How can you involve stakeholders in VR user research studies?

1 Define your stakeholders

Before you start your VR user research, you need to identify and prioritize your stakeholders. Stakeholders are anyone who has an interest or influence in your VR project, such as users, clients, developers, managers, or experts. You should consider their roles, goals, motivations, pain points, and level of involvement in the project. You can use tools such as stakeholder maps, personas, or empathy maps to visualize and categorize your stakeholders.

2 Choose your methods

Depending on your research objectives, budget, timeline, and resources, you can employ various methods to involve stakeholders in your VR user research. Interviews are a popular choice to understand their needs, preferences, expectations, and feedback. Surveys can be used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Observations enable you to capture their behavior, reactions, and emotions with video recordings, eye tracking, or biometric sensors. Co-design is another option for involving stakeholders in the design process of your VR application. This could involve brainstorming, prototyping, or testing sessions with tools such as sketches, storyboards, wireframes, or low-fidelity VR prototypes.

4 Conduct your research

When conducting VR user research, you should follow some best practices to ensure a positive and productive experience for your stakeholders. Welcome and introduce yourself and your team, explaining the objectives, methods, tasks, and scenarios. Ask your stakeholders to sign the consent form and inform them of their rights and responsibilities as participants. Provide clear instructions and guidance throughout the session, monitoring and supporting them during the experience. After the VR experience, debrief your stakeholders and ask for their feedback. Finally, record and document your research data and findings using notes, audio, video, or other tools.

5 Communicate your results

After you conduct your VR user research, you need to communicate your results to your stakeholders and other relevant parties. You should analyze and synthesize your data and findings using tools such as spreadsheets, graphs, charts, or themes. You should create a clear and concise report or presentation that summarizes your research objectives, methods, findings, and recommendations. You should use visuals, quotes, or stories to illustrate your points and highlight the key insights and implications. You should also share your report or presentation with your stakeholders and solicit their feedback and comments.

By involving your stakeholders in your VR user research, you can gain valuable insights, improve your VR application, and increase your stakeholder satisfaction and engagement. You can also build trust, rapport, and collaboration with your stakeholders and foster a user-centered and stakeholder-oriented VR design culture.