Research and design go together like peanut butter and jelly… or peanut butter and chocolate… or peanut butter and marshmallow fluff… come to think of it, peanut butter and research go with almost anything! Including those we are designing for in the design process is always a core ingredient to inspire and inform the creation of great experiences for the people we serve. Sometimes it can be tricky to achieve the perfect blend of research and design. This is especially true when each is happening in completely separate, siloed teams, or even trickier, when they are being performed by the same person. In our organization, we have a lot of experience finding that key balance between the benefits of separate teams and the advantages of close collaboration. We work to find the sweet spot in the middle of the research-design venn diagram. How can we maximize the power of both design and research roles whether they’re sitting just across the office, in separate buildings, or inside the same brain? This webinar will cover the helpful tips and common pitfalls to avoid that we’ve learned from experience to be keys achieving a “Goldilocks - just right” blend of research and design. We’ll provide examples to help you facilitate better research if you’re a designer, facilitate better design if you’re a researcher, and facilitate better collaboration for both roles, as well as how project leaders can support striking this balance. We will also discuss how to help the entire team develop a deep empathy and understanding for the target audience. Some of the techniques we’ll highlight for researchers include understanding your designers’ process, learning and sharing their vocabulary, and understanding how to create applicable output that will improve designers’ work. We’ll touch on the various ways a designer can find opportunities for research beyond the typical usability study. Ultimately these insights can help ensure both perspectives are represented in your approach and the experiences you create.

1. RESEARCH & DESIGN
@jbriselli @kimberlydowdJen Briselli | Kim Dowd

2. Kim
Director,
Experience Research
Jen
Managing Director,
Experience Strategy & Design

3. Balance
is hard
to find.

4. Balance
is hard
to find.

5. Balance
is hard
to find.
Lack of collaboration = bad experience

6. RESEARCH & DESIGN
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

7. is hard to find.
Balance

8. INSIGHTS & TIPS FOR…
researchers
designers
siloed teams
solo teams
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

9. handoff & disappear model.
Avoid the

10. MAD*POW OVERVIEW | NOV 2015
Adapted from “Double Diamond Model of Product Definition and Design from UK Design Council
DISCOVER SYNTHESIZE GENERATE REFINE
Initial
Insight
Plan/
Strategy
Prototype
EVALUATE
IMPLEMENT
Deployment
Project Lifecycle

11. Planning
Research@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

12. Researchers
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd Planning Research
Involve designers with goal setting
Learn what the research will be
used for & plan study accordingly
Identify issues up front, saves
designer’s time!
Share moderator’s guide to learn
designer’s needs & aid your probes
Designers
Help researchers define the
research goals & plan
Share expectations & questions;
be candid!
Understand the benefits & limitation
of different tools & methods

13. Conducting
Research@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

14. @jbriselli @kimberlydowd Conducting Research
Researchers
Invite the designers in to the
research sessions:
Make it low-commitment
Sell the value
Ask them to help
Bribe with candy
Enlist the research-friendly
designer advocate(s)
Understand the designer’s mental
model & relate findings
Designers
Be available, be interested, show
up!
Take good research notes:
Observations, not assumptions
Observations, not judgments
Observations, not solutions

15. Making Recommendations

16. @jbriselli @kimberlydowd Making Recommendations
Researchers
Meet informally to preview results
and discuss recommendations
Collaborate on recommendations
to move from vague to concrete &
actionable
Works every time!
Designers
Help articulate recommendations
so they’re actionable for design
Help decide the best mode &
format for delivering findings

17. @jbriselli @kimberlydowd
TL;DR:
The meeting with stakeholders should not
be the first time the designer is seeing
recommendations! You’re a team.

18. Creating Solutions
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

19. @jbriselli @kimberlydowd
Creating Solutions
Researchers
Swing by designer’s desk to
participate & reinforce research
Avoid the huge risk of “handoff &
disappear” model at this stage!

20. After I saw that design I thought
‘If you just showed this to me I could
have told you not to do that based on
the research!’
- UX Researcher
“”
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

21. @jbriselli @kimberlydowd
Creating Solutions
Researchers
Swing by designer’s desk to
participate & reinforce research
Avoid the huge risk of “handoff &
disappear” model at this stage!
Designers
Look for opportunities to infuse
research into ideation
Invite researchers into the design
process, especially brainstorming &
critiques

22. Evaluating Solutions

23. Rinse, repeat…
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd
Evaluating Solutions

24. MAD*POW OVERVIEW | NOV 2015
Adapted from “Double Diamond Model of Product Definition and Design from UK Design Council
DISCOVER SYNTHESIZE GENERATE REFINE
Initial
Insight
Plan/
Strategy
Prototype
EVALUATE
IMPLEMENT
Deployment
Beyond a single project…
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

25. Know the Lingo
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

26. Know the Tools
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

27. no substitute for
There is
seeing research
first-hand.
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

28. Many designers don't make time to
watch [research] sessions.
But a few always do… and I can see
the difference in the quality of the
final designs.
- UX Researcher
“”
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

29. Advocate forMake sure you’re playing
for the same trophy.
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

30. Feel investment in each
others’ deliverables.
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

31. Advocate for
necessary resourcing.
Advocate for

32. If you’re siloed…
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

33. View the ‘other’ team as collaborators,
not as clients
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd
Siloed Teams
Add time to the calendar!
Formalized collaboration is still collaboration
Be open to hearing outsider perspectives
(M*P project recaps)
Learn from other teams (M*P buddy system)

34. If you’re a
one-person team…
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd

35. Create separate spaces for design and research:
@jbriselli @kimberlydowd
One-Person Team
Separate the activities and the deliverables
Use a proxy/stand-in
physical
mental
virtual

37. TL;DR

38. Talk to each other.
Don’t disappear.
(Early & often)
(For very long)
Butt in. & Welcome the butting in.

41. THANK YOU!
Jen Briselli
Kim Dowd @kimberlydowd
@jbriselli