Working from home means researching from home… but how?
A screenshot from one of our usability tests
Getting started
Designers fortunate to continue working during this time have hit an unexpected hurdle – how do we conduct research remotely? Hopefully we’re already in a cadence of meeting with our users once every week or two, but how can that be possible when you’re working from home day-in and day-out? As a remote designer with a product team distributed across the US, we’ve been conducting almost all of our research remotely with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid, even before COVID-19. Remote research doesn’t capture the in-context observations you get from being on-site (especially with those pesky Zoom backgrounds), but you can conduct remote research in a way where you’re still getting powerful insights from the comforts of your own home.
This is how our team has set ourselves up for remote research:
Getting organized
1. Create a research plan that includes a comms plan. This helps you focus your research on specific goals and research questions, while keeping you organized and transparent with the team. Since we’re no longer in the office, we need to rely on open, visible communication to keep our research focused and actionable while also informing the rest of the team and our client/stakeholders. Including a comms plan means you can keep a log of emails you send to the user and not have to depend on a single person for communication.
Feel free to make a copy of the template below and adapt it to your project:
2. Create a research script. Again, this helps ensure your research session is focused on the goals outlined in your research plan above. It’s important to keep in mind that setup may take a bit longer, as some folks you’ll be working with may not be as well versed in using video conferencing software. Taking a few minutes at the beginning of the call to make sure your end user is set up for success means the session will flow a lot smoother. For example, point out the screen share button if you’ll be using screen share or send links in chat multiple times if they can’t find the chat window. Remember to remain empathetic, above all else.
Feel free to make a copy of the templates below and adapt it to your project:
Usability Test Script Template
Conducting the research
3. Ask participants to share their video at the start of the call. With my video on, I always kick off each session asking participants to share their video if they feel comfortable. The way I typically like to phrase it is “Would you feel comfortable sharing your video? It helps the conversation flow a bit better and lets me know if you’ve finished your thought.”
Giving folks a reason why you want them to share their video is helpful in easing their anxieties if sharing video isn’t a work practice they’re used to. If they say no, no sweat, just take longer pauses during the session to make sure you don’t talk over them.
4. Record all sessions. This helps you and the rest of the team go back and clarify anything that was missed or misinterpreted. All of our sessions are stored in a private folder that only our Truss team has access to in order to preserve the anonymity of our users.
5. If your clickable prototype doesn’t work, we like to share our screen with mouse control. We had to use this tactic a few times when our prototype wasn’t working properly. There’s a bit of a lag, and the facilitator won’t be able to use their mouse given the user is using it, but it works in a pinch so that the time you scheduled with a participant isn’t lost. This is a much better approach than having you as the facilitator control the mouse for them because we want to see how they navigate the application without our influence. Make sure you have the prototype pulled up on your computer before you give your participants mouse control.
6. All non-facilitators take notes concurrently. This is the big one. We create a google doc for every research session and have at least two note takers in the doc. Typically one note taker will capture the question asked by the facilitator while the other note taker starts capturing the response. If the note taker starts to miss context and/or lose steam, the initial note taker will jump in again to capture the rest of the thought. By taking notes collaboratively, we’ve found that we’re getting 80-90% of the transcription while staying more attentive to the session. Some quick tips on collaborative note taking:
Everyone attending the session that isn’t the facilitator needs to be involved
Make sure you’ve indented the doc enough so that you can pick up where the other note taker is leaving off without disrupting their flow
Flag misinterpretations as comments so that you know where to go back and re-listen to the recording
If the facilitator needs a link to be shared with the user in the middle of a session, one of the note takers drops off to do that from the research script so that the facilitator can maintain the conversation
If you’re observing the user as a part of a contextual inquiry, one of the note takers can take screenshots to help color the notes a bit more fully
Try to have no more than 3 - 4 teammates on a call. If you bring more folks into research sessions, it runs the risk of your research participant feeling more on the spot.
Synthesizing it all
7. Huddle after every session. We like to huddle together after every session to discuss our observations and see if there are ways we can improve our facilitation. We learn something new with every session, and find that giving ourselves the time and space to discuss both the research and our process helps us improve, especially as a remote team.
8. Synthesize all findings with the client. Once we wrap up a research sprint, we’ll facilitate an “Insights to Actions” session where we identify the biggest insights from our research and what actions we can take to address them. We’ve found that facilitating this in a Google Sheet helps keep it collaborative without overcomplicating the process. Sometimes the actions are in the form of UI updates, whereas other insights require organizational change.
We find that by having the client as a part of synthesis, he can learn the state of our research, how it impacts our product, and how he can help unblock organizational challenges.
Keep in mind
Hopefully these tools will help you get your remote research off the ground. At the end of the day, as long as your research is focused and organized, you’ll be able to successfully facilitate research sessions. Research also doesn’t have to be solely design’s responsibility – by keeping our research transparent and organized at CMS, we’ve been able to pull in Delivery, Product, and Engineering to help with sessions. There is a wealth of information we can gather from our users remotely, we just need the proper tools and infrastructure to make it happen.
Above all else, remember that while we continue working from home, please be mindful, patient, and empathetic, so that not only are you gaining valuable research but also supporting your participants during this stressful time.