{"id":679350,"date":"2019-12-19T10:36:54","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T18:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-blog-post&p=679350"},"modified":"2020-07-27T14:49:32","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T21:49:32","slug":"directions-in-user-research","status":"publish","type":"msr-blog-post","link":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/articles\/directions-in-user-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Directions in user research"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sheetal Agarwal (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Graphic

Note: This article was originally published on Dec. 19, 2019, on Medium<\/p><\/div>\n

What trends emerged in UX research this year? Where\u2019s it all going?<\/h3>\n

As 2019 comes to a close, I\u2019ve been reflecting on the state of UX research and what 2020 can hold for the discipline. I\u2019ve worn many different hats, from leading a research team to editing this channel (which, you guessed it, involves a\u00a0lot<\/em>\u00a0of reading). Looking at the field from these perspectives, here are a few trends I\u2019ve noticed and my predictions on where UX research is headed.<\/p>\n

Empathy: What is it good for?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s a founding truism that UX research builds empathy for customers. But some influential voices have been challenging our perceived notion of empathy, saying it allows us to operate with blind spots around\u00a0privilege<\/a>,\u00a0shame<\/a>, and\u00a0the harmful effects of a pathologically altruistic mindset<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These arguments raise important questions. How can we move past a shallow rhetoric of empathy? What work should we be doing to ensure that research has a positive, connective effect among our partners and the communities we serve?\u00a0We need to evolve our discourse to encompass in-depth knowledge from fields such as communications and counseling so that we come to understand the generation of empathy as an ongoing practice, not just a buzzword or something we use in a process some of the time.<\/p>\n

In the next year, we\u2019ll be looking at the practices and processes we have in place as researchers, critically questioning how we engage with communities.\u00a0We\u2019ll be asking, should a given community\u2019s participation require an invitation from us? Are there better means to learn and continue learning alongside our participants? The answers will reshape our field for the better.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Keeping up with tech\u2014the rise of AI and proliferation of remote testing tools<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Among technology trends, the rise of AI-powered experiences has the biggest ripples for UX research. Although many classical principles governing human-computer interaction design hold true with AI,\u00a0new guidelines have emerged to account for differences such as the systems\u2019 inherent\u00a0<\/a>adaptability.\u00a0For UX pros researching AI-powered experiences,\u00a0these differences imply expanded methods<\/a>\u00a0as well as increased emphasis on certain fundamentals of recruiting and analysis.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, tech developments continue to affect UX research methods. Remote testing, while by no means new, is taking up an ever larger share of testing overall, and we\u2019re seeing\u00a0more tools in the wake of this sea change<\/a>. Yet I can\u2019t agree with those who predict that smaller, in-person studies will fall away. For all the benefits of remote studies, local testing still has an edge for reaching certain profiles of users, such as IT pros and children. And at the end of the day, in-person studies offer more opportunities to interact and explore. Ideally, we\u2019ll mature into a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each.<\/p>\n

Want your product partners to understand the value of user research? Bring them along for the ride<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For researchers, the most powerful tool to deepen our understanding of people\u2019s needs, pain points, and context is the data we gather. But all the customer data in the world won\u2019t help unless product teams use it.<\/p>\n

For that reason, one of our key jobs as researchers is developing our design and engineering partners\u2019 buy-in.<\/p>\n

There are many ways to become a more effective communication partner, including learning\u00a0how to convey research results as a story (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>. But direct experience is even more memorable than a story well told.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Once researchers start training product teams to interact with customers and gather insights directly, they tend to find increased enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

Some natural tensions are likely to arise in this exchange: for example, how can we empower our partners while also creating appropriate expectations of customer-engagement programs\u2019 role in the broader context of research design?<\/p>\n

Despite such challenges,\u00a0customer-engagement training and coaching is an approach that many are experimenting with<\/a>, and I expect this trend to continue.<\/p>\n

If you build it they will come\u2014exploring insights libraries<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2018 we saw development of the concept of\u00a0timeless research<\/a>. This year brought more emphasis on organizations developing the tools they need to achieve this ideal, most notably the insights library, or research repository.\u00a0These repositories allow research to be accessed regularly.<\/p>\n

A handful of companies have experimented, and the global\u00a0Research Ops community has taken up the study of research repositories (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>\u00a0as a formal project, so we can expect the momentum to grow in 2020. Based on\u00a0the work happening with our insights library at Microsoft<\/a>, I think we\u2019ll see a constructive discussion on how to evolve some of the best attributes of atomic research. The conversation about how to curate research insights in ways that keep pace with the industry will also be a hot topic.<\/p>\n

Are the trends you\u2019re seeing included here?\u00a0 T<\/strong>weet me @sheetalda (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a> <\/strong>or tweet my team <\/strong>@MicrosoftRI<\/strong><\/a> or like us on Facebook (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a> and join the conversation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In her career, Sheetal Agarwal has been an investigative journalist, an academic (Georgetown University, MA and University<\/em> of Washington, Ph.D.), a civic technology consultant, and a UX researcher. She has a love for digging deep to understand human behaviors in order to surface information that helps people make good decisions. As Manager of the Windows Foundational Experience research team, she leads a team of researchers who are helping shape the experience of over 1 billion Windows users around the world. By partnering with Design, Data Science, Marketing, and<\/em>\u00a0PM team members, she is working to create OS experiences that her customers truly love.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Building empathy with customers, the rise of AI, and the value of the user researcher are a few trends that came to the forefront of the discipline in 2019. As the year comes to an end, one user researcher predicts what she expects from the discipline in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39057,"featured_media":679431,"template":"","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","msr-content-parent":616842,"msr_hide_image_in_river":0,"footnotes":""},"research-area":[],"msr-locale":[268875],"msr-post-option":[],"class_list":["post-679350","msr-blog-post","type-msr-blog-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","msr-locale-en_us"],"msr_assoc_parent":{"id":616842,"type":"group"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-blog-post\/679350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-blog-post"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/msr-blog-post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39057"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-blog-post\/679350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":679518,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-blog-post\/679350\/revisions\/679518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"msr-research-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-area?post=679350"},{"taxonomy":"msr-locale","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-locale?post=679350"},{"taxonomy":"msr-post-option","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-post-option?post=679350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}