Balancing Truth & Trust: Effective Design Research Collaboration

Research Design

Kaltuma Mohamed

April 9, 2024

As a design researcher, collaborating closely with product managers, designers, and developers is essential to the work we do. Together, we drive innovation, foster a shared understanding of user insights, and optimize the overall design process for more impactful and user-centric outcomes. Designers help us reimagine the product and create the interface, and developers are the bridge that connects the design to the business- they not only build the product, but they are also crucial to ensuring users are having a seamless experience. Connecting design and developers are product teams that sit in the intersection between technology and business.

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Together, we drive innovation, foster a shared understanding of user insights, and optimize the overall design process for more impactful and user-centric outcomes.

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Product teams focus on the vision of the product, set the strategy and roadmap, working with cross-functional teams to define and implement its success. As a design researcher, a large part of working with product teams is gaining their trust, informing them on research and delivering results that are trustworthy- even when they are not what product expects. In design research, the goal is simple: to put real people at the center of product development. Part of conducting human-centered research means putting real people at the forefront of your research and oftentimes, users will not say or do what product teams expect them to say or do.

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In design research, the goal is simple: to put real people at the center of product development.

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Imagine you’re running a usability test where your goal as a researcher is to answer a few crucial questions: can someone use this? Is it easy? Is it intuitive? Imagine discovering, as a researcher or designer, that the metrics indicate usability issues and a misalignment with the product's envisioned direction. How do you communicate these findings? Some product teams may be displeased with the results, and this may be interpreted as research not being impactful or helpful. This raises the crucial question of how we can transparently convey research findings while preserving a strong relationship with product teams.

It’s imperative that researchers analyze, and then interpret research data objectively, crafting a narrative that aligns with that data when reporting findings to product, design and tech teams.

For example: when analyzing responses from a user survey, excluding negative answers or those that don’t align with our own hypothesis or beliefs goes against research best practices. A significant concern arises from fashioning agreeable findings is the potential for biased research that distorts findings to align with the team’s goals, compromising the foundation of the product with the weak, skewed data.

We must deliver comprehensive research that provides an accurate representation of user sentiment. This means leaning into the benefits of the product and what users like as much as delivering negative feedback, if applicable. This approach fosters a robust relationship between design, technology, and product, ultimately leading to product improvement.

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We must deliver comprehensive research that provides an accurate representation of user sentiment.

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The outcomes of research remain unpredictable. However, when delivering negative feedback, it is crucial to emphasize that the results are not a personal critique. Even negative insights derived from research hold immense value. As long as we assist product teams in understanding what the right path is, we fulfill our purpose. Crafting the right product efficiently and effectively poses a formidable challenge. Therefore, it is vital for researchers and product teams to collaborate, aligning their goals to ensure they collectively steer in the right direction.

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Balancing Truth & Trust: Effective Design Research Collaboration

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