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Resources for Each Stage of UX Research (1 of 4)

Resources for Each Stage of UX Research (1 of 4)

By Paulina Contreras•
UX Research Stages

Following mentoring sessions with UX Researchers starting their journey, I decided to complement those sessions with curated web resources. Many others have published what I try to explain in a single mentoring session. This way, the session becomes less about transmitting information and more about discussing it and answering questions.

In this article series, I decided to share curated resources including: videos, templates, books, and blogs that masterfully explain what we should consider at each research stage to reach our goals.

Disclaimer 1: There are surely many more resources. If you see one that should definitely be included, especially if it’s in Spanish, let me know and I’ll add it.

Disclaimer 2: I must warn that many of these resources are in English, since what is still in its infancy on this side of the world is in a much more mature stage in other countries (like the US, Europe), and therefore we have much to learn from them. However, each year the number of publications in Spanish increases, and I’m betting on my part that this will continue by adding more publications that (I hope) provide value in our language.

Stages and resources

My recommendation when reviewing these resources is to read, listen, or review them with many questions in mind, questioning why it was done that way, whether it’s applicable to my work context, my product or service, my type of users. How it can support my current work, and what aspects I have doubts about or are not entirely clear. Note those questions and keep looking for other ways to approach that moment, and ask for help if necessary with more experienced colleagues.

I divided the user research process into 4 stages, each of which I’ll share in a separate article. These stages are:

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First Stage – Discover

In the first stage of the research process, what we seek is to understand and clarify what is expected from the project in terms of: objectives, timelines, users, who the counterpart is, and what is expected as a result. To achieve this understanding, one or several meetings may be necessary, with one or more stakeholders, or also a kick-off workshop depending on the scope of the research being proposed.

Each research stage is relevant, but I cannot emphasize enough the special importance of this stage, as it affects everything we do subsequently. If we define the objective poorly, everything we do will give us information that won’t serve us, wasting effort and time. On the other hand, lack of alignment can lead us to end up frustrated because we don’t meet stakeholder expectations.

I divided this first stage into two moments: the Kick-off and the Research Plan.

a) Research Project Kick-Off

The kick-off corresponds to the alignment, of all parties involved, on what we want from this project. In this first moment, we have to agree on the objectives, deliverables, timelines, budget, roles involved, team in charge, among others, of the project.

Resources related to the kick-off:

b) UX Research Plan

This second moment of the Discover stage consists of implementing what was agreed upon in the project kick-off. We put in writing all the agreements from the meeting or workshop in a document that serves as a means for all those involved to be aligned. In this document, we indicate the objective, hypothesis, people/roles involved, expected deliverables, and the methodology (method, timelines, type(s) of users) to be carried out, to achieve what we have set as our goal.

Resources related to the Research Plan:

I imagine this list as a constantly reviewed and growing resource, rather than a fixed source of resources. So come back from time to time to see the new resources added 🙂

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