Recently, I was talking to a new researcher who is struggling because they feel siloed off from the rest of their organization. “Is this really what research is like?” they asked me, after describing a research process conducted almost exclusively by themselves.
One of the things that I like the most about research is how collaborative it is. I shared several ideas for making research more collaborative, including the following:
- Make the planning process collaborative by involving others (other researchers, designers, PMs, anyone who is interested!) in the creation of your test plan.
- Make the research phase collaborative by inviting others to your sessions, or asking others to take notes for you.
- In the days of working in-office, I used to bake cookies for my research days to incentive people to come and watch the sessions. While they were watching, I gave them a short questionnaire to fill out while watching the session. It was lightweight enough that it didn’t feel like the observers were being imposed on. Questions on it were:
- What stood out to you the most?
- What worked well?
- What didn’t?
- Make the analysis phase collaborative through brainstorming sessions. Take the insights that you gathered during the session and run a workshop with colleagues where you identify themes and potential recommendations to address the issues identified.
- Make the outcomes phase more collaborative by scheduling watch parties, where you show some videos from your sessions. This could be one particular participant who had a lot of insight to share, or it could be a collection of clips that show a theme.
- If the designers who you work with have some kind of critique session set up, start attending them and sharing your research materials for critique there.
- If you have enough fellow researchers, create a critique session where you give and get feedback on your research plans, performance while interviewing participants, or final reports.