as a standard activity?

When they will overcome their preconceptions on User Research.

How can we help them overcome their preconceptions?

• By telling them that we value the information their experts already have about their users. That knowledge can be used as a base. you need to deeply understand that information through firsthand observation of people performing their usual tasks in their natural environment.
• By asking the stakeholders to provide the questions about users to which they’ve always wanted answers. Knowing which would help them solve problems or plan accordingly. Ask them if they have some unanswered questions which have arisen over time. Tell them how user research could help them answer those questions. Tell them about the approach you will take and the methodologies you will use to get to the answers. They already know the value of knowing these answers. It will directly impact the product or the service they provide.
• Instead of stating a vague goal like learning about users, emphasize that user research can answer specific, important business questions such as Why do people cancel their membership? and Why don’t people sign up at this step?”. Explain to them how User Research will focus on growth by aligning different teams together and by understanding the Big Picture toprovide the right direction to Product and Market Strategy.

User Research Knowledge or skills: Medium, Interest Level to conduct User Research as a standard function: Low, Attitude towards User Research being a standard function: Neutral

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What do they do to get user insights?

They do market research. They rely on user feedback and responses and on the numbers by studying customers buying behavior.

Who are these companies?

These companies don’t have Design Teams. They either get their Design part of the product in the product development stage and keep the rest of the work for the Marketing Team or they get their design work done through freelance.

Why do they think that they already conduct User Research?

Market Research also focuses on learning about customers, and they use similar methods like interviews, focus groups, surveys, and creating profiles of customer groups.

Where is the scope for User Research?

To validate the existing insights from the marketing team about their user through user research and also add more value to those insights by contributing to the product through UX Design.

How can we remove their misconception that market research is User Research?

By helping them to distinguish between User Research and market research. We can do that by talking about differences in focus, positioning, timeline, attitude, etc, talking about how to add value to the brand.

How both can complement each other while moving towards the same goal. Explain the type of information you need — such as users’ characteristics, tasks, tools, and environment.

Explain to them why is it so important to include your users from the beginning to ensure that your product or service is designed well and that your branding appeals to the people it needs to. Market research is about rigor, variety, and numbers. Whereas User Research is more about speed, focus, and attitude. We need both. Both have different focus, positioning, timescale, structure, and attitude towards developing the brand. Also, explain how User Research(UR)helps to build a better User Experience(UX). Marketing Research does that too to an extent but they are more focused on the Brand and numbers whereas User Research is more qualitative in nature. Explain why both are equally important to build better products.

User Research Knowledge or skills: Low, Interest Level: High, Attitude towards User Research: Positive

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What they do instead of User Research?

They include user representatives on projects and they think it adequately represents the voice of the user when defining requirements and reviewing designs.

Who are these representatives?

These representatives are subject matter experts who hold adequate knowledge about their users.

Why user representatives are not a good substitute for User Research?

These user representatives become insiders who are too close to the project to be objective and can lead to bias decisions about how users would perceive or use the product or the service hence user representatives don’t really represent the typical user. Although user representatives provide information about users’ needs and evaluate designs in the artificial environment of a conference room. It’s not possible for them to reliably provide details about their tasks, behaviors, and needs outside the context of performing those tasks. Therefore, they can’t provide very accurate design feedback.

Where is the scope for User Research?

To put the value of user representatives and subject-matter experts in the right perspective.

How do we do that?

By considering them to be stakeholders and interviewing them to get an initial understanding of the subject matter, the project, and the users and also by explaining to them how the type of information User Research will provide and how it will be different from the information provided by the user representatives.

User Research Knowledge or skills: Medium, Interest Level: Low, Attitude towards User Research: Neutral

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Who are these companies? What do they do to get user insights?

These companies have Design teams who do usability testing after the product is developed and it's in the prototype or final version. Sometimes the Marketing or Sales team also gets involved in usability testing when they go for a sales pitch.

Why Usability Testing cannot replace User Research?

Usability testing is done once you have a design in hand to check how usable the product is and get insights based on the user's interaction with the product. But this makes you wait to discover any information about the users to inform design. This means you’ll have to design based on assumptions and unproven information about the users. This can give the design a wrong direction and may lead to redesign wif the product don’t end up fitting users needs

When can usability testing be done?

In the end, we can do usability testing to evaluate and refine the design. But in the beginning, it's better to do some user research which will give us a better understanding of the users to design according to their needs, behaviors, attitudes, motivations, etc.

Where is the scope for User Research?

To provide solid information on the users in the beginning and providing the right problems to solve for the Product and Design team. To take part in usability testing with the Design Team to extract more valuable insights that dig deeper into users' behaviors, attitudes, and motivations, etc.

How?

By educating the project team about the values of conducting user research and how it will save time and rework later in the project and if there’s no time for user-research tasks at the beginning of a project than conducting them in between projects, so that helpful information can be gathered which can be used across multiple projects.

User Research Knowledge or skills: Medium, Interest Level: Medium, Attitude towards User Research: Neutral

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What do they feel?

Innovations and great design can be made by only listening to user feedback and suggestions and for that, a separate standard User Research discipline is not required.

Who are these companies?

These companies are those which either have UX Designers who do some User Research on their own before and after releasing a product or those companies who think that their users are already happy with their products or service hence User Research is not required.

Why do they say like this?

Because they think that user research is about simply listening to users and doing what they tell you to do. They don’t understand the real value of User Research and how it can help to innovate and build great products with a thorough understanding of the users and their needs. They have UX Designers who think that the usability testing they do after the product is built will be enough or they feel that they know what the users want already. They feel adding User Research as a separate standard discipline is not worth it, and will only consume extra time by delaying product release and extra expenses.

Where is the scope for User Research?

Contribute towards User Experience with a growth focussed attitude and help the business grow.

How can we change their perception?

• By emphasizing the fact that user research provides useful information about people and what they need, but it’s still up to the designer to create a design to meet their needs. This will make the Designers feel valued as well as might convince them that user research is in fact useful.
• By invalidating some results that the company produces through usability testing by doing User Research to show how User Research can add more valuable insights.

User Research Knowledge or skills: Medium,Interest Level: Low Attitude towards User Research: Neutral

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What do they do to get user insights?

They only rely on user feedback, responses, focus groups, etc which their marketing team does during market research.

Who are these companies?

These companies don’t conduct user research and probably don’t have any dedicated people even from their design teams as they are very busy with meeting their design deadlines.

Why do they hesitate to start User Research as a standard discipline?

Because it’s difficult to change their development process to make it happen and it’s easier to go along with the inertia and keep the same process in place. An additional function might disturb their workflow or even delay their production.

Where is the scope for User Research?

To conduct multiple research with the users throughout the product cycle process and provide important information to teams across the company to give them the right direction to base their product by impacting product strategy and contribute towards growth.

How do we make them start doing user research now that they are not able to fit it in their development process?

• By fitting in user-research in some form in between or during different stages of a project and showing them the value it is adding to the entire project by giving insights that they were not able to achieve earlier.
• By showing them how the information you gather from User Research can inform multiple projects inside the organization.

User Research Knowledge or skills: Medium,Interest Level: High, Attitude towards User Research: Positive

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What do they do to get user insights?

They rely on User Feedbacks and responses. For them, numbers(more sales)matter more than increasing the experience.

Who are these companies-?

These are the companies where the project teams are held accountable for completing projects successfully, on time, and on budget. They don’t measure whether the final result of the product or the service is good enough for the users as long as people buy them.

Why do they feel like User Research is not indispensable?

Because they feel User Research is a step that a team could skip if time or money were tight. They are also used to creating products and successfully selling them to their customers.

Where is the scope for User Research?

To try and include User Research as part of the development process in the beginning before the product is built.

How do we convince them that User research is essential?

• By showing them some case studies of companies that have done well by employing User Research as a standard function.
• By asking the stakeholders about some unanswered questions they have in their mind regarding things like User Decision making, habits or motivations, and finding them out through User Research or by validating or invalidating some assumptions which the Stakeholders provide us as a source of secondary data.

User Research Knowledge or skills:Medium,Interest Level: Medium, Attitude towards User Research: Negative

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What do they do to get user insights?

They do usability testing as they feel it provides more concrete and actionable recommendations.

Who are these companies?

These are the companies that have a User Experience team but may or may not have had User Research as a standard function and even if they had they couldn’t see any visible benefit in it.

Why does the value of User Research seem nebulous in other words indistinct?

Because it’s hard to see tangible results from it. In design and product development we see tangible things that people can see and use and also give immediate feedback about its experience and give feedback. Although User Research provides very useful information to everyone yet most people feel it’s nebulous because they can’t see it unless there are fancy deliverables to illustrate what researchers have learned.

Where is the scope for User Research?

To show how User Research can impact the ROI on User Experiences and overall business growth.

How to change their mindstate?

• By making getting answers related to the business the priority during User Research by focusing on growth.
• By producing interesting and compelling deliverables that people understand and see value in. Ask the stakeholders what they want to know or understand about the users and show them exactly what they want to see.
• Making the presentation interesting by telling it more like a story. People love to hear stories especially if it's of their own customers.
• By including 1–2 members from each department while doing the research so that they can see what; happening and why it’s so valuable.
• By keeping each department informed and send regular reports filled with insights which they can use for building strategies.
• By showing how knowledge and information gathered from User Research can be leveraged across departments in all the future projects.

User Research Knowledge or skills: High,Interest Level: Medium, Attitude towards User Research: Neutral

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What do they do to get user insights?

They rely on Market Research and customer feedback and responses.

Who are these companies?

This is a very common excuse given by most companies who don’t do User Research as a standard activity n their projects. They might have tried it in the past but found it to be a waste of time and didn’t see the value in it.

Why do they find it difficult to fit User Research into their development process?

Because it’s not so easy for them to fit User Research into their agile or lean development processes as they work with deadlines and they have clients to satisfy. They feel forcefully fitting User research might hinder growth.

Where is the scope for User Research?

To regularly contribute towards the agile and lean development processes that the company applies by working close to all the departments while giving them important information about the users which will allow them to make the right decisions and make the right strategies to improve business.

How to fit User Research into an agile development process?

By conducting user research at the beginning of projects to give direction to the projects and as a separate regular activity which doesn’t hinder the agile process the company follows but yet distributes important user-related information across the organization which impacts business.

User Research Knowledge or skills: Medium,Interest Level: High, Attitude towards User Research: Positive

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What do they do to get user insights?

They rely on Market Research — Customer feedbacks, surveys, and focus groups and on research done in-house by their Product and Design Teams.

Who are these companies?

These companies are those which are too focused on numbers than understanding Users. They rely more on quantitative research methodologies than qualitative. So they don’t want to spend money on User Research as they feel that the marketing or product team can also add some qualitative insights by doing some research internally when required.

Why do they say they don’t have time or money for User Research?

That’s because the decision-makers are not convinced and they don’t see value in User Research or it can be anything out of all the above reasons behind the excuses we have discussed till now.

Where is the scope for User Research?

To start with smaller research projects and eventually get into the organization as a standard activity by adding value to the business.

How can we save their time and yet provide value through User Research?

• By starting with a small targeted study that lets you get in-depth information about a particular topic or answer some questions which the company always wanted answers for.
• By performing foundational research that forms the foundation for multiple other research opportunities. Make it visible to the stakeholders. Show them how this will help in the companies growth.

User Research Knowledge or skills: Medium,Interest Level: Low, Attitude towards User Research: Negative

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What do they do to get user insights?

They rely on market research — surveys, customer feedback, or responses on social media, etc.

Who are these companies?

These are those companies that don’t usually do any form of research or have users who do not like to participate in research or even if there are other issues that don’t allow the company to reach out to them for User Research. These are also companies that have not defined their users yet hence they have no idea whom to reach out to as reaching out to the wrong user makes no sense as the insights received from that research won’t be actionable.

Why do they feel that it's difficult to get access to the users?

Recruiting participants is a tough thing. It’s not very easy for all types of companies. Users of some companies are highly motivated to talk to them as they feel grateful or indebt towards them. But most others don’t like to spend time talking to people from the company. So mobilizing them and convincing them for user research is a tough task. Companies might not have contact details or the users might not be in the same city to meet and all other kinds of logistical and financial issues can act as a barrier towards getting access to the users.

Where is the scope for User Research?

To get them access to their users.

How can we help them to get access to their users?

• By proper planning and user mobilizing skills and by picking up the right sample of users for User Research by clearly defining them.
• Persuading the Sales and Customer Experience department people to get you connected to the users. Guide them by developing a script for them which they will use to mobilize and screen the users for User Research.
• Trying social media as a tool for conducting User Research — joining groups, putting open questions, surveys that rewards the users might make them feel like participating in the research.

User Research Knowledge or skills: Medium,Interest Level: Low, Attitude towards User Research: Negative

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Takeaways:

Although we can have more I’ve added just a few takeaways here. We can also have assumptions on these companies on reasons behind not conducting User Research that we can validate by conducting a few more rounds of research.

The main takeaways are:

a. Companies that have medium or low Knowledge or skills about User Research have low levels of interest and negative attitude towards User Research due to :

i. Lack of knowledge about User Research.

ii. Doesn’t see value in User Research.

iii. They think Market Research or Usability Testing can replace User Research.

b. Some roadblocks for companies who have high interest and attitude towards User Research to conduct it on regular basis are:

i. Not being able to get access to its users.

ii. Cannot fit User Research into its Agile or Lean Development Processes.

Way Forward:

Next, we will see how Mr. Bob will use these insights to develop a User Research Pitch based on the scopes he found during this research to help different types of companies with different problems that they face when it comes to conducting User Research. The pitch will be a common one for all and will aim towards fulfilling all the needs of the companies which don’t have User Research as a standard function and it will have an answer for all the excuses by the companies for not conducting User Research as a standard activity.

Links to read:

• https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/the-basics-of-recruiting-users-for-usability-testing