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Become irreplaceable. As a UX researcher, it's not just about just one method or skillset. It’s about the full range of processes, approaches, and outputs you contribute. From tactical, such as how to write great interview questions, to practical, such as how to prioritize user research recommendations, a UX researcher must be able to deliver against all the phases of a UX research project with confidence and commitment.
Ultimately, UX research is nothing without making change happen. To accomplish this, you must influence product, leadership, engineering, and/or design. However, this isn't easy. There's many corners you must turn/take (but not cut!) in your user research process to bring about positive change.
We call these inflection points.
Inflection points are key moments in your UXR process where you transition to a new goal 🎯. In this article, we'll skip the methods of the generating new data, and focus solely on making meaning of it. There's arguably too much focus on gathering user data (e.g. methods, approaches, techniques), and not enough on how to create impact with the data you’ve already collected. Read on to learn our 5 inflection points you ought to work through to maximize your (and your data's) influence on the product experience.
Every project, team, and company is different. There's no one-size fits all approach to UX research. It can be highly dependent on the maturity of the company, the type of user data you can readily gather, and the phase of work your project team is in. You must assess all of these to choose a path that is most effective and efficient of your time as a UX researcher.
That said, we have found these 5 main inflection points to be useful gauges for which part of the overall process you're in, and what's next. These can be very helpful benchmarks 📐 to communicate with stakeholders and maintain accountability (and sanity!) yourself.
Own the transitions. Own the outcome.
These 5 inflection points mark important transitions in the focus of your work. While not always clear to see in the moment, it's valuable to understand each corner as you near, and turn it. Consider these your UXR journey guideposts to driving maximum impact.
What's it all mean? The first question you'll ask of yourself and your data. By this point, you've amassed enough, quality user data from a variety of generative or evaluative techniques. Now it's time to start making sense of it.
This process entails parsing, picking, and putting together insights from raw user data.
Your job as a user researcher is to spend the necessary time to properly code and analyze user data. This first corner you must turn is going from raw data to quality / normalized insights. You don't need to understand everything, or see how it all fits together yet, you just focus on identifying relevant individual insights.
An insight is a new piece of information that gives us a better understanding of the user, while providing an opportunity for the business to do something about it. It's an a-ha! with an angle for the business to act upon. See our related article, 12 frameworks that assist in UXR data analysis 🔎 to learn more about how mine insights from un/moderated interviews, observations, surveys, and more.
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What's the bigger picture? You've combed through the interviews, observations, and data to pinpoint the most valuable parts. Everything is well documented and organized, like prepped ingredients cleaned and cut for a meal. Now it's time to start cooking 🍳.
This process entails sorting, arranging, re-arranging, and theming insights.
This transition is all about synthesis. You're starting to see some themes emerge in your data set, and you need to begin capturing them. This process often starts quickly because you're already familiar with the data. Outlines begin to take shape, and then time is needed to dig deeper, re-frame, and identify best examples. Metaphorically speaking, the stove is on, the oven is heated, and the water is boiling.
Insight themes are the target deliverable. Usually, several themes provide a framework onto which you can organize the findings. These insight themes ought to be normalized, well-documented, and stand-alone (not to mention engaging!). For more, see how to create compelling Insight Themes 🤯 that clearly communicate UX opportunities. If done well, the following steps will be all about storytelling, and presentation (i.e. plating and serving).
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What shall we do about it? The third question you must ask of your process. You could stop now, but this corner brings it home for many internal stakeholders. You've drafted several recommendations for each Insight Theme. Now it's time to elevate what matters most.
This process entails fleshing out, ranking, plotting, and prioritizing recommendations.
Each recommendation has it's own tactical or strategic implications. The need to examine the recommendations side-by-side is now vital to assist your organization's focus on the 20% that will have the greatest impact. The top/best recommendations are now the hero, with the Insight Themes as the evidence. Recommendations have the ability to wake up your listeners. Yes, you may step on a few toes.
Prioritized recommendations can be fast-passed to the front of your presentations. They'll get attention, and make some waves if done well. Check out our related article on 5 Methods of prioritizing UXR recommendations 🤓 when you've gotten to this point.
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Where should we start? Once you've garnered buy-in for the prioritized recommendations, that are well-supported by your Insight Themes, you can begin the real work. Now it's time to help the company figure out how/where to move forward to bring about change.
This process entails breaking down prioritized UX recommendations into specific, measurable actions items.
This inflection point is all about taking action internally. From everything you've assessed, what can/should be done? What needs to start, stop, continue? In order to bring the recommendations to life. Break it down. Make it tangible. Help others own the steps. Remind them of the user value, and show the path forward. To learn more, check out 4 Components of a UX Improvement Action Plan 🎬.
Strong partnerships is usually the best accelerant here. And those didn't just start today. Ideally, you've been steadily building relationships with necessary departments and stakeholders on a personal and professional level, or else your UX research ain't going no where. Sorry. [Future article -> Why relationships matter in invoking change from user research].
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What's really most important? Once in a while, you need to step back and view the larger narrative. Senior leaders will ask; strategic partners will probe. You've done many tactical and strategic projects to date. Now it's time to form an executive perspective.
This process entails identifying commonalities from significant UX opportunities across a variety of initiatives to forge design principles.
This inflection point takes time to take shape. It won't happen in the first 6 months of work. It's on a slower trajectory than the rest, as it breaks free of any one individual project's timeline. To be done well, you need to build a foundational understanding of the business, product(s), holistic user experience journey, stakeholders, idiosyncrasies, culture, and more. Only then, can you properly form your view to have a better hit rate.
Key deliverables include executive communications, lunch-n-learns, consistent & repetitive remarks, strategic project selection, and more. You're now becoming an influential UXRr. You have a voice and perspective based on experience with large user data sets. Check out our article on 3 So-what's to Develop Design Principles from UX Research 💎 to learn more on the importance of this inflection point.
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Interested in more frameworks to help structure your UXR operations? Check out our user research template archive to grab quick guides on how to run various phases of UXR. You'll find blank templates for all parts of your workflow, from planning to execution to delivery.
• Design principles • User insights • Strategic user research • End-to-end UXR • Research strategy • Design research
