From Field to Features
.a lot is lost.
From ‘that verbatim’ during interviews — to ‘the feature’ in the product, the red thread which ideally should run consistently throughout product development, often changes color, thins substantially or is completely broken.
Now imagine a product team investing in design research (DR) for the first time, being hugely excited with the wonderful presentations as part of deliverables, but hardly being able to utilise these at the end.
Surely, they are not going to invest in DR again and that’s such a loss.
To keep the ‘red thread of design’ shining bright and loud, all through the product development and into the hands of the final users, here are 3 thoughts from the road.
1. Design research will yield pointers to the overall solution, not just a single product.
Are product teams ready for what research might throw up ?
In a scenario where the product team is only expecting help in product features, they will miss out. The product team should expect design research to provide insights into 1. Product Features 2. Services Ecosystem 3. Marketing Strategy 4. Business Models and more.
Off course, researchers going out with a open mind, spongy soul & a little more time, would throw up a wider spectrum of insights. And the the ones who are more focussed or stressed would be limited in their sightings.
2. Research output needs to be designed for various functions.
Are designers showing the same amount of empathy to the users of their research as they shower on the consumers ?
An output of design research may flow well into the UX designer’s agile hands but might slip through the fingers of the Marketeers/ the Strategists/ the Product Managers. The research teams job is to make sure to customise and categorise correctly. Research documents need to be designed as well.
The DR team should create appropriate material and user stories to help other teams spread the message and follow the big & crucial picture. Start with posters, it works ! Remember xplane?
3. There needs to be someone who looks at this thread with 101% attention, a continuity champion.
Are the teams playing Chinese Whispers ?
So the DR team hands over the insights to the product management, who then hands it over to the UX team, which mails stuff to Tech and somewhere down the hill, Marketing takes over with a Content Team working in isolation. Thankfully, in startups the distance between teams is a seat away and it’s not easy to loose the sight of the thread.
There should be checklist for each stage, matching up to the same vision. A passionate product manager would be ideal to lead the process of continuity. Though, an evolved and experienced UX designer could be an even better keeper. Try him !
(these thoughts are mostly relevant to (software) product teams, but could be generalised in some ways)
Would love to hear what fellow product development lovers feel about this. What do you do in your organization to reiterate the values that came out of research ? Who is usually responsible to take the role of the keeper ?
