Motivation
Without conducting the appropriate research, we as Designers won’t be able to influence crucial choices like which features our team should design first or how much work is required to complete a task well.
The main point is that without research, it usually takes longer to achieve the desired results. Why? Essentially because we need to develop all of the things that don’t function as well as the things that do. And yes we Designers accept that we also can’t predict the future, but we can help the team to make better decisions.
And beyond just considering whether or not the design is usable, Designers must research their users whole user experiences.
Challenge
Every organisation makes decisions that have an impact on the user experience. These can relate to the way the product or feature is develop. But also include more strategic considerations:
- What is the purpose of the product or feature?
- How much time do we need to design and develop it?
- …
Many of these strategic decisions are made without the assistance of a UX Designer or UX team. But they all have an impact on how users and customers of the design feel.
People do not realize that Design is about capitalistic thinking and improving profits through problem solving and optimization. (Article: Design became disconnected from it’s capitalistic frame)
No matter how your organisation operates, at the end it’s a design process. Whether this is good or bad process remains to be seen. Therefore we must understand the way in which decisions are made. We distinguish between five different types of design decisions:
Unintentional design - When no consideration is given to users. Only to technology and business objectives.
Self design - When the designer only considers themselves for design decisions.
Genius design - When the designer believes they understand the users without needing to do further research.
Activity-focused design - When the designer uses research from the users activities to inform their design decisions.
Experience-focused design - When the designer uses research from the users experience to inform their design decisions.
Stakeholders over time are becoming more and more disconnected with the user. The gap between the user’s experience and the stakeholders understanding of that experience increases. This isolation does not occur in very small organizations. As the organization grows, the isolation becomes more profound tough. Eventually, stakeholders lose sight of the user experience. They become less aware of user needs as they advance in the hierarchy.
Solution
Every decision-maker must be exposed to the data in order to make decisions. When outcomes are simpler to determine, we will know we have succeeded. But also when:
- People are no longer making assumptions in order to get results.
- Information is used directly from experience research to guide every significant decision.
- Leaders around the company are making wise decisions without us.
We must become the foremost experts on our users and their requirements. Our company needs to become knowledgeable so that everyone can make wise judgments. Especially those choices that have the most impact on the experiences of our users. And to transition from “design research” (building it right) to “experience research” (building the right thing) we must increase our level of research maturity. This growth will be incrementally. Keep pushing the organization beyond the comfort zone. To strive to improve.