Is "Research Democratization" good? Who benefits and what should be considered?
“Should I consider a position that includes training others on how to conduct user research?” (or ask one of my employees to train others?)
These are questions I hear a lot. Here are my thoughts based on my experiences running workshops to up-skill existing researchers, non-researchers, and teams, conducting research for consulting clients, and leading Curiosity Tank’s Ask Like A Pro series.
Lets first talk about the goals of training others in research. Team training can allow researchers to focus on more strategic work, the attendees (typically designers/PMs) to take on more tactile work, and to become better stakeholders and consumers of research. Ultimately, the team at large becomes more human centered as a result. The goal is NOT to train non-researchers how to conduct their own research, at least not out of the gate. The training is NOT intended to replace the research team or headcount. The goal is to supplement the research team, which may have far too many research requests than they can handle, to help the designers/PMs establish a foundational knowledge of applied research, and to HELP the broader organization become more efficient, effective, and confident in their decisioning. Organizations with higher UX maturity know that our craft requires guidance and mentorship and requires years of hands-on experience to truly master.
This is one of my signature corporate trainings.
So, what could it look like if a researcher's role includes training others?
Researchers educating others is not a side job and shouldn’t be treated as such. Just because someone may be a good researcher, doesn’t mean they are a good research teacher. In fact, many argue that having the skills to be an effective educator is more important than having subject matter expertise. I’m still honing my teaching skills, my presentation decks, tools, templates and activities, building on decades of experience leading design and research in the trenches, and 25 years of teaching experience. I am still learning. While teaching is a craft, similar to user research, they require different skills.
Q: How much time will you have to develop your teaching skills, materials, and deliver training?
Q: How excited are you about spending your time in this way?
Interaction and “learning experiences” are important components to education. This is data from a workshop series I just wrapped up.
Quality UXR instruction needs to be combined with hands-on application. It’s akin to participating in training about how to drive and then trying to drive for the first time. What are we driving? And where? There is a big difference between driving a scooter, motorcycle, and a manual and automatic car too! Simply put, training needs to be combined with the hands-on experience of “doing” and that “doing” needs to be defined.
Q: Do you, the trainer, have the bandwidth to mentor these new drivers along the way?
Q: Is there a plan and resources to create and support "doing" hands-on research?
Q: What guardrails will be in place? Or will the learners get their own “keys” to drive?
Q: Is there agreement on what the learners will be “driving”, how, when, where and what?
Understanding how to be a better research partner, and what your staff research team actually does, are two goals my client wanted to achieve in this specific training. Note that instructor performance does not speak to my subject matter expertise, it speaks to the education experience delivered.
The outcomes and expectations of UXR training varies. The people who complete my corp series training come out with a much greater understanding, appreciation, and awareness of what user research is and isn’t, how to ask better questions, questions it can and cannot answer, when to consider which methods and why, how to become better stakeholders and consumers of research, the importance of identifying and mitigating bias, ways to do this, the criticality of the planning and screening process and what goes into it, core terminology, PII fundamentals, overall best practices, and dozens of tools and templates. The trainings are customized to each team’s tool stack and attendees get hands-on in their platforms as well.
Q: Do you have a clear understanding of the training outcomes and expectations?
Q: Are the outcomes and expectations achievable?
Here you can see the increase in confidence after the training, the WHAT. The last metric focuses on the HOW. Successful UXR education takes both into primary consideration.
Effective instruction requires an understanding of various learning styles and preferences. Educating people should take learning modalities into primary consideration. They make a huge difference in how open someone is to learning about the topic and this has a domino effect on their learning experience and retention. Delivery methods matter. Great instructors use a number of modalities to create more opportunities for the information to “sync in.” The variety allows for more effective and substantive knowledge acquisition.
Q: Do you prefer text, visuals, video, audio/podcasts, or to get hands-on? The person next to you likely has different preferences. Are you ready to design with this top of mind? (Talented teachers “design learning experiences.”)
Q: Does the idea of developing different modalities excite or exasperate you?
Interaction and “learning experiences” are important components to education.
Training goals are often not realistic. For example, I will not take on any client or team who expect the training outcome from my corporate series to include the attendees will be able to conduct quality research completely on their own immediately after the series. (Happy to elaborate on this.) It is not possible for them to run end-to-end, quality research (including the planning, screening, conducting, orchestrating, analyzing, synthesizing and sharing) after this minimal timeframe unless they have significant, transferable experience or a solid foundation already, a mentor to guide them along the way, and hands-on practice. Period.
Q: Are the goals and expectations in alignment?
Q: Are you, the trainer, and the attendees all set up for success?
There are potential downsides and risks to discuss too. I'll get straight to the point. Some business and attendee considerations include:
Q: How will you manage quality control, legal and compliance, and ethical practices?
Q: What financial and resource impacts will training have on the business? What about poor decisioning or degraded brand experiences as a result of insufficient training?
Q: How will attendee no-shows, knowledge retention, poor performance, and accountability be addressed, proactively and retroactively?
Mentorship and guidance over a period of time are paramount. It would be irresponsible to send new learners into the field (giving them the keys to the car) without having their driving permits first. The same can be said for new practitioners. UXR instruction needs to be tied to application and guidance to be successful long-term if the goal is individual, quality execution.
Q: Have you discussed the potential legal, brand, ethical, financial, and other impacts of training? And of poorly executed research?
Q: Is there a program set up to support new practitioners in these aspects?
In sum, user research is a craft that is honed over years, not days or weeks. Learning UXR is comparable to learning a new language or learning to play a new instrument. It takes TIME. Sound practitioners know how to ask quality questions that yield reliable results, navigate the numerous ambiguity that comes along with it, a plethora of dynamic complexities, and thrive - simultaneously.
So… as you look at these positions, or consider asking an employee to train others in your org on UXR, I recommend the following:
Get a clear understanding of what training means in terms of time, number of people, materials, outcomes, mentorship, and opportunities for application.
Find out how the training performance will be assessed because benchmarking this progress is also important (and difficult). Consider the time it will take to measure this properly and repeatedly. NOTE: The slides in this post demonstrate some ways we measured the effectiveness of this specific corporate training series.
Confirm that the people who will be trained are genuinely interested, have skin in the game, have the time to learn on top of their current FT jobs, and there will be regular opportunities for them to apply their newfound knowledge.
Hiring managers, please consider the above before asking someone on your team to take this on “as part of their role.” It truly is an entirely different skill set that requires a significant amount of time, effort and experience to do well.
I teared up, when my client shared this feedback. Hearing you nailed it, and truly made a positive impact, is one of the best feelings! My clients were EXCELLENT collaborators and this success is 1100% shared. Thank you K and N! ;)
UXR training isn’t something to be taken lightly. It’s a rare breed that can develop and facilitate engaging, and impactful UXR training. Thankfully, I LOVE IT! I thrive on watching the evolution of my teaching, my clients’ goals, our partnerships, their team’s knowledge acquisition and excitement, and my thousands of students expand their beautiful minds.
That said it’s certainly, definitely, truly a topic and a skill that’s requires significant, honest evaluation, crystal clear communication, and right-sized outcomes.
After all, research democratization has many different interpretations. It’s NOT a black and white debate. I encourage everyone to approach this topic with genuine curiosity before accepting this challenge, judging the org, or the person speaking about it. Goals vary. Have candid discussions about what this means at a specific org and leadership involved. More UX mature orgs tend to have more realistic expectations for these trainings with support and mentorship for the workshop attendees planned well in advance.
It’s incredibly rewarding and transformational work, but my success isn't based on my UXR expertise alone. It’s rooted in four scientific learning principles: modeling, practice, feedback, and alignment. These are the essential building blocks of effective teachers.
Ironically, these are also the same core principles required to excel in user research.
And this is exactly why the Ask Like A Pro series is built around the mantra “Guidance + Practice = Confidence.” 85% of our All-In students complete 18 weeks, and 90 hours, of training with my guidance and mentorship along the way. And all of them get hands-on.
What questions do you have about research education? We'd love to hear your thoughts.
Upcoming online events
UXDX’s Continuous Discovery, Delivery and Event Sept 1st. Michele will lead a session on Rolling Research. Link to come. 8am - 10am PT
TechCircus’ Business X Design Conference (September 2nd. Michele will lead a session titled “How to Enable Non-Researchers to Make Confident Decisions.” 1pm - 2pm PT
ALAP Alumni Mixer “Academia to Industry” panel discussion for Curiosity Tank alums and those registered in the Fall 2022 cohort. (alumni and registrants only). 5pm - 6:30pm PT
DeltaCX Live Podcast September 7th. Michele and Debbie Levitt will discuss “Questions to help you prepare for UXR job interviews.” 9:30pm - 10:30am PT
BitesizeUX Card Sort Event September 12th. Michele and Joe Formica are teaming up for the fourth time to offer this hands-on introduction to cart sorting. 5pm - 7:30pm PT
"Is 'Ask Like A Pro' Right For Me?" event with Curiosity Tank alumni will take place on September 13th. 5pm - 6:30pm PT
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And that’s a wrap!
We typically alternate between a theme and UX/UXR jobs, events, classes, articles, and other happenings every few weeks. Thank you for all of the feedback. Feedback is a gift and we continue to receive very actionable input on how to make Fuel Your Curiosity more meaningful to you.
What do you think? Lmk. We're constantly iterating and love to hear your input.
Stay curious,
- Michele and the Curiosity Tank team
PS. Our next Ask Like A Pro user research cohort begins in September. Join us at our info session with alumni on September 13th. Register on Eventbrite.
