Why Are Stakeholders SOOOO Intrinsic to UXR Success?
So what's the big deal with Stakeholders? Why do we need them in user research?
First of all, we can't be successful as researchers without our stakeholders. UX is a team sport! And our goal is to have an impact. Stakeholders provide absolutely critical information and perspectives, especially in the planning process. We want to include them from the very, very onset to make sure we're posing the right questions, to the right people, in the right way.
We also want to include them from inception to build engagement, and investment in the outcome, and establish credibility for our research. We want to make sure we have clarity and agree on why we're studying this topic, how the learnings will be applied, when, and ascertain what degree of confidence is desired. This input informs our user research plan. Gaining buy-in to our research plan will then have a domino effect on their engagement throughout our study. Setting that stage for engagement will increase the likelihood they will act upon our learnings. The very best way to do this is to include our stakeholders from the beginning.
Hands down, my most successful studies have ALL had engaged stakeholders.
They have what I refer to as “beautiful minds”.
Stakeholders think differently from you. They have different perspectives, interests, backgrounds, and assumptions. We want to harness that collective brain power, and those beautiful minds, so we can learn from them and align. Our success is intrinsic to their success. We want to be one, to be collaborative, to make sure our research plans are setting them up for success so that we, as user researchers, can be successful, too.
How do you find your user research project stakeholders? They are the people, the clients, and or the business partners who are most invested in the study topic, the related activities, and the outcome. They will likely consume your research learnings and or act upon them.
We may have multiple segments of internal or business stakeholders. (NOTE: You don’t want more than two or three to serve as core stakeholders in your research project though. It becomes too unwieldy to manage.) I also consider the people we are ultimately designing for as stakeholders too. Yep. You'll typically have at least two stakeholder audiences:
The people who need to consume and or act upon your learnings.
The people your product or service is designing for (aka your target audience)
Here is a terrific (and short) article on the origin of the term “stakeholders.”
“One possible source is the person who holds the money or stakes in a bet. Another possibility is in mining prospecting where you drive stakes into the four corners of the property you want to claim.”
This “stakeholder cube” diagram was created by Lucid Consulting in the UK.
This week, our Ask Like A Pro All-In students will meet with their sponsored project stakeholders to kick off their generative and evaluative qualitative research studies. They are learning and will continue to learn, that stakeholders come in all shapes and sizes. Some are better than others. Some change over time and others don't. Stakeholders and change also come in many forms!
For example, there were several last-minute shifts with one of our sponsor’s stakeholders. Who would be serving in this role for each project? Now three out of four are based halfway around the world. (Hello, time difference and other challenges!)
This is an extremely real-world example and one I hope the registrants will note in their workshop “reflections”. It’s this exact type of experience that reflects the reality of working in our dynamic, amazing, and rewarding industry! It will add color to their case studies and demonstrate their understanding of what actual stakeholder collaboration can look and feel like.
There’s still time to join us as an Observer in our Fall cohort. Here’s an overview of the Ask Like A Pro user research series. The registration and payment plan details are here.
Upcoming Events
Sept 26th: (New date!) Data Privacy and Security with Michele's attorney. (Open to all Fall cohort registrants and Alums)
Sept 27th: Second PLAN workshop in our Fall 2022 Ask Like A Pro cohort. Join the series as an Observer to participate live or watch the recordings. Register here.
Sept 29th: UXR Vocabulary: 100 most essential terms of the effective UX Researcher. Register here. (Free)
Oct 3rd: Data Security Spotlight. Michele's privacy and security attorney will join the Fall cohort in this extremely informative session to discuss the what, why, where, when, and how of applied research security procedures and the docs you must have in place to be compliant. (Open to alums and FA22 registrants) Register here.
Oct 4th: SURVEY/SCREEN workshop in our Fall 2022 cohort. Observers may participate live or watch the recordings. Register here.
Oct 7th: QRCA’s The Inside Story: Professional Life as a UX/CX Researcher Panel Discussion. Registration info to come (Free)
Oct 9th-12th: EPIC conference in Amsterdam. Register here.
Oct 12th: DeltaCX Live. Michele and Debbie Levitt will take a deep dive into research recruiting and screening. (Free)
Oct 13th: The Q&As of Quantitative Methods. Register here.
Oct 19th: Designing for every user - Neurodiversity in the workplace. Register here. (Free)
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Read about Curiosity Tank workshops. The next Ask Like A Pro series begins in late September!
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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: Register here to join the Fall Ask Like A Pro cohort as an Observer! Or set up a personal call or Zoom with Michele to learn more!
