How To Conduct Unstructured User Research When Buy In Is Difficult

Too often it seems to occur where a UX Designer has push back from their stakeholders or business counterparts when they ask to conduct user research. What I have noticed, is that due to our industry still being on the newer side, this tends to occur because only one type of user research is perceived. Automatically, it seems many jump to assume we mean structured user research that would take weeks to occur, and ultimately disrupt existing timelines.

Even though this type of research is very helpful, it may not always be the only type that can get the answers you need! That is why I am here to give you some tricks for making research more attainable.

1. Choose your words wisely

I have found that when the term “research” is used, non UX Designers automatically jump to thinking that their roadmaps are being changed, and ultimately cause them to quickly say no. That is why I have learned to use other phrases that remove the timeline aspect. One example I like to use is: “I would like to confirm a few things with our users.” By altering the verbiage that is used here, it tends to create an impression of a less formalized process. What I have learned throughout my career, is that when research seems less formal, individuals are able to grasp it more, and ultimately are more likely to agree to it.

2. Research doesn’t always need to be very in-depth

I have a feeling a few of you read this title and got ready to write a comment. Yes, user research in an ideal world would be very in-depth and take a lot of time. But as many of you are probably aware, that type of research feels like more of a luxury. So it is important for us to find work-arounds where we can still gain insights from our users in a quick and more informal manner. This could look like running usability tests on a smaller sample (you really only need 6-8 participants to see patterns) or conducting informal research through unorganized conversations with your users. The goal here is to limit the research without affecting the results you are looking for. That is why this option is important to remember, but might not always work in every instance. That will be up to you as the UX Designer to decide!

3. Be transparent about timelines

Be up front with how much time you need. Relating back to the section above, I have found that stakeholders are positively surprised at how much research we can conduct in a shot period of time. Now don't get me wrong, I still think when feasible we should still push for in-depth research. However, I have noticed that on average our automatic "no's" come from the fact that stakeholders associate a much longer time period to our research than we would (in both the unstructured and formalized versions). That is why I would encourage you to be specific about how long it will take you to conduct the entire research process, while providing some specifics about what that entails. This could look something like being as specific as stating, "I'd like to speak to some of the users for 40 minutes each, walking them through flow X and flow Y." This way, the unknowns are removed from the conversation and even though I can't guarantee it will work all the time, removing the unknowns tends to increase the buy in for user research.

Unfortunately these three steps can’t promise your team will approve time for user research. But, it can help you possibly get closer to conducting it next time around. Let me know in the comments what has worked for you in these situations!