{"id":765838,"date":"2021-08-10T09:13:46","date_gmt":"2021-08-10T16:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-blog-post&p=765838"},"modified":"2021-08-10T09:13:46","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T16:13:46","slug":"customer-conversations-are-more-valuable-than-ever-in-the-post-covid-world","status":"publish","type":"msr-blog-post","link":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/articles\/customer-conversations-are-more-valuable-than-ever-in-the-post-covid-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Customer conversations are more valuable than ever in the post-COVID world"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michele McDanel\u00a0 (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"people<\/p>\n

Image credit: iStock<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic\u00a0has affected people around the world for\u00a0nearly two\u00a0years and can be\u00a0seen in all aspects of\u00a0daily\u00a0life, from the move to remote work and learning,\u00a0to\u00a0lockdowns, mask mandates, and limitations to travel and social gatherings.\u00a0These\u00a0changes have\u00a0also\u00a0had a dramatic effect on the\u00a0discipline of\u00a0user\u00a0research\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0approaches to\u00a0customer conversations.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In-person meetings and travel on\u00a0hold\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers\u00a0have been\u00a0unable to travel\u00a0due to\u00a0their country\u00a0and\/or company\u2019s rules and restrictions, or the\u00a0target area\u2019s COVID-19 rates of illness\u00a0may\u00a0make travel inadvisable.\u00a0Lockdowns prevent\u00a0recruiting entirely and\u00a0can\u00a0slow the progress of a study by weeks or months.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As we get to a point where domestic travel is again becoming common,\u00a0different areas (or different states, as in the case of the U.S.) are handling the pandemic very differently, and vaccination rates vary widely.\u00a0Some researchers might not want to take the risk of conducting a study in a hotspot.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is always\u00a0the option of moving to remote meetings, which\u00a0<\/span>my team has\u00a0done very effectively<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0When\u00a0doing\u00a0studies in other geographies or cultures, it\u2019s a good idea to harness local expertise. If you\u2019re unable to travel, you can\u00a0rely on\u00a0in-country researchers\u00a0to\u00a0gather\u00a0the in-person\u00a0data.\u00a0However,\u00a0a researcher\u00a0conducting\u00a0an\u00a0ethnographic study\u00a0would\u00a0want\u00a0to observe customs and behaviors in person, interact with individuals,\u00a0and ask off-the-cuff questions\u00a0to get to the heart of their research\u00a0questions. They may find\u00a0remote options not as effective and opt to delay their study until conditions allow.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Funding\u00a0restrictions<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The need to\u00a0prioritize\u00a0resources\u00a0for disease\u00a0testing,\u00a0prevention, and treatment\u00a0caused some\u00a0governments\u00a0to\u00a0shift\u00a0grants and\u00a0funding for research studies\u00a0to\u00a0COVID-19 resources.\u00a0Plans for\u00a0long-term\u00a0field studies, some with decades of historical research, have been thrown into question\u00a0and are facing breaks in data gathering\u00a0due to the\u00a0lack of\u00a0resources.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Customers may have lost their jobs or seen budget cuts, and given the human toll of the pandemic, it\u2019s important for researchers to be mindful of the stressors their subjects may be facing; people\u00a0may need to ease into conversations more gradually\u00a0than they would have previously.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For researchers in the corporate space,\u00a0the impact of the pandemic may\u00a0have manifested\u00a0in the form of pay cuts, layoffs, furloughs, hiring freezes, and the like.\u00a0Budget cuts among product teams\u00a0have\u00a0delayed\u00a0the timing of some studies.\u00a0Savings\u00a0on travel could potentially be reallocated\u00a0towards\u00a0increasing remote research studies.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Remote study pros and cons<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although many people were familiar with online meeting tools prior to the pandemic,\u00a0others\u00a0were forced\u00a0to\u00a0learn quickly. Researchers working with\u00a0remote meeting novices\u00a0have reported spending a significant portion of their meetings just\u00a0teaching people how to use the tools, impacting their ability to gather information.\u00a0If this trend results in researchers defaulting to people who are more familiar with the technology, they\u00a0risk\u00a0not getting a true representation of their user base in\u00a0research efforts.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Going\u00a0remote\u00a0can make recruitment and\u00a0scheduling easier in some instances.\u00a0The need to\u00a0travel to and from an in-person study\u00a0represents\u00a0a larger time commitment than simply scheduling a one-hour phone call. Some\u00a0researchers are reporting that their studies are getting completed more quickly because of\u00a0the lowered time commitment involved.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The move to remote meetings also\u00a0opens\u00a0the field of potential participants to a broader base, making it easier and quicker to fill\u00a0the ranks of users\u00a0and\u00a0to recruit a diverse segment of the population.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Showcasing the value of\u00a0user research\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Direct customer interaction is key to understanding users\u2019 changing needs. Over the past 18 months, researchers have adapted the methods they use to meet with customers in real time as there are many asynchronous methods that researchers use to practice their craft. As our world continues to shift in unexpected ways, gaining that deep understanding of customers continues to be critical; so it\u2019s important for researchers and their leadership to demonstrate value within their organization. Here are a few ways how: <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n