How our design team builds UX research muscle
At monday.com we’re big on quantitative data, but we’re also well aware that numbers don’t tell the whole story. UX Research is a big part of our DNA, and every team regularly interfaces with users as they work to launch product improvements.
About a year ago, I started at monday.com as the sole UX researcher on a team of passionate and talented designers. The team was not new to qualitative research, but wanted to supercharge their approach to user-centered design.
At monday.com we’re big on quantitative data, but we’re also well aware that numbers don’t tell the whole story. UX Research is a big part of our DNA, and every team regularly interfaces with users as they work to launch product improvements.
I know what you’re saying to yourself.
Sure, sure. Your company is user-centered like every other start-up claims they are. (cue sarcastic eye roll)
It’s so true. Lots of product companies talk about being user centered. The term, ‘User Centered’ is thrown around so much, it’s starting to feel overly cliche and generic.
t’s so true. Lots of product companies talk about being user centered. The term, ‘User Centered’ is thrown around so much, it’s starting to feel overly cliche and generic.
That’s why I want to get into the nitty gritty, and talk about what it really means to be a designer that is user centered. User-centered designers need some unique skills that take focus and practice; and our Design team has found effective (and fun!) ways to get our users’ input.
Let’s go back to basics, for a moment. Shall we?
User Centered Design is defined as building empathy for your users throughout the product design process. Involving real customers is how you deliver experiences that truly meet your users’ needs.
At monday.com, we’ve found that the best way to accomplish this is via democratizing our UX research practices.
At monday.com, we’ve found that the best way to accomplish this is via democratizing our UX research practices.
What does this mean? In short, everyone on the team is empowered to speak directly with users. This keeps our team plugged in to our customers’ real world and gives us a steady dose of empathy in our day to day.
But interviewing users, gathering insights and making evidence-based decisions can sometimes feel intimidating. How can a busy designer develop these skills? Here are some helpful methods we use as a team:
- Start with goals, not questions
When designers want to speak with users, there’s a tendency to immediately write out the interview script: What specific questions will I ask during the session? What will be the structure of the conversation?
Whenever we speak to users, we first ask ourselves these 2 essential questions:
- What are the goals of this session with the user?
- What does my team need to learn from this research I’m conducting?
This approach gives you the freedom to think through the purpose of the research, without stressing over the phrasing of your script.
The designer answers these questions collaboratively with their team. Once the team is confident in what they want to achieve, it’s a million times easier to write out the actual script you’ll use with the user.
- Practice your interview skills
When I first joined the team, I ran a few different workshops with the designers to talk through best practices and give them tips about how to conduct good usability testing sessions. At a certain point I realized: Even though everyone is enthusiastically nodding in agreement, this isn’t enough.
Sharing best practices was too theoretical. I needed to find a way to get the team comfortable actually trying these methods.
For example, we all know a big no-no of usability testing is asking the user a biased question; but it’s a whole different story when you’re sitting next to a user and struggling to phrase your question without leading them. It can be so hard in that moment!
To address this, we practice our interview skills on coworkers in other departments.
Before going out and speaking to real users, our designers reach out to internal monday.com employees (in HR, Finance, Legal and all other non-Product or Design teams). We run through a real session, with the script we’ve already prepared.
Before going out and speaking to real users, our designers reach out to internal monday.com employees (in HR, Finance, Legal and all other non-Product or Design teams). We run through a real session, with the script we’ve already prepared.
I like to think of this as a dress rehearsal for the big show, when we reach out to our real research participants. It benefits the designer, because it lets them optimize their research questions and fix any issues in a prototype or product flow.
Huge bonus: Surprise! We seem to always learn a ton when we watch our own colleagues use our products. We normally end up improving a lot before going out to real users.
- UX Research Show & Tells
Since our whole team is doing different kinds of qualitative research, we’re all gaining knowledge about running effective research alongside regular design work. Each designer has had challenges and learned different tricks along the way.
We want to keep this information flowing and make sure the whole team is learning from each other. So, each month our design team gets together for a “UX Research Show & Tell” session.
The agenda: a designer shares a recent round of usability testing, interviews or other research they ran. The designer doesn’t just cover the findings (which are definitely beneficial to everyone), but also focuses on how they planned and executed the research.
These chats are lively and they inevitably lead to conversations about research methods:
- How did you recruit this specific user type?
- How did you think about phrasing your questions?
- How did you share your findings with your development team?
We all learn and grow from hearing about each other’s research pitfalls and triumphs. The Show & Tells have another key benefit: Seeing a designer talk through their process boosts confidence among fellow designers that this is something they can do too. Designers start to reach out to each other for help and support during their own research initiatives.
Seeing a designer talk through their process boosts confidence among fellow designers that this is something they can do too.
To sum up: Conducting a productive round of research takes lots of care and attention. But you’re not alone when it comes to learning these skills. At monday.com, we embrace this by building our research muscle as a team. As a result, we see a big difference in our user-centered approach.
