See how the various phases of UX research can lead to innovation. From starting with understanding the real facts, then connecting the facts together to find associations. Next, examining how behaviors may be transformed, to finally, designing innovative products that enable users to fulfill tasks. Below is a simplified flow for this process:
User Data -> Insights -> Foresights -> Innovation
Preface
In Agile sprints, research will come in many shapes, forms, sequences, and sizes, depending on your efforts, competencies, team dynamic, schedules, user availability, and just the nature of the project and product requirements. When we do swift research activities, sometimes we know which methods to use depending on the knowledge we need. Standard research methods may be out of order, may happen at different phases, or may not happen at all. As designers, we're ad hoc about what we need to do at any given point. To help us facilitate a structure back into your research findings or as we execute them in our sprints, and to help facilitate telling the story back to our team, here is an outline that can help organize, execute, plan, and communicate your data and design solutions better.
Mission
To ensure you are innovating, methodically sequence your research activities.
Phasing your research activities will help you deliver validated and viable innovative UI solutions.
Here is a breakdown of the sequence for your research:
1. Understand what is actual and true = User Data
In this phase, you take the time to familiarize yourself with your users, their workflows, and personal or professional goals. These are facts and information on what is real, true, factual. Nothing is made up or fictional here. The people are real, what they do is real, and what they say is real.
2. Connect the dots between data = Insights
In this phase, you take the user data and find associations and disassociations. You find similarities and differences. You show relationships between the data and provide some meaning to the analysis. There may be some rationalization of the relationships at this point as well. Make sure to list out themes, categorizations, and meanings.
3. Insights + trend forecasting = Foresights
In this phase, you make assertions on potential new user behaviors and thought-processes. You ideate on new workflows and concepts that may solve and utilize your insights. You come up with transformative ways to handle your new user goals.
4. Design for foresights = Innovation
In this phase, you design user interfaces for your foresights. You enable users to perform your newly transformative workflows that help achieve their goals. Your ideas may be original or inventive. You may also have satisfied your business KPIs and ROIs. You provide a market differentiator from your competitors and users can experience first-hand.
Summary
You can efficiently schedule these activities within a 10-day agile sprint accordingly in order. User interviews and observational research should happen first couple of days, followed by analyzing the data the next couple of days. Wrap up your first sprint week with generating your research report, along with formulating insights and foresights. Use the last week of your sprint to design from your research, using the foresights as your guide. Through this process, you should be presenting at every step of the way, iterating, and updating the thinking and solutions. Following this format for large to small research projects will ensure you're solving for the right problems with the right solutions.
About the author
Sean Lazo is a Principal UX Designer at [24]7.ai who leads the inception, assembly, and design of [24]7.ai Conversations, an industry-leading omni-channel AI chatbot SAAS platform. His passions are DesignOps, detailed design, research, and human relations.
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