How do you communicate and share the results and learnings of your design experiments with others?

Before communicating the study results and insights, here are 3 things to be mindful of: 1. Your stakeholders are likely not design team members, so the language, depth and narrative should be appropriate. Your intent is to communicate the insights and drive action, it's not about showing off your expertise. 2. Be aware of stakeholder perceptions and biases, and use data and storytelling to negate or confirm them. 3. There is no point in providing insights if you can't articulate clearly on the subset of insights that will bring in the most impact. Pick specific ones that can drive the KPIs that stakeholders care the most.

Before diving into experiments, it's essential to be clear about the problems you're tackling, the assumptions you're testing and the outcomes you're aiming for. Clearly define what success and failure look like, establish key performance indicators and ensure your experiments align with your overall goals.

At Koru UX Design, we start by setting clear, measurable goals for each design experiment. Sharing the objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs) with our team and stakeholders ensures everyone understands what success looks like, making our findings more impactful and actionable.

Before communicating study results and insights, ensure that your data is accurate, reliable, and clearly interpreted. Tailor your message to the audience’s level of understanding and focus on the most relevant findings. Use visual aids like charts or infographics to make complex information more accessible. Be transparent about the methodology and any limitations of the study to maintain credibility. Highlight actionable insights and practical implications rather than overwhelming your audience with raw data. Finally, anticipate questions and prepare to address potential concerns to facilitate a meaningful and constructive discussion. Effective communication of insights hinges on clarity, relevance, and transparency.

Clearly outline what you aimed to achieve with the experiment and the specific metrics you used to measure success. This foundational step provides context for your findings. Next, summarize the key insights by highlighting what worked, what didn’t, and the reasons behind these outcomes. Use visuals like charts, graphs, and screenshots to present your data in an accessible and engaging way. Create a structured presentation that details the experiment’s objectives, methodology, results, and implications, tailoring your content to your audience's interests and expertise. Share these findings in team meetings to foster discussion and gather feedback, promoting a collaborative environment.

In our team, we make it a point to celebrate our successes and failures. For example, we organized a "Lessons Learned" lunch after a project where something didn't go as expected. The team gathered to discuss the work, focusing on what we discovered. We highlighted how these learnings could influence future projects, turning our focus to the positive aspects of the experience. This celebration of failure as a valuable teacher removes the stigma associated with making mistakes and reinforces the idea that every outcome is a step toward improvement.

Choosing the appropriate design experimentation methods, such as user research or A/B testing, depends on factors like fidelity, feedback type and scalability. Tailor your approach to align with your specific goals, resources and constraints. Use tools like spreadsheets or dashboards for effective documentation, analysis and visualization of data and insights.

Design experimentation utilizes various methods and tools to test and refine ideas effectively. Prototyping tools like Figma and Adobe XD help create and iterate on design concepts. A/B testing platforms such as Optimizely and Google Optimize allow you to compare different design versions and measure performance. Usability testing tools like UserTesting and Maze provide insights into how users interact with your designs. Survey tools like SurveyMonkey and Typeform gather user feedback on design preferences and usability. Additionally, analytics tools like Google Analytics track user behavior and engagement. Employing these methods and tools helps validate design decisions and enhance overall user experience.

- Lessons Learned Sessions - Proactive Discussions - Utilization of Tools like DFMEA or Risk Assessment to Minimize Failure Risks - Frequent and Timely Communication Focused on Positive Outcomes - Three-Eye Principle for Design and Validation Checks - Expert Opinions.

For documentation, spreadsheets and collaborative platforms keep your team in sync. Dashboards and data visualization tools transform insights into compelling stories.

In my team, after the completion of a quarter, we always conduct an After-Action Review (AAR). This structured debriefing session allows us to dissect the project's successes and failures in a detailed, systematic way. We discuss what was supposed to happen, what actually happened, and why there was a difference. Every team member, from designers to project managers, is encouraged to share their perspective. This collective reflection helps us identify actionable steps for improvement and ensures that the lessons learned are embedded in our future work.

Create a practice of sharing insights that eventually becomes easier to continue than stop. If you wait until you have something good to share, it takes too much willpower to continually remember to evaluate this on-the-fly every time. Instead, pick a day every week or two that you’ll share insights—good, bad, and ugly—with your stakeholders and users. For example: plan to share via email or Slack every Tuesday at 3pm. Set a calendar alert or an alarm. Soon, just like going to the gym every day, it’ll become a practice that’ll be automatic to your muscle memory.

Co-creating with users does not stop after one workshop. Continue to involve users throughout the entire process and show them the impact of their suggestions and your progress on them.

Involving stakeholders and users in experimentation offers several benefits. It ensures that designs and solutions align closely with their needs and expectations, leading to higher acceptance and satisfaction. Engaging stakeholders provides valuable insights and feedback, helping to identify potential issues early and refine concepts more effectively. Users’ direct input helps validate assumptions and guide iterative improvements, making the final product more user-centric and relevant. Additionally, involving stakeholders fosters a sense of ownership and collaboration, which can drive support and commitment to the project. This inclusive approach enhances the likelihood of successful outcomes and more impactful solutions.

Since design can and should be a participative process with key stakeholders involved, my experiences is that the best way of involving them is taking them on the full journey, from kick-off until proof of concept (with final users) and beyond. I think there's no better way to actually reducing meetings and updating the client on research findings than having them already in the research, design and test setup where they can fully immerse themselves in the challenge, understand the design process and listen directly to end-user-feedback. Best result is when the client expresses at the end: "This was amazing, thanks for taking me with you. Now everything is making sense."

In the world of experimentation, there's always a dance with uncertainty and the chance of things not going as planned. But here's the twist: failures aren't dead ends; they're stepping stones for learning and getting better. To really make the most of it, celebrate not just the wins but also the lessons learned from the not-so-successful moments, share them with the team and turn them into a recipe for future success.

Think of it like this: negative results are like red flags on a treasure map. They might not lead you to the immediate treasure, but they tell you where not to dig, ultimately helping you find a better path to success.

Embrace Failures as Learning Experiences Approach: Reframe "failed" experiments as valuable learning experiences by analyzing what didn’t work and why. Use these insights to guide future design decisions and improvements. Example: If a feature redesign does not produce the desired results, I share findings on what went wrong, such as user confusion or unmet needs, and recommend changes based on the feedback received. Format: Retrospective presentations or post-mortem reports that highlight key lessons and promote a culture of continuous learning and refinement.

Failed tests are equally (if not more) important than successful ones. Failed tests provide a great opportunity to rethink your initial hypothesis and solution. This can help you discover where you were wrong in your assumptions or audience study. Ideally, insightful failed tests contribute to future success by expanding your knowledge of your audience and/or highlighting your own personal biases.

Embracing failure as a stepping stone rather than a setback can revolutionize an SMB's approach to business. This mindset not only nurtures innovation but also builds a resilient and transparent company culture. How can small business founders effectively communicate the value of failed experiments to their teams and stakeholders to ensure continued support and enthusiasm for innovative endeavors?

After each project, whether it succeeded or didn't meet its objectives, we create a detailed case study. It highlights the project's goals, the experiments we conducted, the outcomes, and most importantly, the learnings. We focus on what worked, what didn't, and why. These case studies become a part of our knowledge repository, accessible to the entire organization. They serve as learning tools for current and future team members, helping them understand the practical application of design principles and the real-world impact of their decisions.

I think it's important to share what you learn from experiments, too. Whether it's a success or a failure, there's always something to take away. Talking about it with others can help you see things from different angles and get new ideas. Plus, it might inspire others to try experimenting themselves.

I believe the key to sharing design experiment results is simplicity and clarity. Start by documenting the process, including what was tested, the hypotheses, and the results. Visuals, like charts or mockups, can help make data easier to understand. When communicating with stakeholders or peers, focus on the key insights and their impact on the project. Invite feedback openly and highlight areas for improvement, so everyone feels part of the process. Iteration is crucial, after each experiment, use the learnings to make small adjustments and keep improving. This way, the team stays aligned, and the product continues to evolve.

Iteration is the secret sauce to turning good ideas into great outcomes, particularly for SMBs where resources are precious and every improvement counts. This approach keeps your business agile and responsive to change. How can small business founders maintain momentum in their experimentation cycles without burning out their teams or resources?