“Why Research is Crucial for Designers?: Top 5 Focus Areas”
Product development without research is equivalent to throwing away money. Research is a structured and unbiased process of examining a specific topic, using a variety of techniques to collect and analyze data. The ultimate goal of the research is to generate new knowledge, gain a deeper understanding, or gain fresh insights into a particular area of study. Design is the process of coming up with ideas, making decisions, and putting them into action to address a problem or need.
While research can help guide design decisions, it is not the same as design. During the design process, research provides designers with information and insights that allow them to make informed decisions. Designers conduct research to learn about the needs, preferences, behaviors, and pain points of their users. They then use this data to create products that meet the needs of users and solve their problems.
Having research skills as a designer is critical to creating successful products. While many companies continue to lack dedicated researchers, here are some key areas of focus you as a designer can prioritize to incorporate research into your process.
User research:
To understand why users behave the way they do, it’s critical to collect insights from interviews, observation via session recordings, and quantitative data from analytics. This article by Stéphanie Walter is a fantastic resource; it has sample questions, considerations for diverse participants, links to books and articles, and more
Information architecture:
By evaluating the usability of your navigation through tree testing, you can make research-based decisions. To effectively handle extensive complex navigation, use inexpensive tools like Useberry or follow resources like Paul Boag’s article.
User testing
To avoid creating the wrong flows, designers can follow a 5-step process that begins with writing down the objective and desired path, then creates a flowchart, gets feedback and alignment, creates a test script, and trials it with pilot participants before running a full test. For remote usability testing, consult resources such as Nielsen Norman Group’s checklist or UserZoom’s guide.
Competitive analysis:
Examine the competitive landscape for gaps and opportunities. Analyze their strengths and weaknesses to help you make better product decisions.
A/B testing:
Experiment with different designs to see what works best for your users. You can make informed decisions and optimize your design by collecting data on how users interact with different versions of your product.
To summarize, while research is not the same as design, product design without research is a waste of money. Designers should prioritize user research, information architecture, user testing, competitive analysis, and A/B testing to make the most of their limited time and budget.