Impactful Research Methods for Small Organizations

 

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Introduction

At UpTogether, our small UX team initially consisted of a UX researcher. Later, I joined as an Individual Contributor, and in our interdependent roles, we supported each other when workloads became overwhelming. We took on a project to redesign our financial dashboard and application.

Since the UX researcher was occupied with another project, I led the initial research stages and maintained regular check-ins. This case study emphasizes the impactful research methods used in our small UX team at UpTogether, underlining the significance of collaboration and adaptability for successful outcomes.

The Process

I approached the project with a vision centered on creating a solution that embraced sustainability, modernity, and foresight into the future of payments and finance. To kickstart this initiative, I initiated my research by reviewing several online articles. Subsequently, I conducted a brainstorming session to identify key areas of focus, aiming to refine and narrow down the project's scope.

This process provided a structured foundation for me to begin shaping the supply-side inputs.

Subsequently, I delved into reviewing the organization's previous research efforts including past user interviews about this very subject in order to gain insights into our historical perspectives on this product and how those insights might have influenced our decision-making processes.

Getting Started: Brainstorming

Shifting my exploration of the problem space, I crafted a system architecture to better understand the latent philosophy behind the design of our investment capital deployment system, examining how it facilitates the flow of funds onto our platform and ultimately into the hands of our members.

System Architecture

Ethics Design

Ethics design remains a rarely incorporated element in many UX strategies today. While the importance of ethical considerations in technology and design is widely acknowledged, its integration into UX strategy is almost non-existent. This oversight can lead to unintended consequences, such as privacy violations, bias in algorithms, and negative societal impacts. Incorporating ethics design principles into UX strategy is not only an ethical imperative but also a strategic one, as it can build trust, enhance user experiences, and safeguard against potential reputation and legal risks.

Recognizing the potential vulnerability of our core users and the communities we are dedicated to serving, I identified a valuable opportunity for our organization to take a leadership role. To address this, I dedicated time to formulate a set of questions aimed at guiding our thinking from an ethical standpoint.

Organizing Inputs Into an Outline for Research

Now with a well-structured set of inputs, my next step was to explore how to effectively present the problem to our user-members and initiate the process of gathering demand-side inputs. To achieve this, I started outlining the questions I had in mind and strategizing their dissemination, whether through surveys or actual user interviews. I continually referenced key quotes from past interviews as guiding principles to evaluate gaps and help determine these questions.

Open Questions

I also wrote out some open questions I had for the organization: 

Priming for Testing

After reviewing the complexities and potential complexities of the systems and their adjacent components, I elected simplicity as a guiding principle. I then outlined a set of tasks that I intended to evaluate during prototype testing. I deemed these tasks to be the core usability of our application.

Heuristic Evaluation

I aimed to establish a baseline understanding of the current state of the system, particularly in the context of these tasks, and assess their feasibility on our existing platform. To achieve this, I devised a plan to carry out a heuristic evaluation and task analysis. The heuristic evaluation was guided by the well-established 10 heuristics of a robust system, as outlined by Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group.

Auditing Current User Flows

Following the completion of these methodologies, I dived further by thoroughly examining the associated user flows for each of the previously outlined tasks.

Research Outline, Questions, and Goals

I proceeded by consolidating all the gathered insights, crafting the research goals, research questions, and sub-questions. During this process, I identified and defined three overarching themes:

1. Understanding Digital and Mobile platforms and their prevalence in our users lives
2. Money and it's use among our member users
3. Money and it's use in facilitating community

Setting Workstream

Here is the workstream I designed to chart out the remaining activities required to conclude our research.

Comparative Analysis

With a clear direction in mind, we opted to explore external systems and interfaces to gain insights into how others have successfully tackled these tasks. here's an example of a competitive analysis and task analysis conducted on existing solutions in our domain. I thoroughly examined Cash App, Venmo, and Digit as part of this evaluation.

Now, with these inputs, including insights from past interviews, external and internal research, and the methodologies we've employed, we were well-prepared to initiate user interviews, prepare a prototype and commence with user testing.

Takeaways

In this case study, we embarked on a journey to address critical challenges within our financials product, which was began with a small start but had much potential. We demonstrated how proactive collaboration, adaptability, and a commitment to ethics can significantly impact the success of research and design initiatives.

In conclusion, our case study showcases the transformative power of proactive collaboration, adaptability, and ethical considerations in UX strategy. By embracing these principles and taking a holistic approach, organizations can not only navigate the complexities of modern UX but also drive innovation and create solutions that resonate with their users and communities. The lessons learned from this journey serve as a testament to the potential of thoughtful and comprehensive UX strategies in achieving meaningful and impactful results.