Reducing risk and enabling innovation
Exploratory research & validating assumptions
When performing user experience research, it’s important to make a distinction between exploratory research and validation research. I’ll describe both below.
Exploratory research
This type of research is usually done in the first ‘discovery’ phase of a project, to determine the project requirements. It’s a good idea to keep doing exploratory research during the project however, because there’s a big chance you’ll uncover new insights as a project progresses. By gaining a deeper understanding of the problem, you’ll reveal new ways of solving it. This is the research that typically leads to big leaps forward and can can open up whole new avenues of innovation.
By gaining a deeper understanding of the problem, you’ll reveal new ways of solving it
Exploratory research can be done through methods like open-ended interviews and observations of user behaviour. It’s important to keep the context in mind, so visit the user in their ‘natural habitat’ whenever possible.
Think about questions like:
- Why is the user doing what he’s doing?
- What problems does the user run into?
- What’s the environment like?
- What’s the user’s emotional state?
- What is the user’s workflow, and how do we fit in?
Results of this research can be shared as insights, user needs, user stories, user journeys, and more (get creative!). This leads to a better understanding of the user, and can spark new solutions and innovations.
Validation research
This type of research is done to validate assumptions. In the world of business there’s never enough time to research and validate everything before starting to work on a project. Usually many decisions are made based on assumptions about what the user needs. This is a good way to get a project started quickly, but it’s important to document which of those decisions are based on factual research and which are based on gut-feeling.
Assumptions about user needs are a direct risk to the project’s success. Incorrect assumptions lead to designing and building the wrong solutions, wasting lots of resources in the process. If a solution doesn’t solve a real and important problem for users, it won’t have value and users won’t pay for it. One could even argue it’s not a ‘solution’ at all if it doesn’t solve a problem.
Incorrect assumptions lead to designing and building the wrong solutions, wasting lots of resources in the process
Validation research can be done through methods like user testing and interviews. It can be combined with exploratory research as well, for example by having an open-ended interview with a user and then afterwards showing them a prototype of the solution to check if it addresses their needs.
Think about questions like:
- How sure are we that this assumption is really true?
- What evidence do we have to support it?
- Is this actually a user need?
- Is this actually important to the user?
Results of this research can be documented in a simple way: For each target group you can create a table that lists all every assumed user need, with a column representing the confidence that we have in this assumption being true, and a column with supporting evidence. This table should be accessible to everyone in the project, so everyone can see where there are currently gaps in the knowledge about user needs. This will inspire more research into the risky assumptions and makes sure that risks are consciously taken.
You can read more about the value of user experience research and about how to keep your research organised in a research repository in my other articles. Have fun exploring!
