Don't Kill The Messenger: How To Deliver Successful Research Readouts?

Justyna Belkevic at UXDX Community: Ireland & UK. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjeJFOP4Ofw

Readable transcript: edited from the recording's captions for readability (fillers and false starts removed, punctuation and section headings added). Wording is the speaker's own. Timestamps are positions in the video. Names marked [?] could not be verified against the audio.

Don't shoot the messenger

[00:00:00] Let me tell you a story. Until very recently, messages were usually delivered by human envoys. For example, imagine a war. A messenger would be sent from one camp to another. If the message was unfitting, the receiver might blame the messenger for such bad news and take all their anger out on them. So shooting the messenger is a metaphor used to describe the act of blaming the bearer of bad news, and as UX designers we sometimes have more in common with a pre-modern day era messenger than we might acknowledge, especially when it comes to presenting user research readouts.

[00:00:46] Imagine the situation when you are about to present your research readout, and what you might expect your clients or stakeholders to say is something along the lines of: my assumptions were incorrect, let's follow our UX team's guidance on this. Or maybe: users think differently to me and I accept it. Or even better: I never knew that our users had those challenges. So as UX designers we expect that this is going to be the response to our presented findings.

[00:01:20] However, what usually happens during research readouts is this. Some stakeholders might say something along the lines of: the research must be flawed because the findings are too negative. Or: this can't be true because it doesn't match my opinion. Or, one of the most frequent sayings, this one: I know how to solve it. And then the person proceeds to speak about a solution that doesn't really address the problem. Wow. It's a little bit of a difficult situation to be a UX designer in, wouldn't you agree?

[00:01:57] So you might be thinking to yourself, is there anything I can do to prevent this situation from happening? And I can tell you: yes, absolutely, and let me show you how you can achieve that success.

[00:02:12] Hello everyone, my name is Justyna Belkevic. I'm a senior user experience designer, a founder and an activist. On the left side you can see all the great companies that I worked for and all the great universities that I had a chance to study at, and on the right side you can see a couple of clients that I worked with and that benefited from my UX knowledge. So as you can imagine, I have done a lot of research readouts and I have learned a lot along the way, and now I would like to share these learnings with you.

[00:02:45] So what are we going to do today? Today we're going to go on a journey, and I think it's going to be especially fun on a day and in a year like this. We're going to start with a takeoff, where we're going to talk about the goal of the research readout, why we are doing it in the first place. Then we're going to introduce some turbulence, let's speak of what and who might pose a challenge. Then we're going to go to the nice cruising, where we're going to see and learn five tips that you can utilize straight away to make your research readouts more successful. And lastly we're going to end on a nice landing, where we're going to talk about how to close the research readout and what else we can do to be successful. I hope you're ready, because we're about to start.

Takeoff: research readout 101

[00:03:33] Take off. Research readout 101: when, who, what, and the next slide is going to be why. As UX designers I'm sure you love those questions, so let's unpack it very briefly. When do we do the research readout? Well, we do it straight after the main user research activities are done. We keep it close to that because we want the project's momentum to go and to reach a new high.

[00:04:01] Who do I invite to the research readout? I would suggest inviting all major stakeholders from the client side of it, or if it's internal, from your project side. They need to be at that meeting. On your team side, keep the numbers low, invite only the most important people. And what medium to use to present your findings? Well, it's up to you. The most important thing is that we're focusing on the problem and not the solution yet.

[00:04:30] So what's the point of the research readout? Well, there are three goals of it, and let's unpack them one by one. The first thing that we're doing is we're building user empathy within the wider team. Sometimes stakeholders or our clients cannot even imagine that the challenges that the users are facing are really there, so we need to bridge that gap. We need to bring the stakeholders into the story, we need to make sure that they walk in our users' shoes.

[00:04:59] The second thing that we're doing is that we are making sure that everyone is on the same page about the challenge at hand. So we have a little illustration of a dog in here. Imagine a situation that we are in the meeting and we're all talking about the dog. I talk about the dog, you talk about the dog, and I ask you, are we on the same page, are we all talking about the dog? And everyone is like, yes, yes, yes, we're talking about the dog. Fantastic.

[00:05:27] After the meeting I write you a message and I'm like, so we're okay about the dog? And you're like, yes, yes, of course. And then I ask you, so fantastic, I'm going to buy this German shepherd, are you okay with that? And you tell me, wait a second, German shepherd? I was thinking about the poodle. So see, even if we were thinking that we're talking about the dog, it's actually different dogs. So we are trying to prevent that situation from happening. When we are presenting our insights we're making sure we're talking about the same challenge, and the user research readout helps us to do so. And lastly, we are raising this momentum to a new height through communicating the research findings.

Turbulence: who might challenge you

[00:06:11] Fantastic, seems good. What can be a challenge? Well, let's talk a little bit about the turbulence. On the slide we can see three common challenges when it comes to presenting and creating user research readouts. There are many more, but those are the most common ones.

[00:06:36] We have people like Confused Chris, when they challenge us by asking questions like this: why only five people per user group? I'm sure it's not enough to determine anything. We can also come across people like All-Knowing Alex, that might share something along the lines of: I know what the solution is here and I'm going to tell everyone what to do. Or lastly we also can have Nervous Nancy. Even before presenting the research readout, maybe she was seeing our work in progress, and she might say something along the lines of: these findings are too negative, do not include them in the presentation.

[00:07:21] So when we do user research readouts, when we do the research in general, we might come across different things, different challenges like that, and we need to assume that we don't know all the context. We don't know the business challenges, all the business goals and all the different agendas that people have. Those three ones that we're seeing right now are the most common, but there are many, many others. So let's talk about how we can mitigate and how we can answer the questions, the challenges like we just saw before. Let's talk about those five tips.

Tip one: understand the whys of main stakeholders

[00:08:03] Tip number one: understand the whys of main stakeholders. First of all, I'm a huge believer that nobody challenges us without a reason, so it is important to understand why the stakeholders are pushing back. As UX designers I'm sure that we always try to find a reason, dig deeper and ask so many whys, at least five of those, and it's the same with working with the stakeholders. Not every stakeholder is involved to the same level, so we need to make sure, if somebody is pushing back, we need to know the reason why it is happening.

[00:08:42] For example, maybe some stakeholders are being challenged by the board and being asked to show results from the user research, and they just don't know how to do it, so they might be pushing back saying, we don't need user research in the first place, let's just build solutions. But you will never know why they do that if you don't ask. So it's very, very important, even before presenting your readout, to ask and to feel if there's any pushback from the stakeholders. Ask the reason why.

Tip two: show the client what UX design is about

[00:09:15] The second tip is showing the client what UX design is about, so basically taking them on a journey. Seeing is believing, isn't it? So here we have four different things that you can do as a UX designer, again even before presenting that research readout.

[00:09:33] The first thing is meetings. Formal or informal context doesn't matter. Get to know the most important stakeholders, get to know the business owners, understand what is their goal, what are they trying to achieve, is it the first time they're doing a UX project in general? And also in those meetings, share what UX is about, what are your steps, what you're going to do. Maybe, again, it's the first time doing it, so of course it feels a little scary.

[00:10:03] Then the second part, collaboration. Offer them to take part in the research. Maybe they want to shadow your interviews, or, even better, maybe you want to invite them to do the data synthesis. It's really an eye opener for the stakeholders to be part of that and see how much work it is and what the users are actually saying.

[00:10:25] Updates. It's very important to stay up to date with the stakeholders. It is easy to kick off the project and then three, four weeks pass by and only then you resurface again with the research readout. It might be daunting to stakeholders, they might not know what's happening, so try to prevent this situation happening by giving frequent updates, showing enthusiasm. Even if you just spoke to one user, let them know.

[00:10:53] And the last, fourth part I would say is probably the most important, if you don't have a lot of time to do the previous three, at least do that one: rehearsal. Try to schedule a meeting before the big presentation, before you present it to many people. Try to schedule it with a couple of the main stakeholders, or the ones that are the most vocal, and run them through your presentation. Try to get their outputs, their thoughts, their feelings. Are they surprised, are they shocked, are they scared, are they happy? Try to understand what's happening, and if they have any feedback, maybe how to rephrase some of the sayings, some of the sentences, do that.

[00:11:34] So that not only are they already involved, but when you're going to present it to the wider group, the others might have similar emotions like they did during the rehearsal, but now those stakeholders that have been in the meeting with you will be your advocates. They are invested, they helped you to construct this presentation, they will be acting on your behalf. So those are great tips to follow if you want to take stakeholders on this UX journey with you.

Tip three: communicate the right message to the right people

[00:12:07] Tip number three, and this one you can do before or during presenting the research readout: communicate the right message to the right people. We're all different, we understand information in so many different ways, so it's safe to assume that clients and stakeholders are just the same.

[00:12:29] A lot of people are motivated by the numbers. They are used to seeing numbers on the slides constantly, so if you know that, do exactly that. Make sure that you provide some kind of numerical value to your effort. Maybe write how many user interviews you had, or maybe write how many sticky notes you have created, or how many themes you have combined. Give them those numbers that they value so much.

[00:12:58] The other big group of stakeholders might be motivated by social proof, so they might be asking questions like, has any other company done the same? Or maybe, if they're an internal client of yours, they might be asking, are we the only department doing this? Maybe other departments have also done that. So be prepared with great examples of other industries, or any other great internal work that has been done in the company.

[00:13:27] And lastly, I'm sure a very big group of us really prefer seeing visual information. We are visual communicators, so don't be afraid to paint a visual picture as well, either with your words, or, if you are in a one-to-one scenario presenting in the same room, use the whiteboard, write down the message, paint it out, draw it out. No matter what you use, if it works with the stakeholders it is great. So communicate the right message to the right people.

Tip four: bring your results to life

[00:14:03] Tip number four, and now we're talking about tips that you can do during your presentation: we are bringing our results to life. So the first big tip is to show and don't tell. If there is a situation or a challenge that our user is struggling with that our stakeholders and the wider team are going to identify themselves with, use that. The closer they come to the user, the better.

[00:14:34] Then, we use a narrative structure with real heroes. See your presentation as if you're telling a story, a fairy tale. You begin with a great, fantastic beginning, then you spice it up with little challenges along the way, and at the end you present some happy ending, next steps. Use this narrative for your presentation, it's going to work really well.

[00:15:00] Then the third tip is, don't try to do too much at once. I can empathize with you and imagine that you have probably spent weeks or days doing user research, you have created so much great information and you want to share it with the stakeholders and with the wider team. Don't do it, don't do it during the research readout with the wider team. They might feel overwhelmed with this information because they might be seeing it for the first time. So just choose the most important points, and if you still want to share this bigger picture, fine, absolutely, you can create a longer presentation and send it after your main, shorter version.

[00:15:43] And the fourth: use lots of high quality pictures and videos. A lot of people are visual communicators, so use it to your advantage. For example, I personally include a lot of five to ten second video clips in my research readouts, especially when the user is struggling with some tasks, so that the stakeholders are seeing it and there is literally nothing to dispute that this is happening. It's not only that I'm saying that this is a challenge, but they can actually see it. The same with the pictures: if you're seeing something that you know is going to make a huge impact on stakeholders when you communicate back to them, use that as well. So don't forget to bring your results to life when you're presenting.

Tip five: you aren't discussing solutions yet

[00:16:30] Okay, let's talk about tip number five: remind everyone that you aren't discussing solutions yet. I know, when we are presented with a problem, instinctively everyone tries to fix it as soon as possible. But we are trying to hold ourselves and not talk about it just yet, because what we need to have an agreement on is the problem that we're trying to solve, and the whole point of the research readout is to be on the same page about the problem. So remind everyone in the meeting that the purpose of the research readout is not to fix anything, but just to listen.

Bonus: three questions you will be asked

[00:17:12] So those were the five main tips of how to make sure that your research readout is going to be a success. But we also have bonus tips. Those are three main questions that you might be asked along the journey at any time, and I also want to give you quick answers that you can use to transform any challenger into your advocate.

[00:17:36] Sometimes stakeholders and clients can ask you something along the lines of, why are you speaking only to so few people? Well, you can tell them that five people per user group actually uncover 85% of all insights or problems, and I think that for our research is absolutely enough.

[00:18:00] Then the other question that you might be asked is, can I write the questions for you? You can thank your stakeholder for the great enthusiasm and for wanting to be part of it, but you can say, thank you, I'll share the interview topics or themes with you, but you don't need to write the questions for me. This kind of answer worked nine out of ten times for me.

[00:18:24] And lastly, a big one actually. Sometimes even before you start your research, stakeholders can come to you and say, I'm actually afraid that you will find a lot of negative responses and I'm not sure if I want you to do the research at all. Well, it happens, but the good thing is that the negative feedback is actually not that negative. It shows that the user still cares, that the user has a very strong emotional response to a challenge, and that we can fix.

[00:18:57] What we can fix, when users are really just neutral, they don't care if you change something, if you don't change anything, they absolutely have no interest in that, and with those users we have already started too late. But if there's a lot of negative responses it's actually a good thing and we can fix it. So remember those tips, remember those responses.

Landing: how do you know it went well?

[00:19:21] Okay, fantastic. Are you ready to land, because I am. Let's learn together. So what happens after you have presented your research readout? How do you know that it was good? Well, you might ask yourself, how does the room feel? If you feel that there is a little bit of an adrenaline rush and that the stakeholders are looking a little bit unsure, like, what's up, what's going to happen now? And if they're asking you questions like, how do we solve this? Or, okay, that is a problem, I agree, but what do we do now? Then you know that you have conveyed your message successfully, if the people in the room also see that there is an urgent challenge to be solved. Great, you have conveyed your message.

[00:20:10] So let's summarize the most important points. Remember, you are an effective communicator. You know what is happening, you know the main challenges of your users and you know the business goal. Bring those together.

[00:20:29] Secondly, partnership is key. Find the advocates of your research, of your methods, in the crowd. Maybe there are some stakeholders who have done UX projects before, maybe those are the stakeholders that you brought on the journey for this project. Make sure that they are your partners, that they are your advocates.

[00:20:51] Number three: check your emotions at the door. This presentation, this meeting, is not about you at all. It's about the users, about the possibilities, about changing the company in some way. So it's not about you. Just place your emotions somewhere else, don't bring them with you.

[00:21:12] Number four: speak their language, make it simple, don't use a lot of UX jargon. I'm sure that people will not understand it. We need to communicate in the language that everyone in the meeting will understand and will feel included in the conversation. Maybe people have never even heard UX as a term before, so whatever you communicate, make sure that people will understand its meaning.

[00:21:40] And lastly, maybe even the most difficult thing to do: don't take anything personally. If there are some negative comments, they're not coming your way, they're not criticizing you. It's maybe the first time that the people are encountering user research. So don't take anything personally. And the most important: make sure that after the presentation you're still speaking about the same dog.

[00:22:12] So if you remember one thing from this presentation, I would love you to remember this: no one challenges without a reason. So what are you going to do? You're going to uncover and address that reason early enough, through building a relationship with stakeholders. And then I'm sure that you'll become the most successful messenger in the room. Thank you so much. I'm sure that now you can go and deliver successful research readouts, and you will rock every single one of them. Thank you, and let me know how it goes.