Create a User-Centric Culture with User Research

Create a

User-Centric Culture

with User Research

Jonathan Horowitz

Product Strategy and Design

jonathan@citrusbyte.com

@uxjah

Feb 3 2015

I work at Citrusbyte

• Founded in 2007.

• Engineers, designers, UX architects, and product strategists — offices in four countries.

• We design, architect and build one-of-a-kind custom web & mobile applications.

Product Design + Engineering

We work with world-class brands

Good Research.

Better Teams.

Amazing Products.

User-Centric Culture:

An environment where discovering and discussing customer insights is a ongoing cross-department activity which steers the product/service strategy.

User-Centric Culture Spectrum

What’s a user? We live and breathe users

Examples in this presentation

Everyone Starts as a Beginner

The Do’s and Don’ts

Don’t lead the participant

Don’t answer, “what happens when I click…”

Don’t use people that designed the product - It Depends?

Do get users to think out loud

Do use a script for usability testing - It Depends?

Do get your whole team involved

Research Gets Left Out

Expensive

Time-consuming

Not necessary

Not valuable

Confuses matters

Small Team: Build Your Own

Nurture Relationships

Convince The Boss

Gimme That ROI

The News Will Spread

ROI Happened.

Take-Aways

Start small, low fidelity, with internal people

Nurture new relationships, be innovative with your new partnerships

Self assessment of research skills

Aim to show clear business value

Social Dysfunction

Toxic Culture

Bigger Org: Silos No More

Inclusion

Downsides

UX Team of One

Again, Starting Small

Communicate Value

More Take-Aways

Get your culture involved (in any way that makes sense)

Teams should eventually own their own education

Shared research helps “design process”

Communicate business value with stakeholders

Do’s vs. Don’ts

Beginner First Steps

Do’s vs. Don’ts

Testing Your Own Designs

Quality Results

Workplace Culture Matters

Other Techniques

Interviews

Card sorting

Proto-personas

What else?

Q&A.

Exercise: Your User-Centric CultureJonathan gives introduction…

Usability

Testing

Card Sorting

Persona

Development

Ethnographic

Field Studies

Interviews

Diary Studies

Exercise: Your User-Centric CultureChoose one method to introduce or improve with your team. The method will accomplish a specific goal. Be sure of the goal you want to accomplish.

Or pick one not listed here…

1. What value does this research method

bring to your team. 2. Your top-line bullet plan (details if time)

on starting/changing/making user-centric

• What people do you propose get

involved? Why?

• Your greatest challenge? How will you

overcome it?

Exercise: Your User-Centric Culture

• Review plan, get general feedback • What was the greatest challenge and

proposal to overcome it?• Who else should get involved in each

person’s plan and why?

• Missed opportunities for the plan?

• Change recommendations for the plan?

Discuss with Neighbors

• Did your relationships with these other

people change in any other way? (e.g. new

ideas, types of conversations, etc)• What can you do to continue to strengthen

those relationships? • What is your next move for an improved

user-centric culture?

Post Research: A Debrief

More Q&A.

Thanks.

Get in touch!

Jonathan Horowitz

Product Strategy and Design

jonathan@citrusbyte.com

@uxjah