A commonly discussed topic of frustration is a lack of organizational buy-in for UX Research. This sentiment is common, not just among researchers, but also among our cross-functional partners. In the past eight years, I decided to use a variety of ways to explain the scope and value of UXR. After controlling for the different states of the teams and organizations I work with (some might already be more familiar and accepting of UXR), I evaluated how effective each of my explanations was in terms of impact (did people become advocates of UXR), speed (how quickly did people become adopters of user-centric thinking), and scope (did the explanation resonate with teams from a variety of backgrounds). Through my evaluation, I have found a tried and true way of explaining the value of UXR. I also observed that the value of UXR increases exponentially if UXR teams do not artificially limit their scope to design research.

So how can we explain the value of UXR effectively? Here is how I do it:

UXR is the nexus of information about the world of our users. We use a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies to influence strategy through:

Protecting Blindsides

In football, one important role of the offensive lineman is to protect the quarterback’s blindside so that the team is able to execute their play successfully. Utilizing a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, UXR teams protect an organization’s blindside, making everyone feel more confident in the products and experiences that we are shipping.

Decreasing Variability

The image below shows several balls oscillating with a wider radius.

Now, the image below shows the same amount of balls oscillating with a smaller radius.

Imagine that the balls represent the different signals we get about our users, from feedback from customer support teams to a SUS from a usability test. We often receive a large number of signals from our customers and due to the variability in this feedback, they often end up in a hefty backlog.
Just like what we see on the image above, UXR reduces variability through employing quantitative methods that help us understand which signals are most pivotal towards our product and business goals.

Unlocking World B

The image below shows hills in its state of growth and its inevitable deterioration.

Companies fear entering a state of stasis and entropy. The organizations that survive (think: Amazon Books) are ones that unlock World B (think: Prime & AWS). What’s even better is if this organization accesses World B before other organizations do. UXR teams conduct strategic research to capture even the smallest changes in the world to help organizations be the first to unlock and design World B.

Although this explanation may not be the conventional definition of UXR, I believe, as leaders in the UXR space, we should commit to challenging and strengthening our practice so that it aptly captures and represents the world of our users. Though this goal may be lofty, it is the only way we can build a tangible and lasting impact that moves with every single organization as they grow through their various stages of development.

Expanding the influence of UXR is truly both a moral and business imperative. It’s time that we take this even more seriously.