Rapid research for regular-paced people
The point: There are challenges to using rapid forms of research within a product team because breaks in communication can arise when you’re moving quickly. This can result in stress and loss of trust with key stakeholders. Here are some tools to help make your rapid research projects more successful.
Context
Rapid research methods like RITE are super appealing. When the typical UX research project takes 6–8 weeks, what’s not to like about a process that takes half the time? You’re way more likely to get approval for the research.
But there’s a catch.
The problem
One reason that research studies traditionally take longer is that they tend to be more rigorous about getting clean data and about communicating the results. Your stakeholders may expect the same type of data and level of communication in half the time.
More specifically, working in tight timelines typically means more pressure and less time to make decisions. Making decisions within a team requires the ability to convince others; and for this you need data, time for synthesis, be able to form arguments, present the arguments and get buy-in. And this all takes time.
A common scenario: As the designer/researcher, you will feel convinced about a design decision because you are seeing everything firsthand. You will then make a change to the prototype to address the data. Someone who does not have the same access to data will question your decision, assuming that you lack a smart rationale. This is a sign that your stakeholder is losing trust. You will likely want to try to explain that the process doesn’t allow time for that level of communication and that the stakeholders need to just trust you. But now I think you see you’re playing a losing game.
So, what do you do?
The solution
Prepare your stakeholders before the study begins and set expectations. Hosting a kickoff meeting with your key stakeholders is a great way to do this.
In the kickoff meeting, you’ll have the opportunity to lead important discussions regarding the type of data being collected, how decisions will be made, and what the outcome of the research project will look like.
Here’s a list of things to cover with your stakeholders:
- Research timeline with stakeholder check-in points
- Risks: what could go wrong
- Anticipated design decisions
- Data you want to collect
- How you will communicate findings
- How decisions will be made
- Which decisions need approval
You can use the linked spreadsheet as a guide.
