Stevie: How do research and design approach studies similarly and differently?

Devin: A huge similarity between research and design teams is that you're trying to gain confidence around solutions for customers, and using research as a way to gain that confidence.

You do that by:

• Understanding where their problems are
• Where opportunities live
• Improving their experiences
• Benefiting the business

That remains true, whether you're a designer or a researcher. Both are concerned with timing in today's pace of rapid development and the ever-changing field of UX, but also business in general. It's hard to find time to do the right type of research in the right ways—we all share in that pain point.

Where they differ a bit is their approach to thinking about research.

Researchers often have more experience, expertise or training for more complex methodologies. They may be a bit more creative in how they triangulate data in order to create a robust answer to the business question at hand.

That's often the goal of researchers. Many researchers I've worked with want to make sure they provide the best answer to the question being asked of them by the product team, product manager, or leadership.

Designers are similar. They want to make sure they're doing it right, but what differs is the pragmatics behind how they approach research. Design is balancing many moving pieces. They have to activate insights in creating comps approaches, or create concepts that move those insights into action.

Because of that added responsibility, they're often trying to get to the minimum amount of research necessary to reach the right answer quickly. The time pressure's different.

Generally speaking, researchers are trying to get the best answer in the most efficient way. Designers want the easiest answer in the quickest way because of the different pressures inherent to their roles.

What types of projects should designers prioritize?

You need to think critically about the cadence or the process in which you’re developing products.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Are you following a lean, agile methodology where you're doing two week sprints?
• Are you doing more waterfall, or is it a mixture of both?
• What is the rhythm at which your cross-functional team is operating?
• Within that rhythm, where could you provide the most lift for driving research initiatives?
• Can you fit in a set of usability tests or generative interviews every two weeks?
• Within those sprints, could you carve out a research sprint?

Maybe there's an opportunity where you’re not leading the research yourself, but others alongside you are, and you're consulting with them or creating a system of enablement. That frees up your capacity to fit insights into your process, without having to be in two places at the same time.

How can we make design and research mutually beneficial?

Hot take: I've heard time and again that researchers should only lead generative research, and designers should only do evaluative research. But I don't necessarily think that’s the case.

I've worked with designers and have led design teams that have deep expertise—even PhDs in research—and they are just as capable as their research partners. They just don't hold that title at that point in their career.

Why hinder a designer from conducting necessary insights gathering activities? Those activities enable them to make stronger decisions for the business, for their product partners, and for their customers

I recommend focusing on where your expertise lies and where your capacity allows for that expertise to flourish. For example, let’s say you have expertise in generative research, but you have a deadline in two weeks with a ton of design concepts to churn out. You don't have the time for deep, in depth research—but your research partner does. Lean on them in that case, and allow them to really lead in that area of research.

Any other tips?

Be honest about that expertise and the skillsets that you have on the team. You will always have too much work to do and too little time to do it. Work with your cross-functional team on identifying the opportunities at hand, then prioritize what you should focus on. That ensures everyone's on the same page.

How do we ensure effective insights for future developments?

What steps can designers take to demonstrate their impact?

Wrapping it up

At the end of the day, investing in high-quality research directly impacts the bottom line. Most of us have probably heard the mantra: “It costs a hundred times more to fix a defect in production than it does in design.” Test early and often to make sure you're building quality products from the beginning. Make sure that you’re really solving the right issues well before investing, because it takes so much time and effort getting things off the ground.